I must be a real sourpuss because I thought the view from any part of the Romance car pretty much sucked. For the entire trip except for the last few minutes into Hakone Yumoto, I just saw dull industrial/residential developments. Surely someone has seen Mt Fuji as was described above, but almost all the time it is covered with clouds and not visible.

I honestly don't see the value, especially with a valid JR pass where you can take the much faster Kodama shinkansen to allow spending the maximum time in Hakone.

The transfer between JR and Odakyu at Odawara is not hard.

As to where to spend a night in Hakone, if price is no object, spend that night at Gora Kadan. If you have Hyatt points, there is also a nice Hyatt at Gora; there are no other chain hotels in the Hakone area although there is a Hilton at Odawara.