We recently completed a stay here, so I thought I'd cross-post from my TR with our experience and images.
Arriving at the Hyatt, I must say it doesn't look like much from the exterior, however they are renovating currently. Once walking inside we saw the grand foyer and were promptly checked-in. Service was reserved and somewhat confused in terms of English. This definitely felt more of a domestic hotel rather than an international brand.
The room itself was fantastic and the highlight of our stay. Very large, open spaces, a fabulous view, and an upscale bathroom. Not your typical Hyatt Regency!
Mountain View Twin
Sitting Area
View from the Room. At about 1 o'clock in this image you can see where they light the side of the mountain on fire for the annual 'Daimonji Yaki' celebration. Its in the shape of the kanji 'Dai', which means large, and is 108 meters across!
Tea Area- Note the bottled water- A nice touch!
Minibar- No aged Japanese Whiskies here
Pharmacopia amenities in the bathroom
Tub and Shower area
Water closet- note the sink- a nice touch!
After checking in we headed downstairs to the free cocktail hour from 4-7pm daily. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that they served real french champagne during this time, and polished of a few glasses while sitting around the open fireplace. Mostly foreign crowd in the hotel at that time, but later on several groups of young Japanese emerged, having come from the baths.
Foyer, taken from Trip Advisor
For dinner, we had reserved the french restaurant, however their 10,000 yen/pp prix fix meal didn't seem like a winner, so we opted for some room service instead. Note that this property is pretty secluded and there are no places nearby in walking distance to eat.
One tasty, yet expensive, cheeseburger
Beef noodle bowl
We were excited to experience the onsen, however it was the biggest letdown of the trip. Both men and woman's had a single large bath. There was no sauna, no rotemburo, no variety, a poor view, and the foyer to enter the bath had hardly any amenities such as hair gel, etc, that one is used to at an onsen. The water quality was so-so, and lukewarm. I left after 5 minutes feeling quite disappointed. Perhaps this would be a good experience for a foreign guest who has never experienced onsen before, but overall I've had multiple experiences in Hakone that were far superior.
The bath, picture taken off Trip Advisor since I don't bring cameras into these places
We woke up feeling fairly bummed, and ended up leaving the property early at 8AM to head towards kyoto. They don't start running a shuttle till 11AM so we took a cab back to the railway station.
Overall the property had its pluses and minuses, but at the booking rate of nearly $400/night I think there are other options in Hakone that would offer a better onsen experience. The service was disappointing compared to our other stays in Japan, and while the room was fantastic, the lack of an engaging bath experience left little to do but sit and reflect. We won't be returning. My wife remarked that she would have rather remained at the Andaz for the night-and I agreed.