mangoMan

Ugh, have had two nights booked here for the end of July for several months. I hoped the situation would get better but apparently it got worse.

Need the 2 nights as part of a Diamond challenge

hailstorm

According to the hotel Facebook site, it's still business as usual.

https://ja-jp.facebook.com/HyattRegencyHakone

UAL250

I would really like to stay here for my trip to Japan, but won't if it's not safe. Does anyone have any experience with this area and the volcanic activity associated with it? I don't want to have to cancel.

One more question. How easy is it to get to the hotel from NRT? I know the directions on the hotel's website seem pretty straight forward, but it's never that easy is it? My flight would land about 3:30pm. Is it easy enough to get there the same evening as my flight arrives, or is spending a night in Tokyo first preferable?

Thank you!

hailstorm

This has never happened before in Hakone, so I don't know what to say. Most hotels are still open. It's your call.

wideman

From NRT, you need to take the Narita Express to Shinagawa (about 1h15m), then a Shinkansen to Odawara (30 mins). From Odawara, you either take a set of trains to Gora (1h15) or a taxi (35 min), unless you can get one of the infrequent hotel shuttles from Odawara. If it were me, I'd overnight in Tokyo.

But if the cable car (funicular) is not operating, that means that getting to/from the hotel during your stay becomes problematic, unless the hotel adds some shuttles between the hotel and Gora.

bitsofwonder

I just stayed at the HR Hakone, here are my observations:

• Volcanic action completely overrated. The hotel is quite far from Mt. Hakone. That said, there are tourist areas that are closed off.
• The common areas in the hotel are quite nice. The onsen area is decent, the dining areas are beautiful. The food is comparable to the Tokyo-area hotels.
• The rooms themselves are a little dated. For example, they use physical keys, and furnishings show the wear and tear of a hotel that's been around for a while.
• I drove (the hotel has free parking), but there are shuttles
• The hotel is quite far from the station area, and there isn't much to do in the area without a car
• When in doubt, email the concierge. Super helpful staff and top notch service.
• Hotel does a lot right - diamond breakfast is great (Japanese breakfast or buffet like the PH Tokyo), happy hour w/ free cocktails

Let me know if you have any questions. I enjoyed my stay there and would go back again.

hailstorm

Gora area is about 2km from Mt. Hakone, and 1km separated from the Do Not Enter area.

An NHK article today states that business in food and entertainment establishments in Gora area is down about 20-30% from this time last year, and lodging reservations are down almost half.

Japanese are especially skittish in the wake of the surprise Mt. Ontake eruption last year that killed over 60 people.

fangtl

Any kid friendly restaurant recommendations other than the hotel. Preferably within reasonable walking distance from the HRH?

Aventine

Nothing at all. It's not really a walking kind of property.

hailstorm

For kid friendly, stay at the Prince. They have a sledding course set up now!

For better or worse, Hyatt is in the boonies.

jpdx

I'm considering a single-night stay here on the way from Osaka to Tokyo. Is that crazy?

I've stayed here before and visited the Hakone attractions; for this stay, we'd just stay put at the hotel, soak in the onsen, sit by the fireplace, etc. I figure depart Osaka at 10am to get to the 1.15pm shuttle at Odawara, arrive at the hotel at 2pm; leave next day on 1.15pm shuttle.

OsakaWino

I don't think it crazy at all. It is a very pleasant place to spend 23 hours. As long as you're okay with the time spent on the shuttle and the extra time for the shinkansen (I seem to remember that a few hikari trains stop at Odawara, but that was years ago, maybe now it is only the kodama).

jpdx

Looks like there's a Hikari every other hour that stops at Odawara (arr. 10.26, 12.36, 14.36, etc; 140 minutes from Shin-Osaka). The 12.36 arrival works very well with the 1.15 shuttle, allowing some time for lunch at the bakery.

Thanks for the encouragement!

hailstorm

While I don't think that I had ever had a particularly bad impression of this hotel, after our recent two-night stay it got significantly better. This was probably my best Hyatt experience of the year.

The best part of all was receiving my first ever suite upgrade on an all-points reservation. While there's not much of a size difference between a Regency Suite Twin and a Deluxe Twin (the suite doesn't even have an extra television), all the extra windows that the suite offers really improves the quality of the stay. While I appreciate the ability to guarantee a suite upgrade with a DSU on paid reservations when I really need it, the best suite upgrades are the ones that are unexpected.

The onsen is much better than I previously gave it credit for being. The revolving Izumi spa shampoo and conditioner that's made available is quite nice, especially the peppermint one. The onsen itself is very relaxing, and leaves you smelling better than any cologne. The design is still pretty boring, but that doesn't matter when your eyes are closed.

The 4-7pm free drink service exceeds that of the Andaz Tokyo evening service. There are several alcoholic options to choose from, including a cocktail-of-the-day, as well as a decent selection of non-alcoholic drinks, and a few kinds of candy and snacks to eat with them. From the top of each hour there's a 30 minute live music presentation; the first day was piano, the second a piano/cello team. The living room itself is very relaxing, especially at night time, and doubly especially while seated in front of the fireplace in the center of the room. Although it can be quite crowded, somehow with the live music you are able to make out conversation with your own party perfectly without being able to hear anyone else around you.

Diamond breakfast was excellent by Hyatt Regency standards. The selections of the Western buffet were quite different between day one and day two, to the point where it's almost a different buffet altogether. From October, the Japanese set breakfast has changed to a revolving daily special of three different offerings; my wife gave it high marks on both days that she had it.

Both nights we ended up having dinner in our room (while catching up on the older Star Wars movies ahead of watching VII this weekend) The selection was a little lacking, but it was fine for a two night stay, and everything we tried tasted very good. I especially recommend the "Penne with mushrooms & chikin (sic) cream sauce".

The staff were all very friendly, and seemed quite eager to help us in any way possible. When I called housekeeping to ask if they had any bath salt for the rooms, they brought little cups of four different samples of bath salt from the Izumi Spa! We ended up taking turns trying them all, because taking baths is what you do when in Hakone.

All in all, we really got our 50,000 points worth out of our stay. The Hyatt Regency Hakone Resort and Spa feels like a Park Hyatt with Hyatt Regency amenities. Since it's already much more expensive than your average Regency, I wish they would just rebrand as a Park Hyatt and concentrate on becoming as good as they can possibly be.

As a bonus "scoop", I noticed a truck with a Hyatt Regency Hakone sign on it parked at the old abandoned Zeon company resort lodging building across the street. I asked some staff members about this, and while nobody was willing to say on the record that they have purchased this building, the sign was removed from this truck soon after I brought it to their attention. Draw your own conclusions from this.

Boraxo

Not crazy at all, we did the same thing in reverse (Tokyo to Kyoto). Not as impressed w hhour as others and recommend you stay on property for dinner rather than blending extra for the inferior Nobu experience. That being said, the Hyatt is a wonderful retreat from the hustle and bustle of the big cities, and they treat elites very well.