The Private Traveller

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Hotel Review: Gōra Kadan Ryokan, Japan.

The Private Traveller

Overview

Gōra Kadan is located on the grounds of Kan’in-no-miya Villa, the former summer villa of a member of the Imperial Family in the town of Gora in Hakone. The villa, which blends Japanese tradition along with modern design elements, offers hot spring waters that flow freely from the source with an authentic kaiseki cuisine prepared with strictly selected seasonal ingredients. Having come straight from the Train-Suite Shiki-Shima (https://www.jreast.co.jp/shiki-shima/en/) we were looking for a relaxing couple of days before travelling further in Japan.⁣⁣

Would I stay here again? It’s an amazing location and a great experience (though it is exceptionally expensive) but yes I would love to come back and hopefully stay a few more days with clearer weather.

Read more about the ryokan here https://www.gorakadan.com/?lang=en

 Location

To get here we initially took a bullet train from Tokyo Station to Odawara (only about 30 minutes) followed by the Hakone-Yumoto mountain train. The first part of the journey was to Yumoto, then a quick change to a different platform to go on to Gora. From Gora, we were met by the hotel in a luxurious town car for only a few minutes’ drive to the ryokan itself. The following day we walked back to the station which is also the first stop of the Hakone-Tozan Cable Car (check more details here and status of the Ropeway which was suspended when we were there https://www.hakonenavi.jp/english/traffic/transportation/tozancablecar/).

Accommodation

At Gōra Kadan there are standard rooms, rooms with open-air baths, the Kadan Suites and rooms in the annexe. We had an amazing room (a Kadan Suite) on the ground floor with private garden - you enter the main lodge on floor 6 at the top but we then had to take the lift down to the ground floor. Ours was room 107 (Aoi - meaning hollyhock [a flower]).

This had a 17m² living room, a 10m² sleeping room (with two futon mats on a low bed), a 13m² sitting room, a private Japanese garden and open-air rock bath and shower in the garden. The indoor bathroom also had a shower/steam room and a separate WC/hand-basin off the bedroom area. Just excellent, though the suite, especially the bathroom, was a bit dated.

Food & Drink

Although the ryokan does have a restaurant, all rooms in the main building are served breakfast and dinner in their rooms (included within the room rate - we got a discount for the first night as we were due to arrive beyond dinner time). If you’re staying in the annexe (really only seconds of a walk from the main complex) I believe you have all meals in the Kaiseki Restaurant (you can check it out here https://www.gorakadan.com/kaiseki-kadan/?lang=en). There is also a coffee bar on site and a karaoke/late-evening bar too.

Dinner, served in the suite, was beautiful to look at, exceptionally well prepared and presented, with just the most incredible service. It was multi-course but quite hard to fully appreciate with Western palates - even mine being the vegetarian version (and they had taken into account most dietary requirements, though not all). Breakfast too was great, we asked for a Western-style breakfast (not an option for dinner, unfortunately) which was accommodated, although still very much had a Japanese influence. Food quality was great, albeit if we were coming back, I think I would need to investigate other local restaurant options to have more variety. Dinner once was an experience, any more than that wouldn’t be for our personal tastes.

Facilities & Service

On site there is a large spa area with separate men’s and women’s areas. Both have a large changing area, amply equipped with towels and toiletries, through this area there is a communal washing area and a large indoor onsen bath, as well as a cold plunge-pool to the side. Outside in an enclosed garden, is an open air onsen bath, fed from the nearby hot springs. The male and female side change daily, we understood the female baths on the day we were there have the better view over the valley. Adjacent to the bathing area there is a relaxation area, well serviced and fitted with various seating areas (including some electronic massage chairs), hot and cold drinks and a library. In addition to the public bathing area, there was also a family spa which can be reserved for 40 minutes at a time at no extra cost - this was a private bathing pool (again filled from hot springs on the premises) and a steam/sauna room too.

In addition to the bathing areas there was also a decent sized indoor pool with outside spring-fed jacuzzi rock bath, and a separate fitness room. The resort also has a well-stocked (though expensive) gift-shop - you can find out more details on the full facilities guide here https://www.gorakadan.com/wp/wp-content/themes/gorakadan/pdf/facilities_en.pdf.

There was a wide choice of spa, relaxation and beauty treatments available in the Kadan Spa. Being here for only two nights we unfortunately didn’t have time to try a treatment, though we did try out both the pool and bathing area.

ThePrivateTraveller’s top tips (any areas for improvement?)

  • As we found at Zaborin too, while dinners are absolutely incredible visually they’re often not completely aligned with western palates. It was fantastic to have the option of a more western breakfast, would be great to have that as a dinner option too, especially when staying for multiple nights.

  • While the main areas of the resort are really up-to-date, our bathroom (and separate WC) though spotlessly clean, was really beginning to date.

  • We knew we had missed dinner on the first night (and the rate was adjusted accordingly) but there could have been more snacks available in the coffee lounge (we had the cheese plate, which was the only snack available, but was incredibly expensive for what it was).

ThePrivateTraveller’s absolute highlights:

  • The arrival - being dropped off at the doors to the original building, transitioning through from the old part into the new wing and that stunning “goes on forever” central walkway/atrium/hallway. 

  • Service was exemplary and our room host incredibly helpful.

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