My trip couldn't be more perfect. The hotel and the staffs give a real sense of Japanese's hospitality. The service was excellent, the room is spacious, you can choose either to sleep on bed or on Japanese traditional mat. Breakfast was nice with choices of international and traditional style. Onsen is excellent, you can choose to dip yourself indoor and outdoor. Hotel also provides free pick up and drop off service from the train station.
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If you go to kawaguchi the best choice is the Fuji Lake hotel. At only 10 minutes by foot from the station (downhill!). The rooms are quite big and equiped with a small "onsen station". After this they have also a nice pubblic onsen, both at close and open space with a beaytiful and relaxing view. From this hotel you can enjoy the view of the lake and the view of the mt. Fuji san, expecially from the observatory of the hotel.
Having stayed in dozens of hotels & ryokans around Mt Fuji area, this is my first choice when I want to enjoy natural onsen in my own room and the grand view of the lake Kawaguchiko at the same time.
There are many hotels & ryokans with a private bath tub with a view of the lake or Mt Fuji but you should be aware that very few of them are natural onsen. The Fuji Lake Hotel is one of the few that has rooms with private onsen.
The style of the hotel is rather classical-modern (showa) and you may be disappointed if you expect the traditional Japanese ryokan.
We had a 1 night stay to get a good view of mt fuji on our way back to Tokyo at the end of a 2 week holiday. The reception staff spoke good English and were very helpful. We booked online a couple of months in advance and got a good rate with breakfast included. On check in we got a complimentary room upgrade. The room was huge with mt fuji views, and a bathroom the size of other Japan hotel rooms. Free wi fi through out the hotel was great, as that can't be expected in japan as we found out! The cheaper rooms with lake instead of mt views are also worth while, as the hotel has it's own mt fuji observation room. You get sunrise time at check in so you know when to set your alarm clock, with just a short walk inside the hotel up to the observation room. The buffet breakfast had loads to choose from, and all very good. The breakfast rooms has great views of both the lake and mt. You will see from other reviews that the decor is dated, but it is clean and not worn out, just a little old fashioned, which we felt made he place quite cute. We highly recommend this hotel if you can get a good rate booking online in advance.
We stayed at Fuji Lake Hotel for 2 nights in Oct 2011. It was the end leg of our 7-day trip to Tokyo and we were really looking forward to a quiet retreat - a different kind of fun from cosmopolitan Shinjuku, Shibuya and the like.
Before we made our decision on which Mt Fuji lake resort to visit, one of my Japanese friends had advised me to go Hakone instead of Kawaguchiko. Her reason was that Hakone would be a bit more 'touristy' whereas the latter would be more suited for the local Japanese tourist.
She was right! Kawaguchiko was a quaint little town which sees many more domestic travellers than international tourists. It was quite easy to realise this once we reached the bus terminal. But this suited my wife and I totally fine as we really felt more immersed into the culture. For instance, there were minimal English signs and the lack of other fellow non-Japanese throughout our stay somehow allowed us to soak in the sights and sounds a little deeper.
We had a traditional kind of tatami room at the ryokan. The view of Mt Fuji was indeed breathtaking; enough to keep us in awe as we spent many moments just staring at it ;drinking grape wine bought from our day excursions. The view of Mt Fuji again at the outdoor onsen made every cent well worth it.
There were no major tourist 'traps' in the vicininty. The 2nd day morning, we took the local bus to one end and trekked back about 10km back to our hotel. On the way, we stopped by wonderful pastry joint, cafe and wine shop to sample the local fare. It was one of the nicest walk we ever had. The only thing 'touristy' perhaps were the 'cycle-boats' which allow visitors to 'paddle' round the lake.
For both nights after our evening onsen, we would enjoy the sumptuous dinner the hotel ktichen had prepared. The freshness of the food was unbeatable; the variety, awesome.
All this does not come cheap of course but I would conclude overall it's value for money. Actually, 5 months since our visit, I have forgotten the initial 'pinch' I felt when booking this expensive hotel. But what has been etched in my memory till today are: the great view of Mt fuji, soul-invigorating outdoor onsen, the breathtaking walk around Lake Kawaguchi and the sumptuous dinner awaiting us every night.
The view is excellent, the hotel has an observatory which has an unobstructed view of Mt Fuji and so did my room (which is right underneath the observatory). The staff are helpful. The whole hotel is dated, no internet in the room. The food was good.
