Hakone-yama Hotels

Hakone Sengokuhara Youth Hostel: An Idyllic Getaway in Hakone

Hakone Sengokuhara Youth Hostel and its more upmarket counterpart, Fuji-Hakone Guest House, are situated next to each other. They are often prominently featured in travel guides like Rough Guides, and having had the opportunity to stay at the youth hostel, it's not difficult to understand why.
Its Japanese-styled rooms are spacious and Zen elegant. We were required to make our own beds, and the staff provided so many tatami mats and mattresses that we were actually confused as to the proper way to lay our beds. As we were staying the night with a Japanese person, we kinda procrastinated making the beds, as we didn't want to appear foolish in front of our roommate. Eventually, the urge to sleep took over and we haphazardly laid our beds for the night.

The hostel has a hot spring bath, the source of which is Owakudani volcano. Imagine our thrill when we realised that: an indoor spa bath! A point to note: This bath is communal, so interested guests are requested to reserve a timing in which they would like to use this bath beforehand.

The youth hostel is conveniently located near many restaurants. However, most of these restaurants close at 8pm, and so it would be wise to have one's dinner before that. Nonetheless, there's a convenience shop (Lawson, if my memory serves me correctly) in its proximity, and hence, one need not fear of hunger.

Staying in this hostel allowed us to appreciate the kindness of the Japanese. While we were eating dinner in the dining room, our Japanese roommate appeared and offered us packets of tidbits. I was rather touched by his thoughtful gesture. It was very nice to feel that someone was kinda looking out for you in a foreign land.

All these perks for a reasonable price of 4,245 yen!