Lake Ashi Onsen Hotels: Which Rooms and Baths Face the Lake?
Compare Hanaori, Ryuguden and The Prince Hakone by where the Lake Ashi view actually appears: in the room, a shared onsen, or a limited private spring bath.
“Lake view” can mean a bedroom window, a shared bath or simply the hotel grounds. Around Lake Ashi, those are different features. Ryuguden is the clearest choice for a room facing the lake; just three rooms also have a private natural-spring bath. The Prince Hakone Lake Ashinoko has a named Lake View Twin, though its guest-room bath is not onsen water.
Hakone Ashinoko Hanaori offers its clearest lake view from a shared bath. An ordinary room booking does not guarantee a lake-facing room.
| What you want to look at | Start with | Check before booking |
|---|---|---|
| Lake Ashi from the room, with a shared lakeside onsen | Ryuguden | The 65 m² lakeside Japanese room is listed as lake-side throughout; a room with its own spring bath is a separate, three-room category. |
| A balcony and a specifically named lake-view twin room | The Prince Hakone Lake Ashinoko | Reserve “Lake View Twin” or “Suite”; Forest Twin and Double are not lake-view rooms. |
| A lake-facing communal bath near Togendai | Hanaori | Its public baths alternate between lake and garden views; confirm any room-view guarantee in the plan name and terms. |
Ryuguden: the most consistent room view, with one rare private-bath category
Ryuguden’s 65 m² Lakefront Japanese Room is listed as lake-side, with a wide picture window along its enclosed veranda and capacity for up to five. There is also a lake-side Japanese twin room on the third floor for two. That makes it the least ambiguous of these three if the view needs to be from the room rather than somewhere on the property.
For a private bath with natural hot-spring water, look specifically for the 95 m² Lakefront Special Japanese Room in the annex. The hotel lists only three, each with an indoor onsen bath and room for up to five. The regular lake-side rooms should not be assumed to have spring water in their private bathrooms.
Overnight guests can use Ryuguden’s main-building baths at no extra charge. The hotel describes views across Lake Ashi toward Mount Fuji; listed guest hours are 6 a.m.–8 p.m., with last entry at 7 p.m.
The annex bathing area has indoor baths but no open-air bath. Its listed hours are 2 p.m.–1 a.m. and 5–10 a.m. The main-building bath is the one with the lake-and-Fuji view, and it closes earlier.
The Prince: a proper lake-view room, not a private in-room onsen
The Lake View Twin is a 38 m² room in the main building’s east or west wing on floors two and three. It has two twin beds, a sofa bed for a third guest, and a broad balcony; the official room description names Lake Ashi and the surrounding mountains as the view. The 76 m² Suite is another explicit lake-and-Mount-Fuji view category, with balconies in both the living room and bedroom.
The hotel’s lakeside address does not guarantee a lake view. The Forest Twin and Double room descriptions say they do not look over Lake Ashi or Mount Fuji. Baths in both the Lake View Twin and Forest Twin are listed as non-onsen.
For natural spring water, guests use the separate Hakone Kohannoyu bath. Its outdoor bath faces the lake and draws from the property’s Takogawa source. It closes for cleaning from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; otherwise posted hours are 6–10:30 a.m. and 1–11 p.m., with last entry 15 minutes before closing.
This is the better fit if a balcony and conventional twin-room layout matter as much as the soak. The trade-off is that the view and the natural spring are in separate places.
Hanaori: the lake is clearest from the shared bath
Hanaori is beside Togendai, which is useful if the ropeway, sightseeing boats and bus routes around the lake are part of your stay. Its two large bathing areas alternate between men and women. One is the Lake Ashi View bath; the other looks onto a garden. Both use Motohakone spring water and are listed open from 3 p.m. to midnight and 5–10 a.m. Check the hotel’s schedule during your stay so you know which view is available to you at each bathing period.
For a bedroom view, a standard room is not automatically lake-facing. Hanaori lists a limited plan for a better-positioned lakeside Standard Room, capped at three rooms a day. Fog and weather can still obscure the view, and the plan’s terms depend on the date.
A room with an outdoor tub is a separate feature: that tub uses heated water, not onsen water. For a private spring-water bath, Hanaori has bookable semi-open-air baths shared by one party at a time; they are reserved by session, not attached to a room.
Hanaori’s transport changed on October 1, 2026: the direct Odawara shuttle ended the day before. The hotel now runs a free shuttle, with no reservation required, between the property and a stop about a three-minute walk from Gora Station. The ride takes around 20 minutes.
If the shuttle is full, guests must wait for the next one; road and weather conditions can also disrupt service. Hanaori remains convenient for Togendai, but travel from Odawara now needs a different first leg. Its full stay guide has more room and shuttle details.
Getting to the other two without a car
Ryuguden and The Prince share a free, reservation-only shuttle from Odawara Station’s west exit. The current timetable has three departures from Odawara—11:45 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4:15 p.m.—and three returns from the hotels. The ride is usually about 50 minutes, but traffic can change that; seats are limited, so reserve ahead. Ryuguden guests’ shuttle calls at Ryuguden.
Both properties also list Izu-Hakone Bus service from Odawara and Hakone-Yumoto to the hotel or Hakone-en stop. Check the day’s timetable before choosing this over the shuttle, especially if you are carrying luggage. Hanaori is the outlier: its access is built around Togendai, but the new Gora shuttle makes the final transfer less direct for anyone coming straight from Odawara. The car-free Hakone loop guide helps place these transfers alongside the ropeway and lake boat; the Hakone stay-area guide is useful if you have not settled on the lake as your base.
If you are comparing the hotels mainly for room water rather than the view, use the separate guides to Hakone stays with a private onsen in every room and ryokan with bookable private baths. The lake-view question is narrower: confirm exactly where the view is, then compare the room category that gives it to you.
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