Matsuzakaya Honten

My boyfriend and I had stayed a night here as a midtrip respite this past October and we wished we had stayed a little longer! The overall stay was such a fun experience and the staff were incredibly kind. We had arrived a couple of hours earlier before check-in, but they had allowed us to drop off our luggage as we explored Hakone for a couple of hours. When we had finally made our way back to our hotel for check-in, they had ushered us into a sitting area and offered us a warm towel along with tea and snacks. This was where they had asked us about what time we would like to have dinner and breakfast. They had also asked us about our food allergies during this time as well. Afterwards, one of the staff escorted us to our rooms while giving us a brief tour of the hotel. She showed us the complimentary bar near the lobby, the general lounging area, etc. Our luggage was already in our room when we had arrived which was great. Our room was the largest that we had on our entire trip and it was definitely both of our favorites. We had two full sized beds and the mattresses were so comfy. I believe that this was the best sleep I had gotten in Japan lol The rooms were absolutely beautiful and very well maintained. We didn't have time to try the public baths provided on site, but we definitely took advantage of the private open air bath in our room. There was something so magical about soaking outdoors while it rains. Both dinner and breakfast was a whole experience itself. The staff who had served us our meal was attentive and had explained each dish and advised us to eat our dinner clockwise. they serve dinner in courses, and they will lay everything out for breakfast. The flavors were wonderful and we enjoyed everything. Lastly, I want to thank the staff member one more time for being so kind to drying my shoes for me. Because it was rainy during the time that we had visited, the sneakers that I had worn had gotten soaked. I had intended to use the hair dryer to dry my sneakers when we got back to our rooms, however they require you to keep your shoes at the front and exchange it for their indoor sandals. Later the next day at check-out, I found that one of the staff members had taken the time to dry my shoes for me and they were still warm. I was extremely grateful because our next destination was Kyoto which was a couple of hours out.