In July 2025, Hakone Ninohira Shibuyaso, a recreation center for Shibuya Ward residents, finally reopened!
This time, the museum has been closed for quite a long time, and I am sure that the residents of the district are quite curious as to "what has changed!" I am sure that the residents of the ward are also quite curious about what has changed.
Miraculously, our family was able to make a reservation in early July, just after the reopening.
I had to report on this! I was so excited that I had to report on this!
We will also provide you with more detailed information than anywhere else about what we have learned from actually staying at the hotel, so if you are planning to stay there or are curious about it, please take a look.
However, this is only a recreation center that can be used by ward residents at a discount price. Of course, there was no shortage of service, but it does not offer the same level of service as a high-class ryokan. I have also included a few "beware of this!
Upon entering the neat and stylish entrance, one is greeted by a spacious and bright lobby. Outside the lobby is a fairly spacious terrace, also with a panoramic view of the Hakone mountains. Comfortable chairs and tables are also provided for you to relax and unwind.
Check-in was completed by simply holding up the QR code since the necessary information had been entered on the web in advance. I was given two normal keys, not a card. After receiving an explanation of the hotel, we decided the time for dinner and breakfast. Dinner is served at 17:30/18:00/18:30 and breakfast is served at 7:30/8:00/8:30. We arrived at the inn after 4:00 p.m., but we were free to choose any time.
The lounge in the lobby doubles as a tearoom, just as in a first-class hotel or ryokan, and tea, sweets, and alcohol can be ordered.
In early July, a Tanabata bamboo branch was displayed in the lobby, where people could freely write and decorate strips of paper. The strips of paper were not just colored paper, but rather thoughtful strips of paper.
The yukata are self-service, and you take them yourself from a shelf near the lobby counter. Probably the same as the yukata before the renewal. Use what you can. Very sustainable. There were small, medium, large, and extra-large sizes for adults, and small and medium sizes for children. By the way, obi and tanzen are available in the guest rooms.
- Parking is available, but can be scarce during busy times.
Staff members are not always outside, so if there are no available spaces when you visit the museum, please ask the staff inside to direct you to a parking space.
It has been advertised for some time that the museum uses Sibuya Font artwork throughout the building, but when I saw it in person, it was really cute and added a nice accent to the simple space.
The building is connected from the main building A to buildings B and C. We had a room in building C. There are about 3 or 4 steps from building B to building C, so please be careful. We had a guest room in wing C. Please note that there are 3 or 4 steps from wing B to wing C. Also, you need to take an elevator on the way to wing A where there is a large bath and a dining room. Also, you need to take an elevator on the way to the A building, which has a large bath and a dining room, but the price is lower because of this.
(Incidentally, there is a passageway leading to the main baths on the first floor of Building B. You can take a short cut by using that passageway, but it goes outside and is closed in the event of rain.)
We chose a room with bunk beds. As soon as we entered the room, we were greeted by a large bed, and our 5-year-old daughter was so excited! This room has a capacity for four people, but since there are three in our family, there was enough bedding for two people on the upper bunk and one on the lower bunk. The empty space on the lower bunk is like a sofa, which is a nice place to relax.
The room has one small round table and one chair. The furnishings in the room are as follows.
Room furnishings
∙ Typical ryokan size refrigerator (empty inside, no freezer)
Electric Kettle
Mugs, glasses, ice bucket, tea bags (green tea and black tea)
Indoor slippers, bags for indoor use, and tanzen
Dryer
Bath and face towels (with Ninohira-so logo, available in light blue, yellow, and pink) (Light blue, yellow, and pink towels were available.)
Toothbrush, toothpaste, gargle cup
Safe (dial type)
- The top bunk of a bunk bed has a great potential for a small child to fall.
- Room locks are not auto-locking. You must lock the door when you leave your room.
- There were no slippers or toothbrushes for children.
*This article is written by a woman and is a report on a women's bathhouse.
As soon as I opened the door to the changing room, I was instantly in a relaxing mode with the good smell of cypress wood. There were name stickers and pens in the shoe boxes so that slippers could be marked.
The inside shelves each have a basket and a dial valuables compartment underneath, which can hold a small, thin object such as a smartphone or keys.
However, each shelf is narrow, so everyone used about two per person.
There are three hair dryers, "KINUJYO" ones, which will raise your tension! Amenities included lotion, milky lotion, face and hand soap, and cotton swabs.
Toilets, cribs, and water servers with room temperature and cold water are also provided.
The bathroom was a good size, with 10 washing stations, each with shampoo, conditioner, and body soap. Face and hand soap and cleansing oil were not available in every bathroom, but in some places. (By the way, all amenities were from NATURE&CO by KOSE. (By the way, all the amenities were from "NATURE&CO" by KOSE. They were stylishly packaged.)
The indoor baths are spacious enough. There was also a space to lie down. The water temperature was about 41.5 degrees. My child was a little hot.
The open-air bath was large enough for four or five people, and the water was slightly lower than the indoor bath, making it easy for children to enter.
The greenery spreads out in front of you, and you are further relaxed by the negative ions.
In the "Yu-Age Lounge" in front of the large bath, there are a sofa and two full-fledged massage chairs. These massage chairs are free of charge! Therefore, they are not available very often, but they are available 24 hours a day, so late at night may be a good time to aim for one.
In addition, a partition separates one corner of the lounge after the bath, where a ping-pong table is set up. There is no charge for this service, but reservations are required.
- Cotton brushes are not provided.
- Moths and other insects gather in the open-air baths at night.
- There were no children's chairs or soap in the bathhouse. (Maybe they can lend them to you if you ask.)
The sauna is located on the first floor of Building C, separated from the main baths. The changing rooms were equipped with the same amenities as the main baths. I did not use the sauna this time due to bad timing, but I took a peek inside and found that the sauna was large enough to accommodate about 5-6 people at a time. The water bath is also quite large. There were two chairs in the outdoor air bath space, and it looked pleasant with greenery spreading out in front of it.
- Sauna hours are until 9:00 p.m. at night and from 8:00 a.m. in the morning.
The cafeteria was located on the second floor of Building A and was divided into two sections.
The quality of the food is the same as before the renovation, and is on par with that of a luxury ryokan! There is also a menu with a list of dishes to choose from. The rice is cooked on the table, but there are no hot pots, grilled dishes, or hot dishes that are brought to you on the way to the table, as is often the case at ryokans (although there were a few who had this option). (There were a few people who had this as an option.) However, the portions were generous, and I was very full.
This time, my 5-year-old daughter also had a children's dish, which was like a makunouchi bento with sashimi, tempura, fried fish, sausage, and grilled salmon. It was a huge portion, but she seemed to enjoy it and finished almost all of it.
Choose from Japanese or Western breakfast. Both are of excellent volume and quality. For Western-style breakfast, you can choose from a selection of bread, rolls, and croissants, and you can have as many as you like. However, the overwhelming majority of guests chose the Japanese style breakfast, which even had a list of dishes to choose from.
The beverage corner includes milk (Tanna milk from Shizuoka Prefecture), orange juice, apple juice, and even green smoothies! And of course, coffee and tea.
By the way, breakfast was the same for children as for adults.
You can also have lunch at this cafeteria if you register by 9:30 on the day of the tour. The menu includes: Unaju (eel stew) 2,800 yen; Kaisen-don (rice topped with seafood and cutlet) 1,500 yen; Tempura soba (udon) and curry with pork cutlet 1,200 yen; soba and udon 700 yen, etc. (No children's menu is available). (No children's menu).
*Please refer to the photos for operating hours and fees of each facility.
Souvenir Corner: There is a small souvenir corner next to the lobby. There were tasteful souvenirs and curries of Fujiya Hotel.
Karaoke room: There were three rooms that looked like regular karaoke boxes. Reservations are required.
Kids' Space: A large room with mats on the floor. There are no toys or picture books. (It may be installed in the future).
Working Space: A working space is located in the hallway on the third floor of Building C. There is a long desk with an outlet and USB port and four chairs. There are no partitions, so you may be a little concerned about people passing behind you.
Other facilities include a conference room and a mah-jongg room.
In addition to the public baths and sauna, water servers are located in various places.
There was also one ice machine in Building A and one in Building C.
The vending machine had both soft drinks and alcohol. Soft drinks were from Ito En and Coca-Cola Co. A PET bottle of barley tea was 150 yen. Black coffee was 160 yen. Alcohol was by Sapporo: Sapporo draft for 250 yen, Kaku highball for 220 yen, Singh lemon sour for 180 yen, and mixed nuts for 300 yen.
The day we stayed at the hotel, we were presented with dorayaki as a gift to commemorate the opening of the hotel.
Security guards patrol the building at night.
We had a great two days in a space that was new and stylish everywhere!
I was worried that my child would get bored because the kids' space was disappointing, but since the building is like a maze in a good sense of the word, I spent a lot of time exploring, looking for the names of towns in Shibuya Ward written on the signboard, and climbing up and down the bunk beds in the rooms. I spent a lot of time climbing up and down the bunk beds in my room.
Overall, I felt that services for children were still a little lacking, but I hope to see more of them in the future.
After all, "What? Hoshi X Resort?" The luxury of staying at a ryokan for less than 6,000 yen per person will blow away any complaints you may have. (Prices vary depending on the room and the number of guests.)
Incidentally, our family spent the first day playing at the Unessan in Owakudani and sightseeing in Owakudani by taking the ropeway, and on the second day we went to the Kamaboko no Sato in Odawara to do a workshop and buy some souvenirs. Both are very accessible from Ninohira-so, so I recommend them! In the cooler season, I also recommend visiting the Hakone Open-Air Museum, which can be reached on foot.
Ninohira Shibuyaso gives you the feeling of having a quality vacation home in Hakone. I would love to go back there again soon, but I don't know when I will win again... I will keep applying for the lottery without giving up.
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