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      One of the outdoor guest room baths. With the soothing heat of the water, soaking up to your chin in one of these feels just as good as a full-body massage.

      Since 1981, Gora Kadan has been a member of the Relais & Chateaux association of independently owned luxury hotels and restaurants, and in 2002 it was awarded the organization’s prestigious Welcome Trophy in recognition of high customer satisfaction and high standards of service. It’s not hard to see why. As well as in-room baths, there are two large communal baths that draw on piping hot mineral-rich spring water, soothing and relaxing in the midst of nature. The nightly kaiseki is an artistic multi-course treat served in-room by kimono-clad staff and employing seafood sourced fresh from the local waters of Suruga Gulf and Sagami Bay as well as other fine produce brought in from around Japan. Beyond the normal facilities one finds at a ryokan, Gora Kadan also incorporates a covered swimming pool, a jacuzzi, and a gym, not to mention a spa that offers a range of aesthetic treatments such as full-body massages, facials and aromatherapy.

      The location is terrific, too. Guests can easily access tourist attractions such as the Hakone Open Air Museum (home to a large Picasso collection as well as many outdoor art installations), the steaming volcanic landscape of the Owakudani valley, and Lake Ashi with its postcard-perfect view of Mount Fuji. See page 33 for further information on Hakone's attractions.

      Gora kadan 強羅花壇

      Address: 1300 Gora, Hakone, Ashigarashimo, kanagawa 250-0408

      Telephone: 0460-82-3331

      Website: www.gorakadan.com

      Email: [email protected]

      number of rooms: 38

      Room rate: ¥¥¥¥

      In-room baths come in a variety of styles, like this aromatic cedar tub.

      Design-wise, the spa looks extremely traditional, but the massages and other treatments available there have an eclectic feel, with shiatsu, acupuncture, detox, stone therapy, and more on the menu.

      After a traditional ryokan breakfast, you very often don’t need lunch. If you aren’t used to it, rice, fish, pickles, soup (and more) can be quite a challenging start to the day. But, it invites you to take your time, and a slow breakfast sets one up for a relaxing day ahead.

      Relaxation at the Gora Kadan goes beyond a soak in the bath and a massage. You could lounge by the pool all day if you wanted, or do something very rare at a ryokan—use it to get some exercise.

      KAI HAKONE HAKONE

      The KAI’s distinctive blend of local customs and refined tradition with sleek contemporary touches really comes to the fore at the KAI Hakone’s Yosegi-no-Ma room, which is designed using local crafts as a key motif.

      Situated on the banks of a mountain river, a short taxi ride from Hakone-Yumoto Station in the heart of the Hakone area, KAI Hakone is a traditional ryokan tweaked to satisfy modern-day guests.

      Step inside and you will be met by staff dressed in black rather than in kimono. In place of green tea comes a welcome glass of sparkling wine served in a cavernous lobby, with natural wood flooring and furnishings and floor-to-ceiling windows that give panoramic views of greenery.

      From the lobby, a corridor of bamboo leads to the guest rooms, which are spread over four floors and all overlook the river. Floors one to three have twenty-three Japanese-style rooms that feature low sofas and beds and offer an open space that combines a tatami-matted sitting area and wood-floored bedroom, plus wide windows for taking in the sights and sounds of nature outside. On the fourth floor are eight Western-style rooms, with carpeting and contemporary, unfussy interiors.

      Balancing out the hearty flavor of the Meiji nabe (above), the meals also include the finesse of intricate dishes like these. Striking to look at yet sublime on the palette.

      However, if you want a room that says Hakone like no other, book the KAI’s Yosegi-no-Ma, which has been decorated using a distinctive local craft called yosegi marquetry, a type of woodworking that uses different colors and tones of wood to give a mosaic-like appearance. In Hakone’s souvenir stores, you see everything from yosegi boxes and trays to cups and cupboards, and the Yosegi-no-Ma room has gone all out to incorporate these and yosegi-patterned furnishings in its design to very striking effect. Taking the theme a step further, every night in the lobby guests can make their own yosegi coasters; a fun activity and resulting in a souvenir that will be a real conversation-starter.

      Like the Yosegi-no-Ma room, dinner is an elaborate affair. The ten-course kaiseki might start with an appetizer like salmon roe with sea urchin, before the hassun plate of delicacies, which, depending on the season, could include morsels such as steamed chicken with butterbur sprout miso, sea urchin mixed with agar, or thinly sliced potato dressed in flying fish roe. A standout dish here is the chef ’s special Meiji gyu no nabe hot pot, which features succulent chunks of steak cooked in a miso-based sauce.

      One of the KAI Hakone’s signatures—a nabe (which roughly translates as a hot pot) of high-grade beef cooked in a miso-based sauce.

      Hakone is renowned in Japan for its abundance of natural hot springs—there are twenty in the area, and bathing is a key part of any ryokan stay here. Drawing on water from the Hakone Yumoto hot spring, the KAI’s two semi open-air communal baths (one for men, one for women) feature large “infinity” bathtubs with vast open windows that frame the lush riverside scenery.

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