There’s a small, strange test that tells you exactly how strong a sulfur onsen is: wear a silver ring into the bath and see what happens to it. At Hakone Yunohana Prince Hotel, I found out the hard way — my ring came out visibly blackened after a single soak. That’s how concentrated the sulfur is here. It’s the kind of detail no brochure photo can capture, but it’s the first thing I think of whenever this hotel comes up.
Hakone’s Highest Onsen Town
Yunohana Prince Hotel sits at roughly 935 meters above sea level in Ashinoyu, making it one of the highest-altitude onsen properties in all of Hakone. The source is the Yunohanazawa hot spring, and the water here is classified as a simple sulfur spring — the kind that produces that distinctive milky-white, cloudy water rather than the clear or slightly tinted water you’ll find at most other Hakone properties. Sulfur onsen are known in Japan as “beauty baths” for their effect on skin, and they also tend to make you sweat more than a typical soak. I can vouch for that part personally: after a long, unhurried bath here, I woke up the next morning feeling like the previous day’s fatigue had genuinely been washed out of me. That’s not something I say lightly about a hotel bath.
Dinner With a View of the Stars
One of the things that surprised me most was the dining experience. Meals are served in a tatami-style dining room designed to be comfortable for international guests as well — you’re not expected to sit in seiza for an hour. But the real highlight is the open-air seating connected to the bathing area, sometimes described locally as having “the table closest to the sky in Hakone.” On a clear night, the stargazing from there is genuinely beautiful, a reminder of just how high up and how far from city light pollution you are at this elevation.
Rooms and What to Expect
As part of the Prince Hotel group, Yunohana Prince offers a more standardized, resort-hotel style of accommodation compared to a traditional independent ryokan — multiple room grades are available, including upgraded options, and the property leans toward reliability and consistency rather than the idiosyncratic charm of a small family-run inn. If you want that classic small-ryokan intimacy, this isn’t quite it; if you want dependable comfort paired with a genuinely excellent, high-altitude sulfur bath, it delivers well.
Ashinoyu: A Quiet, Historic Onsen Town
Ashinoyu itself is one of the older, quieter onsen towns in Hakone, sitting along a stretch of the historic Old Tokaido Road that connected Edo (old Tokyo) to Kyoto. Near the hotel, the Amazake-chaya teahouse is a well-known rest stop dating back centuries, still serving its namesake sweet, low-alcohol amazake to travelers walking sections of the old road. It’s a nice contrast to the resort-hotel comfort of Yunohana Prince itself — a reminder that this area has been a stopping point for travelers for a very long time.
Onsen Etiquette for International Visitors
Given how strong the sulfur content is here, it’s worth removing any silver jewelry before bathing, as I learned firsthand. Beyond that, standard onsen etiquette applies: shower and rinse thoroughly before entering the shared baths, and don’t bring towels into the water itself. Tattoo policies vary by property and can change, so if this applies to you, it’s worth confirming directly with the hotel before you go.
Access
Getting here takes a bit more effort than some of the more central Hakone properties, which is part of why it feels so removed from everything. From Hakone-Yumoto Station, it’s about a 25-minute ride on the Izu Hakone Bus to the Ashinoyu stop. The hotel also runs a reservation-only free shuttle bus from Odawara Station (departing at 14:00), which is worth booking ahead if you’re coming from Tokyo by train. Drivers coming from the Tokyo direction via the Tomei Expressway and Odawara-Atsugi Road should expect roughly 45km of driving, and there’s free parking for 42 cars on-site.
Booking the Free Shuttle Bus
The reservation-only shuttle from Odawara Station is one of the more useful details for travelers coming from Tokyo, since it removes the need to navigate local buses with luggage. It only runs once a day at 14:00, though, so it’s worth building your travel schedule around that departure time rather than assuming you can catch a later one. If the timing doesn’t work for your itinerary, the Izu Hakone Bus route from Hakone-Yumoto Station is the reliable backup option.
Price and Booking
Rates vary by season and plan, and I’d treat any specific number as a rough starting point rather than a guarantee — I’ve seen listings starting in the ¥9,000 range for room-only style plans, but a proper stay with the hotel’s dinner included will run higher, and prices climb during peak seasons. The property is well represented on Japanese booking platforms like Rakuten Travel and Jalan; international availability through sites like Booking.com is less consistently confirmed, so if you’re booking from overseas, it’s worth checking a couple of different platforms before settling on one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Yunohana Prince Hotel good for a first Japanese onsen experience?
Yes, though the sulfur water is stronger than what most first-timers expect. If you’re sensitive to strong mineral smells, be aware the sulfur scent is noticeable but fades once you’re out of the bath area.
Do I need to remove all jewelry before bathing?
Silver items in particular will tarnish quickly in this water, as I found out with my own ring. Gold and most other metals are generally less affected, but it’s safest to leave valuable jewelry in your room.
Is English spoken at the hotel?
The hotel maintains an English-language version of its website and, as part of the Prince Hotel group, generally has some level of English support at the front desk, though I’d recommend not relying on fluent English for every interaction.
Can I visit for the day without staying overnight?
Day-use policies vary and can change seasonally, so it’s worth confirming directly with the hotel if you’re hoping to bathe without booking a room.
More Hakone Reviews
- Fujiya Hotel, Hakone’s historic classic, for a very different kind of hot spring hotel experience
- Tenzan Tohji-kyo, a garden-set day-use onsen if you want another soak without booking a room
Who Yunohana Prince Is For
This is a strong pick if a genuinely different, mineral-rich onsen experience matters more to you than historic architecture or an intimate ryokan atmosphere. The combination of altitude, milky sulfur water, and open-air stargazing at dinner makes it memorable in a way that’s hard to replicate elsewhere in Hakone — even if, like me, you leave with a blackened ring as a souvenir.
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