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Hakone alone: 5 onsen inns that will take a single guest
Approximate, at the rate on 2026-10-02. You pay in yen.
- Hakone solo traveller onsen inns: five that sell a one-person rate with dinner
- Cozy Inn is women-only for solo guests, at about ¥20,000; Fujiya runs ¥72,000–92,000
- Hotel de Yama brings dinner to your room; Marroad has milky Owakudani water
The five
| Best for | Where to book | Score | Weeknight (per person) | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for having a hot spring entirely to yourself — if you can’t decide | Cozy Inn Hakone no Yama Check price |
94/100 | ¥19,000–20,000 | ¥20,000–23,000 |
| Best for a day spent inside the hotel | Fujiya Hotel Check price |
66/100 | ¥72,000–92,000 | ¥103,000–239,000 |
| Best for a room actually built for one | Mizu no Oto Check price |
62/100 | ¥27,000–60,000 | ¥44,000 |
| Best for milky Owakudani water and a French dinner | Hotel Marroad Hakone Check price |
62/100 | ¥28,000–37,000 | ¥34,000–56,000 |
| Best if you would rather not eat in a dining room | Odakyu Hotel de Yama Check price |
57/100 | ¥30,000–49,000 | ¥37,000–55,000 |
Prices are the cheapest per person found on Rakuten Travel for Wednesdays and Saturdays between 2026-11-04 – 2026-12-26, for 1 adults in one room (checked 2026-10-25). They move daily — the link shows live prices.
The booking links go to Agoda, which shows today’s price and lets you pay in your own currency. Its price can differ from the Rakuten Travel figures above.
Best for having a hot spring entirely to yourself
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.98/5 (332) · Google Maps 4.90/5 (246) · Tripadvisor 4.90/5 (385) · 963 in total
- Six-room pension in the hills above Gora
- Rated 4.98 across 332 Rakuten reviews
- Second reservable bath is in the trees
- Dinner is a home-cooked Western menu
Why it made the five
- Six rooms; two reservable open-air baths on free-flowing spring water
- The ‘flying stone bath’, cut from an 18-tonne boulder, with a view
- About five minutes uphill from Kami-Gora cable-car station
- ¥19,000–20,000 for one with dinner and breakfast on a weeknight — the cheapest of the five
Getting there: About five minutes on foot, uphill, from Kami-Gora station on the Hakone cable car.
Language and payment: A private bath booked for yourself is the simplest form of Japanese bathing there is — nobody else is in it, and tattoos do not arise. Note the restriction below before planning.
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Right for: You want a free-flowing hot spring to yourself, for about ¥20,000.
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Not for: You are a man travelling alone — the solo rate here is for women.
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Worth knowing: The solo rate is women-only; we could not confirm a single rate with meals for men. There are no televisions, and plenty of stairs and stone steps. Solo guests cannot use the car park.
Score breakdown — 94/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★★★ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.93 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★★★★ | ¥19,000–20,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, dinner and breakfast) — 68% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★☆☆ | Reservable free-flowing open-air baths you use alone, six rooms |
| Trust | ★★★★★ | 4.93 across 963 reviews (Rakuten Travel 332, Google Maps 246, Tripadvisor 385) |
| Only here | ★★★★★ | A reservable bath cut from an 18-tonne boulder, and a standing solo rate for women |
Best for a day spent inside the hotel
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.75/5 (2,271) · Ikyu 4.70/5 (494) · Jalan 4.70/5 (1,881) · Google Maps 4.50/5 (3,118) · Tripadvisor 4.10/5 (1,091) · Booking.com 4.60/5 (1,994) · Agoda 9.2/10 (1,284) · 12,133 in total
- 2,271 Rakuten reviews, averaging 4.75
- Fifty-plus single rates on each of our three test dates, the most we checked
- Open since 1878
Why it made the five
- 120 rooms; hot-spring water in the room baths as well as the communal bath
- Seven minutes on foot from Miyanoshita station
- Tea lounge, bar and bakery — somewhere to be all day
- Single rates with meals available on all three dates we tested
Getting there: About seven minutes on foot from Miyanoshita station on the Hakone Tozan railway.
Language and payment: Open to foreign guests since the nineteenth century and the most practised of the five in English. Hot-spring water in your own bath means you need never use the communal one.
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Right for: You are alone and want a hotel you can stay inside without feeling conspicuous.
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Not for: ¥72,000–92,000 for one with meals on a weeknight — by far the most expensive of the five.
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Worth knowing: Saturdays cost far more: our Saturday search found ¥103,000–239,000 for one.
Score breakdown — 66/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★★☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.70 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★☆☆☆☆ | ¥72,000–92,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, dinner and breakfast) — 263% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Checkout 11:00, seven minutes from the station, lounge, bar and bakery, plenty of single availability |
| Trust | ★★★☆☆ | 4.57 across 10,849 reviews (Rakuten Travel 2,271, Ikyu 494, Jalan 1,881, Google Maps 3,118, Tripadvisor 1,091, Booking.com 1,994) |
| Only here | ★★★★★ | Japan’s first full resort hotel, from 1878, with Miyanoshita spring water in the room baths |
Best for a room actually built for one
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.48/5 (2,369) · Ikyu 4.30/5 (69) · Jalan 4.40/5 (6,572) · Google Maps 4.10/5 (1,720) · Tripadvisor 4.00/5 (431) · Booking.com 4.55/5 (985) · Agoda 9.0/10 (2,319) · 14,465 in total
- Kowakidani hot-spring hotel of the Kyoritsu Resort group
- Semi-double rooms are meant for one guest, not a discounted double
Why it made the five
- Semi-double Western rooms of 18 sqm, sized for one
- Two springs and thirteen pools in total, including open-air communal baths and reservable ones
- Free late-night noodles and after-bath ice cream; coffee and tea in the lobby 24 hours
- Free transfer from Kowakidani station, about five minutes
Getting there: About five minutes by free transfer from Kowakidani station on the Hakone Tozan railway.
Language and payment: Reservable baths among the thirteen pools let you bathe alone. The free noodles at night are a Kyoritsu group habit and genuinely pleasant when you are travelling by yourself.
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Right for: A room priced and built for one, with plenty of baths and free extras.
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Not for: The semi-double has a shower cubicle and no tub, and dinner runs in two sittings.
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Worth knowing: Single rates do not appear every day — one of our three test dates had none.
Score breakdown — 62/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★☆☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.54 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★★☆☆ | ¥27,000–60,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, dinner and breakfast) — 100% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Checkout 11:00, free transfer from the station, rooms sized for one, free late-night noodles |
| Trust | ★★☆☆☆ | 4.37 across 12,146 reviews (Rakuten Travel 2,369, Ikyu 69, Jalan 6,572, Google Maps 1,720, Tripadvisor 431, Booking.com 985) |
| Only here | ★★★☆☆ | Semi-double rooms made for solo guests, with two springs and thirteen pools to work through |
Best for milky Owakudani water and a French dinner
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.47/5 (1,060) · Jalan 4.50/5 (1,423) · Google Maps 4.00/5 (502) · Tripadvisor 3.60/5 (158) · Booking.com 4.10/5 (299) · Agoda 8.1/10 (740) · 4,182 in total
- On high ground above Gora
- Owakudani water is piped into a communal bath, not a room bath
Why it made the five
- 43 rooms; milky Owakudani water in the communal bath, the open-air bath and the sauna
- A full-course French dinner from local produce, and a Western breakfast facing Mount Myojogatake
- Single rates with meals on all three dates we tested
- ¥28,000–37,000 for one with dinner and breakfast on a weeknight
Getting there: About five minutes by car from Gora station on the Hakone Tozan railway, with a free shuttle bus between 9:00 and 18:00.
Language and payment: English and card payment are not published, so ask when you book. Bathing here is communal: Rakuten lists a communal bath, an open-air bath and a sauna, but no private bath.
- Right for: You want Hakone’s milky hot-spring water and a proper dinner, alone, from ¥28,000 on a weeknight.
- Not for: You want Japanese food — dinner is Western only — or plan to walk from the station outside shuttle hours.
Score breakdown — 62/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★★☆☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.57 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★★☆☆ | ¥28,000–37,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, dinner and breakfast) — 100% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Checkout 11:00, free shuttle bus from Gora station (9:00–18:00), single rates on all three dates, tea lounge and bar lounge |
| Trust | ★★☆☆☆ | 4.34 across 3,442 reviews (Rakuten Travel 1,060, Jalan 1,423, Google Maps 502, Tripadvisor 158, Booking.com 299) |
| Only here | ★★★☆☆ | Milky white water piped from Owakudani to a communal bath with an open-air section, and a full French dinner |
Best if you would rather not eat in a dining room
Reviews: Rakuten Travel 4.49/5 (1,328) · Agoda 8.9/10 (837) · 2,165 in total
- Old resort hotel in gardens on the shore of Lake Ashi
- Room-service dinner arrives at about seven in the evening
Why it made the five
- A room-service rate: Japanese dinner delivered to your room, with the minibar included
- 89 rooms; hot-spring communal bath with an open-air section
- Lakeside gardens to walk in, plus a tea lounge and a bar
- ¥30,000–49,000 for one with dinner and breakfast on a weeknight
Getting there: About 40 minutes by local bus from Hakone-Yumoto station, alighting at Moto-Hakone pier.
Language and payment: Dinner in your room removes every awkwardness of eating alone in Japan, including the question of what to do with your hands. Worth the premium if that is what has put you off ryokan.
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Right for: You want to eat where nobody is looking at you.
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Not for: Forty minutes by bus from Hakone-Yumoto — further out than the others.
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Worth knowing: On the room-service rate, breakfast comes as a morning box rather than a served meal.
Score breakdown — 57/100
| Criterion | Stars | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quality | ★★☆☆☆ | Room, bath and dinner average 4.47 on Rakuten Travel |
| Value for money | ★★☆☆☆ | ¥30,000–49,000 per person on a weeknight (Rakuten, dinner and breakfast) — 110% of the median of everything we compared |
| Easy to stay | ★★★★★ | Checkout 11:00, dinner and breakfast delivered to the room, lakeside gardens, tea lounge and bar |
| Trust | ★★★☆☆ | 4.49 across 1,328 reviews (Rakuten Travel 1,328) |
| Only here | ★★★★☆ | A rate built for guests who would rather not use the dining room, with dinner brought to the door |
Know before you book
- Around Hakone-Yumoto station there are shops and restaurants, so an evening alone after dinner has somewhere to go.
- Gora and Miyanoshita are the interchanges for the mountain railway and the cable car, and the easiest bases for the Open-Air Museum and Owakudani.
- Moto-Hakone pier on Lake Ashi is about forty minutes by bus from Hakone-Yumoto, and the late-afternoon buses are crowded.
- The Odakyu Romancecar runs direct from Shinjuku, and the Hakone Free Pass covers the mountain railway and the lake boats.
- Hydrangeas line the railway from late June into July; the maples turn in November. Weekends in both seasons go first.
- Single rates with dinner appear mostly on weeknights. If you want a Saturday, start from the dates that have availability rather than the inn.
How we chose: theme, conditions, scoring
How we chose
- Candidates: every property in Hakone listed on Rakuten Travel — 209
- Passed the review filter (counts and averages on Rakuten Travel, the one site that lists every property in the area): 20
- Met every condition below: 20
- Kept: five, each the best at something different
Where the facts come from
- Facts: Rakuten Travel property information (in some articles, each hotel’s own site too)
- Prices: Rakuten Travel live availability, Wednesdays and Saturdays over eight weeks
- Reviews: counts and averages from Rakuten Travel, Jalan, Ikyu, Google Maps, Tripadvisor and Booking.com, added up in each hotel’s Trust row. Agoda’s reviews are shown under each hotel name for reference only and do not count towards the score
Conditions (all of them, not most of them)
- A rate for one adult including dinner and breakfast can be booked on Rakuten Travel, checked across three dates in October and November 2026
- There is a hot-spring communal bath, open-air bath or reservable bath
- Reviews hold up: 100 or more averaging 3.8 or better on Rakuten Travel, or — for inns of 30 rooms or fewer — 30 or more averaging 4.5. Shortlisted inns were then checked against Jalan, Ikyu, Google Maps, TripAdvisor and Booking.com as well; the Trust row shows the breakdown.
Scoring
Five criteria, one to five stars each, weighted to one hundred points. Every star says where the number came from.
- Quality30 pts
- The average of the room, bath and food scores guests leave on Rakuten Travel. 4.80 and above is five stars, 4.65 four, 4.50 three.
- Value for money25 pts
- The price against the median of everything we compared. 80% or less is five stars, 95% four, 110% three, 130% two.
- Easy to stay15 pts
- Starts at one star. A point each for checkout at 11am or later, a shuttle, dinner in the room, somewhere to spend the evening alone, and anything else that makes this particular trip easier.
- Trust20 pts
- Review counts and averages added up across booking sites, weighted by how many reviews each site has.
- Only here10 pts
- What you can only get here. Our judgement, with the reason stated.
What we dropped
| Property | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Yumoto Fujiya Hotel | Runner-up (56/100) | Scored 56, one point behind Odakyu Hotel de Yama. Its room, bath and food average of 4.34 is below all five picks, and a single rate with meals appeared on only one of our three test dates. |
| KKR Hakone Miyanoshita | Runner-up (56/100) | Scored 56. It matches the lowest weeknight price we found, but room, bath and food average 4.19 and its 324 reviews average 4.14 — the weakest quality and trust scores in the comparison — and it had a single rate on only one of our three test dates. |
| Tenseien | Runner-up (55/100) | Scored 55. Its room, bath and food average of 4.29 earns a single star for quality, its 4,374 reviews average 4.2, and a single rate appeared on only one of our three test dates. |
| Hakone Yutowa | Runner-up (48/100) | Scored 48, the lowest of the runner-ups. Room, bath and food average 4.24, and at ¥34,000–41,000 for one on a weeknight it costs 125% of the median — more than Hotel Marroad Hakone, also in Gora, which scored 62. |
| Hotel Mi You Kool Shougetsu | Needs checking | Built around women travellers and well suited to solo stays, but across our three dates the only single rate with meals was a special room at ¥45,000. |
| Sengokuhara Susukinohara Ichinoyu | Needs checking | An open-air bath in every room, which would suit a solo traveller, but no single rate with meals appeared on any of our three dates. |
| Nounou Hakone | Needs checking | Milky Owakudani water, but no single rate with meals on any of our three dates. |
| Hakone Suisen | Needs checking | Fifteen rooms on a free-flowing private source, rated 4.73, but again no single rate with meals in our window. |
| BLISSTIA Hakone Sengokuhara | Runner-up | A 50-square-metre room for one with meals at ¥29,920, but its character overlaps with Mizu no Oto and Hotel Marroad, and it needs a bus from the station. |
| Hakoneji Kaiun | Runner-up | Ten minutes from Hakone-Yumoto with free-flowing drinks at dinner for ¥25,190, but rated 4.19 and available for one on only one of our three dates. |
| Hakone Retreat före | Runner-up | Plenty of single availability, but ¥81,550 with meals — at that price we would rather send you to the Fujiya. |
| Hakone Kowakien Tenyu | Runner-up | A room with a private open-air bath can be booked for one, but at ¥98,780, and on only one of our three dates. |
| The Prince Hakone Lake Ashinoko | Runner-up | ¥67,500 for one with a buffet. Its role — a lakeside resort — is covered more cheaply by Odakyu Hotel de Yama. |
| Hakone Ashinoko Hanaori | Runner-up | ¥55,647 for one with a buffet, but a 154-room hotel with nothing specifically for solo guests. |
| Kansuiro | Failed the review filter | A registered cultural property and a striking building, but 45 Rakuten reviews at 4.43 — below the 4.5 we require from inns of 30 rooms or fewer. |
| HAKONE TENT | Outside the theme | A popular guesthouse with solo travellers, but we found no rate including dinner. |
Questions visitors ask
Why is it so hard to book a ryokan for one person?
Because traditional inns price by the room and cook dinner per room, so a single guest costs them almost as much as two. Many simply do not publish a single rate. Everything in this guide does — we checked across three separate dates to be sure it was not a one-off.
Which one should I pick if I cannot decide?
Cozy Inn Hakone no Yama, which scored 94 out of 100, the highest of the five, at ¥19,000–20,000 for one on a weeknight. Its solo rate is for women, though; a man travelling alone should look first at Fujiya Hotel, the next highest at 66.
Will I feel conspicuous eating dinner alone?
Less than you fear, but there are ways around it. Odakyu Hotel de Yama will bring dinner to your room. Fujiya Hotel has a tea lounge, a bar and a bakery, and Hotel Marroad Hakone a tea lounge and a bar lounge, so the evening need not be spent at a table or in your room.
I have tattoos. Where can I bathe?
Book a bath for yourself. Cozy Inn has two reservable free-flowing baths, and Mizu no Oto has reservable baths among its thirteen pools. At Fujiya the room baths run hot-spring water, so you can soak without leaving your room.
Which base is easiest without a car?
Gora or Miyanoshita: the mountain railway, the cable car and the buses all meet around there, and the Open-Air Museum and Owakudani follow on. Lake Ashi is about forty minutes by bus from Hakone-Yumoto, so Odakyu Hotel de Yama is the outlier here.
How do I get to Hakone from Tokyo?
The Odakyu Romancecar runs direct from Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto. The Hakone Free Pass covers the mountain railway, the cable car, the ropeway and the lake boats, and pays for itself if you do the standard loop.
When were these prices checked?
On 25 October 2026 we searched Rakuten Travel for one adult with dinner and breakfast on Wednesdays and Saturdays between 4 November and 26 December 2026, and show the range of the cheapest rates. Weekends cost more — at Fujiya Hotel, Saturdays ran ¥103,000–239,000 against ¥72,000–92,000 on a weeknight. Prices move with date and availability, so check before you book.
Changes
- 2026-10-29 First published. Scored from 209 candidates.