HOSHINOYA Fuji

Deserve every star Really nice location with a view of Fuji. Room is cozy and comfy. Pine forest is really giving you an immersive vibes. Many activities if you decide to stay here for the whole day. One remark for room cleaning. I have many bottles and glasses left on the table and expected room service to clean everything but no my bottles and glasses are still there. Dinner is notably expensive

Amazing place with the best view of Mt. Fuji. The quietness with zenith vibe is the signature of Hoshinoya Resorts. Staff are friendly and professional. Will come back again for sure!

My first trip to Lake Kawaguchi, and my memories of Hoshinoya Fuji left a deep impression. When booking the hotel, I had many questions, as I always want to make my trip as seamless as possible. So, I decided to record and share my personal experience in detail this time. 🌟Check-in Dates: February 9th (Mon) - February 11th (Wed), 2026 🌟Mount Fuji View: Our T cabin was located on the top floor, and Mount Fuji was directly in front of us, completely unobstructed, and not at all clouded. It was incredibly beautiful and magnificent. Taking photos from the terrace was a fantastic experience! The only slight drawback was that it wasn't a wide-open lakeside view, with other buildings in front. But for me, seeing the entire Mount Fuji was the primary consideration (I've also included photos of high visibility at night, early morning, and the morning of check-out when visibility was poor). ❗️We were lucky enough to get a clear view of Mount Fuji, so we highly recommend the Hoshinoya experience. If you can't see Mount Fuji, you'll feel like you didn't get your money's worth and wouldn't recommend it. If it rains, the outside of the room's terrace will be wet, making it unsuitable for sitting outdoors, and the most important value of the room will be lost.🥹 🌟Room Amenities: 1. Underfloor Heating: Lake Kawaguchi is very cold in winter, but the room has underfloor heating, and walking barefoot on the wooden floor feels wonderful. ❗️However, because the floor is heated, please remember not to place souvenirs, food, or skincare products that are sensitive to heat on the floor. 2. Balcony: We recommend choosing a room with an outdoor kotatsu (heated table). Although the room amenities are simple, they unexpectedly create a more tranquil atmosphere. On a nice day, you'll just want to stay on the outdoor kotatsu to admire Mount Fuji, and at night, you can turn off the terrace lights to stargaze. If dinner is served, the staff will light the small kotatsu on the balcony; if you haven't ordered dinner, you can call the front desk to ask the staff to light it. 3. B&O Bluetooth Speaker: The B&O Bluetooth speaker was impressive. Playing my favorite songs on the terrace instantly released all my stress and made me relax. The sound quality was really good, with a surround sound effect. 4. Amenities: The room provided a thick coat, rain boots, and an umbrella, which I could wear if I needed to move around in the wooded area within the hotel grounds. 5. Bed and Pillows: I'm someone who's not used to certain beds and wakes up easily, but during my two-night stay, I felt comfortable and able to sleep soundly both nights away. 🌟Soundproofing: Aside from hearing outside noise from the balcony, I couldn't hear any outside noise while in the room. The soundproofing was excellent. 🌟Transportation: The hotel offers a shuttle service because there are several slopes leading uphill. The staff said they can dispatch a car at any time, but I personally felt it was a slightly inconvenient extra step to get around. Walking downhill is also possible, but I found the path a bit steep, which might be a little scary at night or early morning. The staff at the parking lot reception said the reception is open until about 7:00 PM. Guests returning later need to use the phone on the iron gate to contact the front desk for a car. Since there are several steps to the accommodation area, it's recommended to pack your luggage before checking in, bringing only necessary changes of clothes and personal items. If driving, you can leave unused large luggage in the car. 🌟Dining: The hotel offers relatively few choices. This time, we booked a wooden box breakfast and a shabu-shabu with red wine in the room. I personally found it exquisite and delicious, and with the view of Mount Fuji and the tranquil night sky, it was a truly relaxing experience. It was cold outside, but wearing the thick coat provided by the hotel and snuggling around the kotatsu table, I found it acceptable. (The downside is that the breakfast area gets cold quickly outdoors in winter.) 🌟Hotel Activities (only those we participated in are listed): 1. Canoeing: I don't know about the experience and price of booking through external vendors, but if you want to save time, I highly recommend booking this. The feeling of seeing Mount Fuji from the lake on a clear day is completely different; it was truly moving. However, the meeting time at Hoshinoya is 6:50 AM, which is after sunrise. Also, it's very cold in the early morning in winter, so be sure to wear a hat, thick socks, and gloves. I wore thick wool socks and high boots and my toes were still freezing. My boyfriend's gloves were too thin, and his fingers were sore. He was originally planning to use touch-sensitive gloves to take photos with his phone, but it was difficult to operate. In the end, I took off my gloves to take the photos and then put them back on (the shop that took us canoeing that day provided gloves if you didn't bring any). Personal belongings can be left in the shop's lockers. Although the shop will take photos of each boat, the front desk only provides two photos at checkout and no digital copies. If you want to take the photos you want, you still need to bring your own phone or camera, but be careful, as the shop emphasizes that anything that falls into the lake cannot be retrieved. ❗️We returned to the hotel around 8:30 PM, as stated on the website. 2. Snack Time: 2:30 PM - 5:30 PM. The snacks served that day were hot lava chocolate with berry jam and ice cream. They were amazing and delicious, surprisingly not too sweet. If you have time, I highly recommend not missing them. (Photo attached. Drinks served that day were grape juice and hot black tea.) Besides the designated desserts during the designated time, there were also marshmallows, cookies, and chocolate chips available from the morning. (I initially thought it would just be ordinary roasted marshmallows with cookies, but I found the quality of the cookies and chocolates to be surprisingly good.) 3. Coffee Making: Starting at 8:30 AM, although a simple activity, it felt very special. 4. Wood Chopping Experience: 8:00 AM - 8:30 AM. It rained the morning we wanted to try it, so we opted for making simple bird whistles indoors. 5. Evening Activities: Referring to the hotel map and activity description provided at check-in, there will be musicians playing music, and specialty drinks will be offered on the central platform. Many people will also be sitting in the Library Cafe or on the outdoor terrace in the evening. ❗️Our drink that day was grapefruit jam with hot chocolate (you can choose whether to add alcohol). I personally found it extremely sweet because the grapefruit jam was very generous!🤣 6. Morning Essential Oils: The essential oils were freshly distilled on-site, which was quite unique. You could smell the aroma and choose your favorite scent to take back to your room. ❗️We asked the staff, and they advised against spraying it directly on the skin. 🌟Service: The service at Hoshinoya was warm and attentive. Even though our luggage was heavy and involved climbing stairs, the staff helped us carry it. We were truly grateful. They also responded promptly to our email inquiries before check-in, and we could communicate about meal reservations via email. 🌟Summary: Personally, I think this hotel is suitable for people who want to spend a long time at the hotel, leisurely enjoy the view of Mount Fuji from their room, and have the best view all to themselves. If you have a packed schedule and need to be out early and back late, you should book other accommodations with better transportation and more affordable prices, because there are many places to see Mount Fuji from Lake Kawaguchi and Lake Yamanaka, and the view here may not be the most beautiful. The Hoshinoya's room rates aren't cheap, and the room amenities are quite basic; it's not luxurious or fancy, so people who need a lot of amenities might find it boring. (You also have to walk up some stairs to get to the hotel counter, the public terrace, or the Library Cafe, which might be inconvenient for people who dislike walking.) On the other hand, if you don't spend much time at the hotel, you won't be able to experience the various hotel activities or see Mount Fuji at different times of day. On our first day, we were trying to catch the Diamond Fuji (but we missed it a little 🤣), so we didn't check in until around 5:30 PM. The weather was fantastic that day, cloudless and clear, a truly rare treat. However, I didn't make it back to my room to see Mount Fuji while the sky was still bright on my balcony, and I missed afternoon tea. Looking back, I deeply regret it. 🥹