Hotel Indigo Hakone Gora

A setting like this, along the banks of the Haya River, seems like the perfect setting for a traditional ryokan. But the Hotel Indigo Hakone Gora isn’t interested in being a traditional ryokan. Make no mistake — in the abstract, many of the ingredients are in place, from the soothing waters of the spring-fed onsen baths to the perfectly framed forest views. But this is a modern, boutique-influenced hotel through and through, and it’s visible not only in the design, which makes liberal use of modern furniture, graphic art, and non-traditional colors, but in the sheer eclecticism of its international influences.

For example: the rooms are decorated with elements that read as rather ryokan-like, and each one, crucially, comes with its own spring-fed onsen bath. But they’re Western in their layout, with elevated furniture rather than tatami mats, and the artwork, though it depicts local scenes, is unmistakably contemporary.

The hotel’s public baths, too, take a traditional form and give it a modern update, with eye-catching interiors, including a vast screen displaying ever-changing visual art, and a international-style spa treatments. And the restaurant serves not a traditional kaiseki dinner but a menu of international comfort food — sourced, however, from within ten kilometers of the hotel.