Shoji Mount Hotel

A view-focused inn on Lake Shoji, facing Mount Fuji head-on

Shoji Mount Hotel stands on the shore of Lake Shoji, the smallest and quietest of the Fuji Five Lakes. Its greatest appeal is the setting: from the guest rooms and the open-air bath, Mount Fuji rises straight ahead across the lake, and the mountain and the water change color from morning to evening right in front of you. Watching the dawn light on Mount Fuji with your children, or the inverted Sakasa-Fuji reflection on the lake surface, is a luxury other sightseeing areas cannot offer. Its Rakuten Travel rating is 4.41 out of 5 (438 reviews), a steady score across a large number of reviews. It is about 26 minutes by car from Kawaguchiko Station on the Fujikyuko Line (about 40 minutes by public bus), and about 25 minutes by car from the Kawaguchiko IC on the Chuo Expressway. Set away from the bustle of Lake Kawaguchi and Fujiyoshida, it suits families who want to spend quiet time in nature.

A relaxed soak in the communal bath, and futons side by side in a tatami room

The hotel has a communal bath, separate from the bathroom in your room, where you can stretch out your legs. Being able to soak with your children after a full day out is a practical plus for families. Guest rooms are Japanese-style tatami rooms with yukata provided, so the family can lay futons side by side on the tatami and sleep together. There is peace of mind in being able to put a baby down on the tatami, and not having to worry about a fall from a bed is a particular advantage of a tatami room. Rooms come with a refrigerator, an electric kettle, individual air conditioning, a bidet-style toilet and a hair dryer, so preparing formula and baby food is easy to manage.

Clear child rates, and futons available for children under school age

Child rates here are clearly set, which is reassuring. Elementary school children pay 70% of the adult rate and children under school age pay 50%. Futons can also be prepared for children under school age: with a futon, a bedding fee of 3,300 yen applies, and without a futon the charge is 2,200 yen. Junior high school students pay the same as adults. Because the cost is easy to read off against the number and ages of your children, working out the total before booking is straightforward, which families appreciate.

Rental bicycles and a coin laundry, with longer stays in mind

Rental bicycles are available at the hotel, so you can cycle around Lake Shoji. There is also a coin laundry (fee applies), which helps on multi-night stays with children, when dirty clothes pile up. A restaurant, a shop, vending machines and table tennis mean the time spent indoors never drags. The surrounding area is rich in outdoor activities such as mountain-stream fishing, canoeing, hiking and trekking, and the hotel also works as a sightseeing base for the Fuji Five Lakes and the Lake Motosu area.

Staying here with children

Check-in is at 3 p.m., with the last check-in at 8 p.m., and checkout is at 10 a.m. The whole property, guest rooms included, is non-smoking, which is reassuring for families with children who are sensitive to smoke. The hotel is not barrier-free in design, but a wheelchair ramp and an assistance chair for the bathroom are available to borrow. One thing to know in advance is that on stays of more than one night, guest rooms are cleaned once every three days for environmental reasons. With its retro Showa-era character, this is a place that suits settling in for several unhurried nights, making the most of the Mount Fuji view and the reasonable child rates.