Palace Hotel Hakone
If you are looking for a place to stay in Hakone, I recommend the Palace Hotel Hakone. I'm not into the traditional ryokans, which is rampant in Hakone. Personally, I just like hotels haha XD
Palace Hotel Hakone always has discounts or offers on some websites like zuji or agoda etc etc. And I always book waaaay in advance, so I always manage to get a good rate ;)
The Hakone Tozan Bus from Odawara or Hakone-Yumoto station stops directly outside Palace Hotel Hakone. The bus stop is Palace Hotel Hakone mae (in front). The bus also goes from the hotel straight to Togendai, which is the starting point for the cruise on the lake for the usual Hakone round trip.
The hotel even has their own indoor and outdoor hot spring for hotel guests (at the third floor, i think?). which is SUPER awesome, I love the outdoor hot spring - rock feature with a fantastic view.
The restaurants at the hotel are really expensive and out of my budget, except Cafe Restaurant "Humming". The service staff are really professional and the food is affordable. I tried the omelette rice, expecting the usual omurice in Tokyo... And it came so beautifully presented, the staff even cut open the omelette for us over the rice *_*
There was one day when we ordered room service, and the food was really good too. The staff in Palace Hotel Hakone speak relatively good English... In fact, much better than some hotels in Tokyo that I stayed before >_<
If you can, try to book the rooms with the Lakeside view ^_^