Very nice seaside or lakeside hotel

Hello, could you please recommend a nice hotel with Onsen to relax by the sea or lake for 2-3 days after visiting Kyoto, Nara and Osaka on our way to Tokyo? I thought about something like lake Kawaguchi or Hakone or Izu. This is my first visit to Japan, so recommendation from local would be highly appreciated. Something not too far away from the train line Osaka_Tokyo would be great. Thank you!!

Itfs close to Himeiji, so not between Osaka and Tokyo, but if you want to stay a few days, maybe the location isnft so important. A friend of mine just went and was utterly stunned by it:

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I've not personally stayed there but I could have sworn a few members have recommended places on Lake Biwa around Hikone.

I very much like Lake Biwa, we stayed at a little place outside Hikone, I wouldn't necessarily recommend the ryokan but the area was very nice. The castle at Hikone is well worth a visit.

Atami is a nice sea-side onsen town, not too far from Hakone. It is right on the Shinkansen route (not all Shinkansen stop at Atami). There are lots of hotels there, open the google map and search for yourself. Here's one example: https://www.micuras.jp/english/

Second vote for Atami (or one of the nearby towns).

We are staying at Hotel Micuras at Atami in our oncoming trip, which looks OK and reviews well. But I understand Atami itself isnt a particularly pretty town.

Last trip we stayed on the lake at Lake Kawaguchiko. I thought it was overpriced (around $1200 per night), the food wasnt great, and the area was not particularly interesting. The views of Fuji were great, and the hot dogs from the doll museum that I keep posting about were truly awesome, but honestly if I was to go back it would only be for the hot dogs.

We have stayed at the Prince Hotel at Otsu on Lake Biwa. It is very pretty and a lovely hotel, but I'm not sure that Otsu has a lot to do, most of the good stuff is on the other side of the lake, at Hikone.

At Hikone we have stayed at Futabaso which is a little out of town (closer to Maibara) but across the road from Lake Biwa. Very, very nice with lovely owners. Last trip we stayed at Hikone Castle Spa Resort which is acrosds from the castle and overlooks the moat which I suppose isnt a lake but it is wet. I'd highly recommend that place, we will be back for sure.

At Enoshima we stay at Iwamotoro Honkan. It looks across the bay toward Fuji, so you see Fuji across the water in the morning. It is an older hotel but has some awesome baths including a Roman style bath built in the 1920's. Enoshima is also a great little island with heaps of interesting things - cats, hawks, temples, caves, a lighthouse, and some squirrels, as well as good trinket shopping if you want beads or pottery. It is only a walk to the electric rail into Kamakura. Really, it ticks a lot of boxes, which is why we have stayed there 3 or 4 times.

We stayed down in Shimada on the Izu Peninsular. Really enjoyed it, drove around the fishing villages and coast. We were in a ryokan, but I cannot remember the name. Very peaceful.

A lot of towns in Japan are not "pretty" and I would say the buildings of Atami fall into that category, but I have enjoyed my trips to the area (a couple), although I stayed in a nearby location a few years ago, I would stay in Atami given the chance. I like the beach there and the ocean views.

"A lot of towns in Japan are not "pretty"" yes, I'd agree with that, though I like the towns with more greenery and less concrete-ery.

One other spot that occurred to me is on Lake Ashi at Hakone. While I'm not the world's greatest Hakone fan, the lake is quite beautiful (if one avoids loooking directly at the pirate ship going too and fro) and at least the view isnt spoiled by ugly buildings. Also when you are on the lake sometimes cloud spills over the mountain and spreads across the lake, it is quite incredible to see, a bit like something out of a horror movie. I dont have any recommendations for there though, as I havent stayed on the lake itself, but I'd give it a go. I think that the building on the 10 yen coin is a hotel that is on the lake but I dont know whether it still operates as one.

From Wiki:
The obverse of the coin depicts the Phoenix Hall of Byōdō-in, a Buddhist temple in Uji, Kyoto prefecture, with the kanji for "Japan" and "Ten Yen." The reverse shows the numerals "10" and the date of issue in kanji surrounded by bay laurel leaves.

Sorry, not a hotel on the 10 yen coin. I do need to go to Kawaguchi-ko in April (at the modestly affordable MyStays - no wasted money on a lake side location or over-priced ryokan), so I'll look out for hotdogs. I have in the past looked at/for lakeside Hakone hotels, none really appealed - and I'm not a fan of the tourist trap that is Hakone with its hordes of visitors anyway (many of which actually look unhappy).

Cheers, I should have recognised it as I've stayed in Uji! - Ukifuneen - another nice hotel overlooking water though the Uji water is a fairly wild looking river, and about 6 courses of the same kind of fish was more than even I could cop at dinner.

I havent been to Hakone for probably 10 years but I'm going to try Fukuzumiro at Hakone Yumoto for a couple of nights at the end of our coming trip.

For the hotdogs, they are at the doll museum cafe near Yagizaki Park, which is where the good Fuji views are anyway.