Hotels in Odawara

Odawara sits where the Tokaido meets the foot of Hakone, and it has functioned as a gateway town for centuries: first as a castle stronghold of the Hojo clan, now as the transfer point where the shinkansen deposits travellers heading up into Hakone's hot springs. The rebuilt castle, a concrete recreation rather than an original structure, draws day-trippers but rarely holds them overnight.

Most visitors treat Odawara as a station to pass through rather than a destination, and the town centre itself is fairly workaday outside the castle park and the fish market stalls near the port, where the local kamaboko and fresh seafood are worth seeking out. Stay near Odawara Station if you're using it as a springboard into Hakone or onward by rail, since that's the town's real function.