Having wanted to visit Miyako Island (called “Miyakojima” in Japan), and wanting to stay in a nice resort hotel, the new Hilton Miyako Resort seemed a great choice. For those who don’t know, Miyakojima is regarded as having the most beautiful beaches in Japan. It is located southwest of Okinawa, and is actually much closer to Taiwan than the main islands of Japan. Though not in the tropics, it has a tropical climate, and the landscape you would expect in a tropical environment. We chose the Hilton Miyako Island Resort because it is a new facility, having opened only a month before our stay. Mikayojima has some nice resorts, but most are a little aged, are a little small, and don’t offer much in the way of amenities. As Miyakojima is not a place which offers much other than its tropical beauty, we wanted to stay in a place which would provide us with enough facilities and activities to keep us busy. The Hilton Miyako Island resort didn’t disappoint us in regards to its facilities and amenities. The entry way and lobby were large and impressive, the landscaping around the hotel was quite beautiful. On the beach side of the hotel are the pools, of which there are no less than 4, and all quite beautiful. Service in the lobby was quick and efficient, though few staff seemed to understand English, and some had trouble with Japanese. However, we were quickly situated in our rooms, and our bags brought up promptly. One thing to note, which was odd to us was that when we booked our stay through the Hilton booking app, we were given a different price than what the hotel wanted to charge us. We inquired about the difference, and the hotel said that it was due to a glitch with the app. Upon check-in, the glitch had not been fixed, and the app was still showing the price it had originally quoted, while the hotel insisted on charging us a higher price. We weren’t able to get the hotel to accept the price the app said we would be charged, and they insisted on charging their higher price, which amounted to a few hundred dollars for our stay. We had booked two executive rooms, and expected that a Hilton hotel would honor the price given to us by their own app, but that was not the case. Had we known this before it was too late to cancel, we would probably stayed somewhere else. The hotel said they would upgrade us to sunset view rooms, but as the view was pretty much the same as our original, ocean viewnrooms, this wasn’t such a consolation. However, we decided to make the most of our stay. Being that we were booked into the executive suites, we were entitled to use the executive lounge. This lounge provides complimentary drinks and snacks, and hot food between 5pm and 7pm. Soft drinks, beer, and wine were available, and we made the most of them. We dined every day at the hotel, largely because Miyakojima doesn’t offer many dining options. Miyakojima is located in Okinawa prefecture, the poorest in Japan, and, unlike Tokyo, you won’t find any Mich
I stayed for 3 nights in a 5th floor Standard Twin room in the Ocean Wing side of the resort. The Ocean Wing has 6 floors, and is older than the Coral Wing, which has 9 stories. While the Coral Wing apparently has wider views, the view from my room was nevertheless spectacular. Given the hotel faces West there’s a great view of the sunset from the ocean-view rooms. I also liked that my Ocean Wing room had wood floors. It was very spacious with 2 very comfortable double beds and a small seating area. The bathroom has shutters that you can open in order to see the view. A nice bonus was the beautiful Okinawa Botanicals bathroom products. While this is not a luxury resort, and the building and facilities are a bit dated, it is very well maintained. The grounds are gorgeous, with beautiful trees and gardens (and a very small golf course). The Yonaha-Maehama Beach on which the resort sits, is perfect - soft white sand and crystal clear water. You can access the beach on the south side of the resort only. There are lots of beach chairs and umbrellas maintained by the resort. I met a few staff who spoke good English, and with the others I had no problems communicating using the iPhone Translate app. The staff are so kind - absolutely every staff will greet you as you go by. I loved the restaurants, especially the barbecue restaurant. Also the buffet breakfast (included, you can also choose traditional Japanese breakfast) was excellent - I loved the fresh lychee and other fruits, omelette bar and espresso machine. I rented an electric-assist bike from the hotel’s beach club (¥1,000/hr) to explore Kurina-Jima, which was tons of fun. it was great having the 24-hour coin laundromat on site (wash ¥200, laundry soap provided). There are coin dryers or there was a full drying rack in the room, which was very convenient. The only thing I didn’t love about this resort was the pool. There’s unfortunately a raised platform that blocks most of the view of the ocean from the pool. I only saw kids and their parents use it during my stay. Fortunately the gorgeous beach is only steps away… Overall I found this resort to be super relaxing and excellent value for the price.
SSammyjake95The hotel is wonderful. It’s just a what you need when staying in Miyakojima. It’s not super fancy or anything, but has everything you could need for a stay there. The only issue is that they don’t come to clean your room or change sheets or anything. We were there 6 nights. It would have been nice for someone to come and sweep the floor or wipe down the surfaces once or twice.