Haimurubushi

This is a wonderful resort on an incredibly beautiful island. We loved our stay here. We had an ocean view room with a spectacular view. Most of the staff were wonderful, kind and helpful. The restaurants and shop were really good. The whole place was beautiful. We're so happy we got to stay here!

What could be improved: Some areas of the hotel could do with updating - the hallway leading to our room looked a bit old and dated and the bathroom in our room was a bit old and dated. There was one staff member that made us slightly uncomfortable because he was a bit over-friendly and said some inappropriate things but other than him all of the other staff and our overall experience was wonderful.

Excellent Staff including Stefano, reception staff who helped throughout our stay and first checked us in, Hiro at Beach Cafe and waiter serving us at Breakfast and Dinner. To be honest all the staff were very personable and went out of their way to help us. The resort were very flexible and accommodating to all our needs, especially for my wife who did not eat meat and is not adventurous with Japanese cuisine. The whole experience was amazing. We very much liked all the facilities and grounds of the resort, the beach and separate cove, sunset area and restaurant and open cafe.

What could be improved: Western Breakfast options limited, could have included more bread/rolls/cooked egg options (unfortunately scrambled egg but cooked), rather than pancake counter which was not being utilised, have a chef offering to make omelettes, scrambled eggs, fried eggs etc…At lunchtime in open cafe and even beach cafe, food options very limited. Could include sandwiches, salads, ramen! with open cafe and beach cafe, introducing more healthy food options would be good. In the evening, increasing the menu options outside of pizza, pasta, with grilled fish, tuna salads, would entice more people to spend time and money. Increase range of drinks as only 1 Japanese whisky in beach cafe for eg but offer range of wines? Aperol Spritzer or other evening drinks? Have light music on upstairs terrace as well to increase ambience and make it more inviting for people to spend time and money! The beach cafe, terrace and bbq area could be utilised significantly more given infrastructure is already there, create an equivalent Buddha Bar and get the younger crowd to spend more time and money there in the evening.

Great Room with Sea view on the second floor of the Hotel, within walking distance to the main building. The Hotel has a friendly staff, Stéphane is the European gatekeeper/steward helping you with any issues you might have, if you're not fluent in japanese, very friendly. The rooms are big, ask for a balcony room with sea view. The Hotel is mainly aimed at japanese tourists, but this should not be a problem if you're open. Very nice private beach with all facilities. Restaurants on the island will pick you up for diner if you don't eat at the hotel. Good food, but quite pricey everywhere. The park around the hotel is very big. You can rent bikes and get around the island in a couple hours.

What could be improved: The pool is too small for the whole resort.
The food is ok, but quite pricey.
The beach café food (pasta, etc.) is not fancy, but quite expensive for what it is.
If you want to go to Iriomote (very closeby), you need to take a ship back to ishigaki.