HOSHINOYA Taketomi Island

TLDR: this island and hotel is not a luxury experience. The swimming pool is the only good feature and it’s not worth the time and travel to get here. Hotel: rooms are quaint and a nice traditional feel. But again, not worth the trip and expense. Our room had mould in the bedroom and the dehumidifier was full every three hours and needed to be emptied. Service: very friendly but largely not useful. When asking about facilities at the local beach it seemed like we were the first to ask. We could not get any answers on what would be available. Overall the service was like a bad air bnb. They don’t serve drinks or food at the pool. Everything feels like a bad self serve experience. Things to do: very little to do on this island. The beach next to the hotel is not for swimming and covered in plastic. There is a shuttle to a local beach ten minutes away where the hotel give you two towels and water if you are lucky. Then it’s a case of renting a sun lounger and umbrella from a man in a van. ( as no one at the hotel seems to know, it’s 2000 yen per lounger and per umbrella. He sells drinks too. If he is not working that day then you will have nothing ) The snorkelling off the beach is not worth it. Nice beach but again no reason to travel for it. I cannot believe the hotel does not offer any beach set up, not even a picnic set or cooler box. Bearing in mind there is no shops for you to set yourself up it is ridiculous. Food: not a lot of options in the hotel. Some basic Okinawa dishes or it’s full on french fine dining. The hotpots are ok but you have to have these in your room as the restaurant is only for the french cuisine. You can go in to the town and find a few restaurants. They are intermittently open and the hotel makes no effort to assist you in booking or checking if they are open. Excursions: we did the snorkelling trip. Started off well on a small boat and then we were transferred to join 40 other people on a crowded swimming spot. 10 minutes from the ferry dock. I would never have booked a trip if I realised it would be part of a huge tour. Not in line with the hotel at all. It’s clearly something they take no interest in or care about. When another guest asked about private tours they just gave him a phone number! If you are here for a weekend break from Tokyo I’d say go for it. If you are travelling from afar, then this is not worth it. It’s neither good Japanese service or good western service. This is a three star hotel with a nice pool.

Taketomi hoshinoya is a fantastic place to stay. We stayed 5 nights and loved every minute. The resort is beautiful and the villa superb. It is very easy to stay at the resort, but equally easy to explore the island by hotel bus to head out to the beach, small island shops or island cafes both during the daytime and in the evening. The resort has recently recruited several new staff who speak excellent English so communication was no problem at all. We did the snorkelling trip one afternoon to a beautiful reef that was very healthy. We had planned to use the other ferries to island hop to visit other islands but we so enjoyed exploring Taketomi island we didn't feel the need to go anywhere else. Arriving from Ishigaki airport to Ishigaki port is very easy, the ferry straightforward and then Hishinoya meet you on arrival at Taketomi port for final leg to resort. The fine dining evening dinner is an amazing experience and the "in room" dining alternative also excellent. We alternated between fancier meals in our room, or at Hoshinoya restaurant, or much simpler meals at cafes elsewhere on the island.

Nice weather but a little boring especially for kids. Highlight was feeding a cat and petting a goat. Did the ox ride which was a good way to introduce ourselves to the island. I’m sure the beaches there make it a better trip but we only toured the town for a couple of hours. Ferry ride was packed coming back

I used this place for my honeymoon. The standout feature was undoubtedly the fantastic customer service. If you're planning to visit Taketomi Island, spending a leisurely day here would be perfect. For those seeking a luxurious and indulgent experience, this is the place to be!

I don’t know where to begin with this. We’d been to Ishigaki Island before but wanted to try somewhere more isolated this trip so booked in a few days at Hoshinoya Taketomi. It was incredible. The pick up at the port is efficient and fast. The arrival and welcome is like a warm tropical hug. Aya who greeted us and checked us in was so delightful and explained absolutely everything we needed to know. She was a real star throughout our trip and a testament to Hoshinoya’s impeccable levels of service. You get driven around the site on golf buggies which I always enjoy - although I felt guilty making the team carry my heavy suitcases around (I stopped them when I could!) The rooms are individual Okinawa-style houses and they are what really makes Hoshinoya special. You get a home away from home that is exquisitely designed, modern yet traditional, private, and well-equipped. The bedroom has an incredibly large bed that makes it easy to sleep. The bathroom is huge and really makes you want to spend time in it. We did in-room dining a couple of times and it is definitely not room service. It is next level. As guests stay in proper homes it really feels special. The menu features mainly Okinawa Japanese favourites and they’re all great. We had the beef sukiyaki on the last night which was one of the best meals of my life. The pool is a really unique feature of the property. It’s huge! The photos we saw online don’t do it justice - it is so welcoming and fun to spend time in. The only thing I wish they has was a way to have drinks outside by the pool - which is currently difficult given the issue the island has with overly friendly crows (Hoshinoya is apparently getting a hawk to deter them though). The lobby where guests congregate is a real centre of the hotel. They run lots of guest activities here such as daily Okinawan music shows, awamori tastings, and more. You can also get complimentary coffee, juices etc here. It’s great. The gift shop in it is awesome, too. The property is located within walking distance of everything on the island - although they run all sorts of convenient shuttle services to and from the beaches and central village. I really didn’t want to check out of this place that really felt like heaven on earth. I’d love to get back there someday. Thank you to the whole team - especially Aya and Yuki!