Hotel Breezebay Marina

“Small beach at the hotel”

My family and I stayed at the Breeze Bay Marina Hotel for one week in early Aug 2017. It is located at the south coast of the island Miyakojima, far away from the city. The hotel belongs to a group of 4 hotels in the area connected by a free shuttle bus. The shuttle bus also stopped at a few restau… more

My family and I stayed at the Breeze Bay Marina Hotel for one week in early Aug 2017. It is located at the south coast of the island Miyakojima, far away from the city. The hotel belongs to a group of 4 hotels in the area connected by a free shuttle bus. The shuttle bus also stopped at a few restaurants on the side of the road to the other hotels. We tried Yakiniku (BBQ Miyako beef ) at Ryuguen and it was just superb. We spent a few nights at the open-air dining area opposite to the hotel. It served Okinawan and Asian food. The price was more reasonable and a lot of the customers were from local. Our rooms were in the annex which was next to the main building. There was a drink vending machine one the first floor. All restaurants and souvenir shop were in the main building. The room was a bit worn but clean. We took the advantage of the eco-friendly program, which refunded 500 yen in voucher per room per day for not getting room clean up or changing the bed sheets. They did change the towel daily. You can spend the voucher anywhere in the hotel including all restaurants and shops. Make sure you use them before you checkout or they will be voided. The beach at the hotel was very small. Nevertheless we saw lots of small tropical fish close to the shore. More decent snorkeling can be found at the Shigara beach house, 10 mins shuttle bus trip from the hotel. We tried to join the hotel snorkel tour but were not welcomed because we could not speak Japanese. However the reception people did call a few local tour operators for us about English speaking snorkel tour. At the end we decided to just snorkel at the Shigara beach. Fish there were of more variety and bigger than at the hotel. The corals were also beautiful. Snorkel equipment including life jackets and floaties were available for rental. The cost to rent a snorkel set at the beach house for 2 days equal to the cost of buying one. So make sure you bring your own if you plan to snorkel for more than 1 day. There was a small café that served simple lunch and drinks there. We were told by the workers at the beach house sea turtles came the day before. Unfortunately we did not see any in the two days there. We did see them at the submerged submarine tour just next to the hotel. It was located within 10 mins walk from the hotel and quite worthwhile if you do not snorkel. One thing I noticed was that there was no lifeguard at the Shigara beach. In general it was a relaxing trip and we enjoyed the hotel and its snorkeling.

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“Recommended for Japanese guests, or girls and boys weekends away”

I am really conflicted when I think about our recent stay at Hotel Breeze Bay Marina; on one hand, it was affordable, easy to navigate, a good base to see other parts of Miyakojima (with a rental car), with several exceptional staff members who went out of their way to make us feel welcome, ensure … more

I am really conflicted when I think about our recent stay at Hotel Breeze Bay Marina; on one hand, it was affordable, easy to navigate, a good base to see other parts of Miyakojima (with a rental car), with several exceptional staff members who went out of their way to make us feel welcome, ensure we understood everything, etc. On the other hand, the remaining staff (over half) clearly do not understand the meaning of customer service and left us standing at counters while serving others around us, made no effort to communicate with us in Japanese OR English, failed to transfer telephone calls to our room (apparently because we were gaijin and they were unsure of how to deal with the language barrier...even though my Japanese is passable), and the restaurant booking system is insane. Basically, you are required to book in advance for any of the restaurants (this is fine and my issue is not with this). Even booking in advance on the same day gets you a reservation at 8pm and later (again, this is not my issue). My issue is, that upon arriving to the restaurants, they were AT MOST, 20% full. I kid you not, we went to the steak grill restaurant and there were two...TWO other tables in the ENTIRE restaurant, a German beer hall that could fit at least 200 people! I am thinking that they may have had bad experiences with foreign guests failing to turn up for bookings because, at the Italian restaurant we went to another night, it certainly appeared that they were able to seat two Japanese groups who did not have reservations. It really was the most bizarre experience. I would recommend either planning out which restaurants you want to eat at and then making the bookings on the first day you are there. Or check out the local scene; there are some excellent options outside of the Sigira Resort area, including other hotels and cheap and cheerful izakayas etc. On the room, it was of a decent size and relatively clean. I would recommend this hotel to groups of friends on girls or boys weekends...it is not a romantic destination. At the breakfast buffet, we were sitting near a table of men who were smashing asahi's at 7am, while listening to videos on their phones. The staff saw them and did nothing, despite the fact that they were disturbing everyone nearby. Now I love a bevvy as much as the next person, but when you are disturbing those around you? Uncool, man. Miyakojima is excellent for snorkeling and scuba diving and I, without hesitation, recommend it to anyone. This hotel? I recommend for Japanese guests and weekends away with a group of friends.

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