ClubMed Kabira Beach — Hotel in Ishigaki

This review is split into two parts: general and from the perspective of a parent soecifically with younger children. ClubMed is a somewhat unique vacation experience. My family got the all-inclusive package meaning room, meals, drinks, and, most importantly, kids' club. While all-inclusive vacation packages can be found elsewhere, the fact that Clubmed had childcare included for 8 hours a day meant that rather than a 'family trip', my wife and I actually got to enjoy a family vacation!

General review:

The rooms were spacious - more than I'm used to for Japan and the Ryukyu islands. I was able to comfortably sleep my entire family (pregnant wife and three children) with the two oldest each having their own bed. Granted, we got the family suite. But still, even the more spacious rooms at other hotels and resorts have not previously afforded do much space. The bathroom also had two sinks which was a plus with three daughters.

The food was decent. Clubmed offers a buffet for all three meals (as well as mid-meal snack options). The buffet options were quite diverse. Each meal had a traditional Japanese option (rice, miso soup, Japanese curry, often a sashimi or sushi option for dinner, and a soba, Ramen, or some other noodle option). There were also numerous other options: eggs and a sweet carbohydrate for breakfast, Italian for dinner, and usually no less than 3-5 other savory main course options (e.g. braised lamb, barbecue pork, beef) as well as a third ethnic option - my favorite was the Indian. There was also an option to get surf n' turf...for an upcharge. The food was good enough that I never felt the need to go for the steak or lobster. In my view, the best dining options were the various freshly baked breads. Without exception, they were absolutely fantastic. The other buffet options were all good, but not quite excellent. For example, the Indian options had some tasty curry, korma, and masala, but each dish didn't quite perfect the flavor. The lamb was delicious but not quite tender enough. Etc. I feel like I sound like Paul Hollywood. Not that I have anywhere near the skill nor experience, but he's actually a good reference because it highlights the degree of my criticisms. The food was good but he would have kicked the chefs off by episode 3 or 4. Btw, I get into this kind of criticism because for an all-inclusive package at a higher-end resort - especially at this kind of price point - perfection is my expectation. In fact, the reason I opted to not get the upcharged surf'n'turf was specifically because the regular meals were not quite excellent.

The drinks were a disappointment. The bartenders didn't know how to make most of the drinks I requested (I don't mean they made them poorly - although that happened as well - they truly didn't know the drinks in the first place). I generally opted to go with bottled alcohol - Orion is always a crowd pleaser and their ruby Port was good. The 'all-included' alcohol only included rail liquors and low shelf wine. The champagne was fantastic - the same champagne we served at our wedding, Veuve Clicquot - but, like the surf'n'turf, was an upcharge.

My favorite part of ClubMed was the resort, itself. The beaches were simply put, gorgeous! The fact that their beach is private added to the secluded subtropical paradise feel of the place. They also had numerous excursion options. We went on the glass-bottomed boat ride where we saw sea turtles and sea snakes among others.

For Parents:

If you are like me, than you'll be pleased to know that Kids Club (and Petit Club for the toddlers), was more than just a babysitting service; they were a full-on summer camp experience complete with swimming, dancing, movies, and even trapeze lessons. Perhaps most important were the counselors: every one of them was enthusiastic and engaged with the children and seemed to genuinely enjoy them and their jobs - more even than I remember counselors enjoying their jobs at my own childhood summer camp experiences.

I...

My wife and I finally had our honeymoon and decided to stay here for 2 nights and 3 days. Now this review might get long but trust me it is worth the read, I will break it down into sections, food, activities, room and staff. Let’s dive in shall we, first I’ll save you from reading the whole thing for my verdict, It was heavenly.

Oh my god the food, I have to say that I have never been so overwhelmed with the amount of options in the menu. For every menu, you had an abundance of options and every meal was a different theme and spread of food options. Not only did you have the standard meal times, but also round the clock access to foods in the restaurant and bar. It is safe to say will be wanting for not. Food will always be available. The great thing about the food and drink is that it is as advertised all inclusive. I should mention some foods and drinks are extra, but those things are not necessary to have a good time, just if you want something a little more special. The facility has so many things to do that it can be overwhelming for people not used to staying at resorts. I was only at the resort for 2.5 days, but to be fair we were so tired from the day to day work and the travel to the resort that the first evening was a bust to join activities. We ended up sleeping early. I recommend that a minimum of 3 days are required to really enjoy the facilities. Even so we enjoyed snorkeling on the reef(saw beautiful fish), glass bottom kayaking, joined Yoga, archery competition, squash, made a tie dye shirt(shirt needs to be purchased in the resort store for tie dying) enjoyed the evening performance, enjoyed glass boat tour and went to the bar party. There are more activists such as paddle board, wind surfing, scuba diving and a whole lot of resort excursions that can be done. This is another reason why I recommend 3 or more days. (Just be warned that scuba diving and many excursions are not an included activity in your resort package, you will most likely need to pay extra for them, but even so, they are fully worth the price. The room was very spacious, sleeping was good, the bed was comfortable, if one needed to clean clothes washing facilities were easy to get access to. Over all the room was good, but I would say that it was a room that served it’s purpose of making a comfortable place to sleep and relax in just before bed. I believe that most people who come will not be relaxing for long in the room. Ok I’ve saved the best for last. I was extremely impressed by the service at Club Med. As a foreign living in Japan, I am used to a certain level of customer service in Japan. Japan has some of the best customer service in the world. But I think Club Med Kabira can teach Japan’s customer service sector a thing or two. The customer service was so good, that when I and my wife first arrived we were taken a back a little as we had never been treated so good in our time visiting hotels and ryokans. Staff at Club Med are very friendly, patient and helpful. They always want to make sure you are ok and do their very best to make sure you feel comfortable. When I entered the dinning hall for the first time I felt like I wasn’t even in Japan as it was such a wonderful multicultural place with so many languages being spoken, and the best thing was that there was always a staff me member that could speak with a guest.

Just go to Club Med and you will see! If you can’t go to Kabira try another Club Med that may be closer to you, The service, food and activities are worth the price of admission. We will be coming back to Kabira Club Med, we will come back multiple times. We also want to visit the Club Meds around the world especially in Maldives. One of the staff shared such wonderful stories and pictures that my wife and I want to go there. Kabira Club Med is heaven and I highly...

There are so many things to say about our trip to club med but I'll try to keep it specific!

Yes, the rooms have bugs...we noticed a lot of ants, and they are pretty much everywhere. BUT, it's entirely manageable. It's a tropical island. It's the same expectation that there are lots of lizards around. No one in our family had any any bites. We also had a garden terrace room so we're right on the ground floor which probably contributed.

The service from the staff is top notch. Our often shy children (3 and 2 years old) were friendly with so many of the staff before we left. Our family was always greeted warmly at every meal and "run-in" we had with staff around the resort. Any issue we had was promptly resolved. Enes and GM Ragab ensured every dining experience we had was phenomenal; the food never disappointed. Our kids always found something they liked to eat. Major shout outs to Hugo and Johan also from the restaurant staff. My daughter's fourth bday is next week and Hugo helped to arrange a birthday cake for her, along with all the staff clapping and singing with candles and the works. It really added to the whole experience. Johan always stopped to chat to the kids and make them feel super special at meals. We loved that they had high chairs available at all meals, regardless of how busy the restaurant was. And, the kid size cutlery, cup, and plate was brilliant too.

Our kids spent two days at kids club in the petite club and had a brilliant time. They were constantly entertained and had activities all day long. The petite club even has it's own mini pool for the children to enjoy during the day. They facilitated lunch, nap time, cookie making, dancing, playtime, playtime in the garden, games, etc. I would call ahead of you plan to put your kids in the kids club and make reservations.

I do recommend bringing your own refillable water bottle if you are used to having a drink around often...or if you want to go on an excursion. The hotel provides some plastic water bottles, but the water will soon warm in the weather. We were thankful for our insulated ones. There are water refill stations around the resort which is super handy. There are pool towels at easy access locations too which was really nice. There's coin laundry available but I didn't see anywhere you could buy detergent. Luckily we had packed some. It cost ¥200 for the washing machine (only accepts ¥100 coins) and ¥100/30min for the dryer. We really appreciated being able to wash our clothes after they got a bit too sweaty/chlorinated/salty/sandy...you name it.

Also, on the day we checked out we had to be out of our room by 1000, but that didn't stop us using the pool and having lunch before our departure time of 1430. They have a shower room you can reserve ahead of time that accommodates a family. Inside they have extra towels, shower necessities, a toilet, etc. We were able to all get showered and changed with no issues, do laundry, eat lunch, and then head to the airport. It meant we were able to really maximize all our time we had at the resort.

Overall we had such a...