Happy Holiday — Hotel in Ishigaki

We stayed at the Happy Hoiday Hotel in Ishigaki in March 2014. Initially I had booked for 2 nights, but ended up staying for 5 nights. If you are looking for a hotel that is well positioned (3 min walk to the seaport and less than 5 min walk to the central spot in the Ishigaki town) this is a hotel I recommend.||||I was not looking for an all inclusive resorts (a-la Club Med and others that exist in the island) as I wanted to stay in a hotel to spend the night only so that I can travel to the nearby islands as well as to other more remote parts of Ishigaki island. This hotel served that purpose and at a very good cost. We were 2 travelers and had booked a double room. ||||Initially we stayed in a room for 2 nights on the 2nd floor and it was ok but nothing special, and then when we extended our stay for 3 more nights the hotel gave us a room on the 4th floor. It seems the rooms on the 4th floor are newer (renovated) and I recommend you ask for rooms on that floor. The hotel from the outside does not look particularly good and it has no facilities other than a small lobby on the 2nd floor. However the rooms inside - particularly the renovated ones - are very nice and very comfortable. The rooms are very clean (even cleaner than so called 4 star hotels that I have stayed in Europe) and this is typical for Japan that the rooms even in budget hotels are very clean. The bathroom is compact and has a typical Japanese bathtub and shower, the water can be very hot and the flow is great. The toilets are electronic which is typical in Japan. ||||The rooms are rather on the comfortable size (considering that hotel rooms in Japan are tiny). We had 2 single beds. The decor was also nice, it was nearly all new and again super clean. The hotel was making the beds every day, changing the bed linens and the bath towels. There is a small refrigerator as well, a small flat-screen TV (it is small but the the quality of the display and the colors were great). The WiFi was free and the speed quiet good. It seems they have different WiFi spots to connect based on what floor your room is. The hotel was very quiet, I did not see foreigners staying in that hotel and I saw only Japanese guests. ||||On the 2nd floor there are also some simple facilities with a washing machine and a drier. They are operated with coins. To use the washing machine was 300 JPY and the drier was 100 JPY for 30 min. The washing powder was free. ||||The rate we paid included breakfast, however this is what I would avoid. The breakfast is not good so if you stay in that hotel consider that you may want to have breakfast outside. Breakfast is self-service in a small room that it can get crowded in the morning, and they only have coffee, tea, some toast bread, boiled eggs and sausages and some salad and fruit. We had breakfast there a couple of times and it felt like a casual home breakfast (very simple yet it was just ok for 1 or 2 times). In any case the hotel is so close to shops that the best option is to go outside and have breakfast in one of the numerous cafes in the island. ||||At the lobby they do not speak much English, yet this was not a problem for us. They accept most credit cards as well. ||||For the price we paid for 2 individuals and the quality of the room and the sleep quality we got, when combined with the level of cleanliness in the rooms, I think this hotel has value. We booked for about 8500 JPY per night including tax etc. This was for 2 individuals. ||||Another hotel with similar - sometimes - rates - is the East China hotel which is 200 meters away from this hotel. That hotel has better facilities, but in Ishigaki the hotels can get full especially in high season so we could not get rooms...

This hotel is very well located for those who want to get the ferries to the other islands, it is just a 5-minute walk to the ferry port. It is also close to restaurants and grocery shops. There are various other hotels in the same area which may offer better conditions than happy holiday does. We booked this hotel for 5 nights because many of the other hotels were fully booked but we were disappointed in the end. ||||The price for a double room was 80 euros per night, and contrarily to what another reviewer said, we did not get 4-star quality, not even close. The price is too high for what they offer. The room was big, with a sofa, a big window, tea making facilities, free wi-fi and hair-dryer. There is air conditioning but it is a bit weak, it was okay for us but it may be a problem for other guests.||||The breakfast is included in the price per night but it is horrible. It is served in the restaurant next to the hotel and it is a buffet but the choice is very limited and lacks quality. There is just toast, boiled eggs, canned sausages and salad. The breakfast area is not pleasant at all and after our first morning we did not return there. It is much better to have breakfast somewhere else. If we had known that the breakfast was so bad we would have chosen a cheaper hotel were breakfast was not included.||||One thing I have to say is that everything was very clean, the cleaning staff do a great job and are very nice and friendly. The lady that did the check-in for us (and does some of the cleaning too) was very, very nice. Although she didn't speak English and we didn't speak Japanese she used gestures and was able to explain everything very well. She was the most positive aspect of our stay at this hotel! The rest of the staff were ok but not very nice. Just a note that between 10 pm and 7 am there is no-one in the reception. The access to the hotel during the day is made through an elevator that goes directly from the street level to the floors of the rooms (without going through the reception). There are security cameras in the corridors but it didn't seem very safe to me. Of course that we are Japan and I wouldn't expect anything bad to happen anyway.||||The hotel has a free coin laundry but the instructions are all in japanese, so we didn't realize that the laundry was free until our last day. You have to put the coins in the machine but retrieve them afterwards. Since the laundry is free most of the guests use it and it is not easy to find a time when the machines are free.||||It wasn't a very bad experience overall but we felt that the price was too high for what was offered and would not stay at this...

Pros:||||The hotel is located in the immediate vicinity of the jetty, from where boats towards the neighboring islands of the archipelago set sail for tours (5 minutes walk) . Roughly the same amount of time it takes to reach the central bus station, from where one can go anywhere on the island, including the airport. The rooms are comfortable and clean , and breakfast although the same every day, is tasty and sufficient for the price. Another advantage is that the hotel operates a diving club and the hotel staff is very helpful when it comes to hiring a car, or the organization of additional attractions in the city.||||Cons:||||The staff do not speak English. However, it is possible to communicate at the reception using google translate...