Sheraton Okinawa Sunmarina Resort — Hotel in Onna

My family visited came to Okinawa Dec 2024 and chose to have a stay here at the Sheraton Okinawa Sunmarina Resort with my Marriott Bonvoy elite status points.|Even thought the resort is starting to show its age a little, the overall resort is super nice with an access to a private, beautiful beach. On the beach there are tons of summer sport activities that you can try out for a fee, such as: the Mega Zipline, snorkeling tour, banana boat, sunset cruise, etc. However since we went in December, some of these activities were not available, so we ended up just doing the zip line only.||Location wise, it's in the middle of the island so not too far from the airport and not too far from the aquarium. Across the street there is a place where you can by Ryukyu glassware. If you walk out the main entrance and go to the right, there will be a lot of local eateries about .5 miles or so.||Front desk service was nice, as they recognized my Marriott Titanium status and gave us a room upgrade of an Ocean View, High Floor, Maisonette Guest Room with an upstairs loft. As you walk off from the front desk, behind the counter you see a group of elementary school aged kids greeting us. I thought it may have been training for them. ^^|Also there is a unique feature of the hotel is a sizable pond in the lobby where all manner of fish/sea life that will memorize both kids and adults alike. There were lion fishes, puffer fishes, stone fishes, sting rays and a whole slew of others.||Went up to our floor with the fast elevator, and into our room and it was huge, not just Japanese standard, but in general. If you walk out the patio, you can see a beautiful view of the beach. Sheets were clean and crisp. The bathroom had a modern hand shower with a separate rain shower, next to a tub.||The Sunset Lounge was available for guests of status, but catered towards the western palate. Mostly of appetizers and various drinks, which includes the Okinawa brand, Orion Beer.||The breakfast was Buffet Style, serving both Japanese and western palate.|They also include some traditional Okinawan cuisine for breakfast such as Okinawa soba, and more.|It was quite busy with guests from all parts of Asia, even in the low season when we were there.||They have plenty of ware in the gift shop for you to bring back some Okinawan souvenirs such as traditional sweets/snacks and the local liquor, Awamori.||There is also an Onsen (温泉), or hot spring bath available in another building. Since a lot of Marriott properties does not have an Onsen it was definitely a plus. However, being that it was winter and after you warm up in the Onsen, if you walk back to the hotel, it defeats the purpose of getting warm though.||Overall it was a great experience but there may be room for some improvement. Nitpick stuff such as updating some rooms to be more modern. Biggest gripe was (and not totally fault of the hotel) was that even at the slow season, there were SO MANY people at breakfast that were cutting in line, and generally causing a mess and nuisance. Aside from that, if I could give 4.5 points I would, but since I can’t, I’ll...

IF I COULD GIVE A NEGATIVE SCORE, I ABSOLUTELY WOULD. BEWARE! DO NOT BUY THEIR POOL + LUNCH PACKAGE UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE TREATED TERRIBLY!

I found their Pool + Lunch package on TableCheck while searching for a buffet around the Onna area to celebrate my child’s birthday. The offer was labeled as “OUR MOST POPULAR PACKAGE DURING SUMMER,” so naturally, I was excited and booked it. The package cost 5,700 yen and included pool access and a lunch buffet.

When we arrived, the woman at the entrance asked where we were going. I told her about our reservation, showed the confirmation, but she was COMPLETELY CLUELESS what a pool + lunch package is. She simply told us to go to the Beach Play Counter.

When we got there, another staff member told us we actually needed to go to Senses (the buffet restaurant). It was already frustrating to be PASSED AROUND TWICE, especially since it was raining and involved a bit of a walk.

At Senses, the man told us we COULDN’T USE THE POOL YET (it was 10:30 AM) and that we had to eat first. He said we’d be given GUIDELINES AFTER LUNCH. We finished eating and were given BLUE WRISTBANDS, but NO GUIDELINES at all. So I asked where we should go, and again, we were told to return to the Beach Play Counter.

Back at the counter, the woman just pointed at a map: “Here’s the locker, changing room, and pool.” The problem? The changing rooms were hard to find since most of the ones we tried had key card access. I had to go back and ask again. Turns out, the changing room for day pass users was in the FURTHEST PART OF THE HOTEL. The path there was in HORRIBLE CONDITION — FLOODED AND MUDDY due to the rain.

When we finally found the changing room, I was SHOCKED. It was AN OLD, DILAPIDATED ROOM FULL OF RUST AND DUST. THE LIGHTS WERE SO DARK. I honestly WANTED TO CRY. THIS WAS NOT WHAT I WANTED FOR MY CHILD — ESPECIALLY NOT ON HER BIRTHDAY.

I WAS NOT ABLE TO TAKE A PHOTO OF THE ACTUAL CHANGING ROOM SINCE I WAS SO STRESSED WITH THE SITUATION, IT WAS RAINING HARD, AND I HAD TO TEND TO MY CHILD.

We tried to go to the indoor pool but were told we needed ANOTHER ACCESS PASS. We were TOO EXHAUSTED to go back to the counter again, so we just used the outdoor pool, even though it was raining.

I WOULD DEFINITELY UNDERSTAND THAT THERE WILL BE SOME SORT OF DISCRIMINATION BETWEEN DAY PASS HOLDERS AND HOTEL GUESTS, BUT NOT TO THIS EXTENT! THIS WAS THE WORST OF THE WORST POOL DAY PASS EXPERIENCE WE’VE EVER HAD.

WE ARE ALSO PAYING CUSTOMERS, AND I HOPE THE MANAGEMENT SERIOUSLY PAYS ATTENTION TO THE CONDITION OF THE FACILITIES AND THE...

I stayed at this resort for 1 night only during Thanksgiving break so it was definitely low season - your experience may vary during busy season.

The resort is located approximately an hour drive north of Nara, though Okinawa traffic can quickly screw it up. There is a parking lot if you decided to drive - lucky for platinum members it's free otherwise it's a trivial charge (I think $5 a day?). The valet was typical Japanese nice - very insistent on taking my bag into the hotel (though I like to always hold onto my stuff).

Check-in process was not the most efficient I've seen (Been checked in to rooms in the US within 2 min in the US, Japan averages closer to 5 min), but they're nice and thorough. Also had a great 5 min overview of the resort and the platinum benefit (no platinum lounge, but 1 hour of free drinks from 5 to 6 PM, free resort pass that included access to sauna / japanese bath, beach chairs, kayak, water bicycle, tennis, free parking, and free breakfast). The free extras really made the place worth it to me as a platinum member (though a number of the outdoor activities were close due to high-winds).

I was upgraded to a suite - which was one of the more unique suites I've seen. Located on the top floor of the hotel (14?) - you walk into the room and notice three futons in the main living area (along with a coach, chair, dining table). Then there's a spiral staircase that takes you upstairs into the main bedroom (with it's own small bathroom and closet). Outdoor balcony had an amazing view of the ocean and town. There was even 3 skylights you can open and close (point the remote at each and hit open or close).

Bed was very comfortable, plenty of space to sprawl. The bathroom was on the first floor with a very comfortable shower and nice spacious bathtub. Le Grand Bain bath products as the Sheraton standard gets the job done. Suite included some free local Orion beer (the zero calorie alcohol free beer was really interesting...)

The resort had a number of other hidden gems - including the PS4 games you can play, the karaoke room you can rent, the toy car circuit, the number of different restaurants / hotels. Also, the nearby town has a lot of great restaurants and eateries. Oh, and the ocean itself was beautiful - though we didn't actually go...