西表島マリウド — Hotel in Taketomi

Though staying in different guesthouses since 2004 this is one of my favourite. ||||If you would like the authentic experience of sleeping in tatami mats on the floor (but rest assured - SUPER comfortable with enough mattresses and layers between you and the floor) this is the place for you.||||Please note that the rooms are all adjoined by the same corridor so the noise level will depend on other guests though you definitely will have privacy!!! During our stay the place was very quiet and peaceful despite having a few other guests. ||||The meals provided were very good with many dishes per person, and it is obvious the chefs take pride in their food which they should. They also provide free tea, coffee and sake with available potable water at any time of the day. ||||The toilets are clean with good powerful hot showers! There is no en-suite bathroom however the guesthouse is small enough that walking to the bathroom is very convenient anyway. ||||They also provide laundry and drying services which are self-service and you can pay for it. ||||The entire guesthouse is clean and has nice views with outdoor hammocks and chairs if you would like to see the night sky/stars though there are some mosquitoes at night. ||||Most impressive is the service. We were taken care by the team as well as by Ken-san, who speaks very good english if you do not speak Japanese. They also offer snorkelling and trekking tours. ||||We took the one-day trekking tour which i recommend HUNDRED PERCENT over the half-day, especially if you outdoorsy or would like to challenge yourself. There will be much more trekking and better views to make it worth your while. You can get dirty, wet and muddy but Mariudo Guesthouse will provide you EVERYTHING you need - including bags, waterproof bags for valuables, thermos for water, shoes so you will not get your own muddy. I was really amazed by this thoughtful service! Ken-san was our guide and he was a funny, entertaining host. He is also very knowledgeable about all the flora and fauna which made the trek so much more interesting. In the one-day tour guided by Ken you will feel like you understand abit better the spirit...

The place was full of families with children; they were normal children, but our room was next to a corridor with a sliding door that the kids opened and closes with a thud every 5 minutes up until 22:30; after that, they stomped down a corridor; on the other side, we heard the TV and talking as the staff put out the breakfast. Even worse, on one night a kid started crying at 2am (until 3.30 am) so between the noise of the mother trying to quieten the brat, and other children distured too, frankly it was hellish.||||To make it worse, their a/c in the room runs on 100 Yen pieces for every hour. Supposedy you can put in say 8 x 100 yen bits for the night...but maybe you dont need 8 hours....and at that point you get woken up by the heat, have to search for 1-2 100 yen peices, put them in the machine. Neither fun nor agreeable.||||We got there at 14:30 and wanted to book a kayaking tour; no one spoke English, but someone was coming back att 18:00 who could organise it. At 18:00 we got back from the beach, but the guy (the manager) was very busy and asked us to wait until 21-22h. At 22h we asked him to help us understand the tours in their book. None of them were whole day kayaking; the half-day was in reality only 1 hour kayaking; the whole day wouldnt start until 0930 and maybe be later as we had to wait for people from Ishigaki and the boat had been late that day, and then as it was low tide in the morning we would have to pull the kayaks over mud-flats. I insisted and insisted (politely) and after about 8 phone calls - as he explained all the kayak shops were well closed - he found us a trip with 7 other people for the next day. Actually, the day-trip was great. But this is not the way to treat guests with consideration.||||The food is fine. It is clean. It is convenient if you have a car, and not particularly expensive. Nevertheless, there are plenty of other minshuku on Iriomote and so you dont need...

This guesthouse is amazing! We were 3 couples traveling together, so we rented the largest room. The futon mattresses were very comfortable, the bathroom and separate shower were immaculate, and the view from the back porch with 2 hammocks was a spectacular vista overlooking the ocean and other islands. I highly recommend purchasing the meals. They serve a variety of fish, sushi, vegetables, side dishes, rice and tea. Everything was delicious. |Our guide for 3 days was Ken-san. He took us exploring tide pools, kayaking up a river and then hiking to a waterfall, hiking along a stream up to another beautiful waterfall, and snorkeling at an amazing coral reef where it was shallow way out into the ocean. He cooked us delicious noodle bowls for lunch and also taught us about the flora, fauna, and waterways of the island. He speaks excellent English and has a wonderfully upbeat and charming personality. He answered all of our questions with knowledge and a great sense of humor! He gets 10 stars!!|The owner of the resort, Yasujiro Nishino, and Taku were our guides for a full day of snorkeling and what a magnificent day it was. We went to several places and saw an incredible variety of fish and other under the sea sights. One stop included fishing for our lunch! We stopped at a beach and after 20 minutes were served a feast of sushi, fried fish that we’d caught, soup, rice, seaweed, and tea. Top notch!|The resort has several amenities- all day tea, ice, water, and free laundry facilities. I highly recommend everything about this guesthouse, the kitchen staff, the guides, the views, the food, and the...