samana hotel Yakushima — Hotel in Yakushima

We really enjoyed the nature and hikes at Yakushima, but were always "relieved" to come back to a modern hotel with considerate amenities such as a boot scrubbing station next to the front entrance as well as a wonderful onsen / hot spring, which has indoor and outdoor pools. We stayed for 5 quiet and blissful nights at the JR Hotel while exploring Yakushima. Overall, we were really happy with this accommodation and felt it is one of the best offerings on the island. ||||The room and facilities are updated and feel relatively new, and the staff is friendly and professional. I was particularly impressed with the room size as it's large by local standards, and nearly all rooms offer a fantastic panoramic ocean view and a small balcony to enjoy the ocean breeze. Relatively speaking, the bathroom is on the small side though we chose to bath in the downstairs onsen facilities for most evenings to soak our tired legs. A small tip - we preferred going after 9pm for a quieter experience as the onsen is open to outside guests during daytime. Coin laundry machines are also available which is another convenience we appreciated. ||||We elected to take the half board package which included breakfast and dinner. I highly recommend doing so as I noticed meal options in town seem limited, and simply made life easier. Whereas the breakfast spread (which had plenty of Japanese and western options) remained similar throughout our stay, the dinner omakase sets (usually ~6 courses) varied everyday. I noticed that the restaurant tracked the guest's day of stay and offered a different menu based on it. The menus towards our later days got fancy with ingredients such as wagyu beef and lobster appearing as well as a special note thanking us for the longer stay! ||||The hotel does request guests to drop-off room keys at the front desk when going out in the morning. A friendly reminder that this is also a good opportunity to reserve your dinner table for the evening so they know when to expect you, and the restaurant does get full. If you expect to be out early (before 7:30am) the next day - also do let the front desk know in advance, they will happily pack you a Japanese styled "bento" / meal box for breakfast instead. This is helpful if you're thinking about going on the Jumon Sugi hike which people start heading out at around 5am. ||||Whereas the hotel's location offers a fabulous view, it is slightly off pitch from commercial areas. We elected to rent a car during our stay, and it was easy to get around. And the hotel has a huge parking lot. However, the hotel may not be the most convenient if you're planning to rely on the...

We really enjoyed the nature and hikes at Yakushima, but were always "relieved" to come back to a modern hotel with considerate amenities such as a boot scrubbing station next to the front entrance as well as a wonderful onsen / hot spring, which has indoor and outdoor pools. We stayed for 5 quiet and blissful nights at the JR Hotel while exploring Yakushima. Overall, we were really happy with this accommodation and felt it is one of the best offerings on the island. ||||The room and facilities are updated and feel relatively new, and the staff is friendly and professional. I was particularly impressed with the room size as it's large by local standards, and nearly all rooms offer a fantastic panoramic ocean view and a small balcony to enjoy the ocean breeze. Relatively speaking, the bathroom is on the small side though we chose to bath in the downstairs onsen facilities for most evenings to soak our tired legs. A small tip - we preferred going after 9pm for a quieter experience as the onsen is open to outside guests during daytime. Coin laundry machines are also available which is another convenience we appreciated. ||||We elected to take the half board package which included breakfast and dinner. I highly recommend doing so as I noticed meal options in town seem limited, and simply made life easier. Whereas the breakfast spread (which had plenty of Japanese and western options) remained similar throughout our stay, the dinner omakase sets (usually ~6 courses) varied everyday. I noticed that the restaurant tracked the guest's day of stay and offered a different menu based on it. The menus towards our later days got fancy with ingredients such as wagyu beef and lobster appearing as well as a special note thanking us for the longer stay! ||||The hotel does request guests to drop-off room keys at the front desk when going out in the morning. A friendly reminder that this is also a good opportunity to reserve your dinner table for the evening so they know when to expect you, and the restaurant does get full. If you expect to be out early (before 7:30am) the next day - also do let the front desk know in advance, they will happily pack you a Japanese styled "bento" / meal box for breakfast instead. This is helpful if you're thinking about going on the Jumon Sugi hike which people start heading out at around 5am. ||||Whereas the hotel's location offers a fabulous view, it is slightly off pitch from commercial areas. We elected to rent a car during our stay, and it was easy to get around. And the hotel has a huge parking lot. However, the hotel may not be the most convenient if you're planning to rely on the...

A great and relaxing spot to stay at in Yakushima and I'd definitely would stay here again if I visit Yakushima again. I visited during the off season (mid-December) so not many others in the hotel which was very nice. I rented a car but it appeared that there was a bus stop right near the hotel (not sure which bus though). Not all the staff spoke English (naturally) but I didn't have any trouble communicating, there were always staff members that did. All the staff were nice, polite and very accommodating.

Rooms: Very spacious and modern. Power outlets, USB-A and USB-C ports near the beds. All the light switches were also near the bed stand so no need to struggle to find out how to turn off/on the lights. Beds were a bit firm but that is how I like them and I slept great. A pour over coffee maker (e.g. like a chemex) with a goose-neck kettle (first time I've seen in a hotel but a very nice surprise!). I chose the Mountain view but still had some view of the ocean. Fantastic views all around the hotel. My room faced the parking lot which had bright lights at night but the room came with black-out curtains so they were not a bother.

Food: A fantastic breakfast buffet (better than the Ritz in Osaka hah!) with lots of great local and western options. The breakfast calzones were delicious! Dinner buffet was also great with a nice variety of little desserts.

Amenities: The hotel has an onsen in the basement of the hotel with both a large indoor and a small open-air option. Very relaxing after a day of hiking. Since I visited during off-season I was the only one in there most of the times but likely won't be the case during peak season. The basement also has two massage chairs but I didn't try them out.

A fantastic patio overlooking the ocean. Perfect for sunset views when it's not raining out and to relax with a drink hearing the ocean waves...