HOSHINOYA Okinawa — Hotel in Yomitan

We came to Hoshinoya with high hopes as several of us have stayed at their other properties and have had a wonderful time. This was, unfortunately, not the case at all at Hoshinoya Okinawa. I have never been met with such poor customer service and an unwillingness to make things right after a long list of mistakes in my entire time in Japan.||- Upon arrival, we were made to wait for 15 minutes in our taxi with no explanation. I understand it is COVID times, and that there are social distancing needs, however the meter was kept running, and there was no guidance from the staff to our driver or us.|- After being shown into the lobby we were seated with no explanation again and left to wait for an additional 20 minutes. Suddenly, a staff member appeared and told us that we would be shown to our room via golf cart, but two members of our party were outside and so the entire effort became disorganized and clumsy.|- After arriving at our room I inquired about a package that I had sent. The person who showed us to the room said he would check. An hour later after no follow up I called down to the front desk to ask before we went to the pool. The attendant said she would check and if for some reason it hadn’t been delivered she would call me on my cell. As I received no call I assumed it would be delivered on our return. After returning to the room and seeing that the package had still not been delivered, I called once again to inquire and was told they were bringing it right away. Instead, however, a manager came and said they could not locate the package and that sometimes in Okinawa even when it shows as delivered it has not been. This is blatantly untrue as the postal service in Japan is extremely precise. After checking again they found it had been delivered to the kitchen who had returned it. Mistakes happen, but why lie about it? As an apology they brought us some sparkling wine which they served in plastic glasses from the pool. A nice gesture, but at a 5-star hotel serving a drink from an already opened bottle in a plastic glass?|- All of the times for the events and restaurants were different than what was written on the pamphlets and what the staff told us. For example, we were told the awamori tasting would start at 5:00pm by the staff who showed us to our room, however when we went to the pool we were told it started at 6:00pm. This wouldn’t usually be a big deal, but as all of the food shuts off which we were also not made aware of, it became a major issue. The pamphlet said that the restaurant closed at 8:30, however in fact it closed at 8:00pm, and by the time we got back to the room we were too late and had no time to eat. As there are no other dining options nearby this was a huge problem.|- The only dining option left was the self-cook food for the room which was already almost sold out when we requested it. We ordered from what was left, which included a dish that required 30 minutes to warm up of which we ordered three. The oven was only big enough to accommodate one of these, however they didn’t inform us of this ahead of time. Overall, with such limited dining options the staff should have been far more diligent in informing guests of what is happening so that guests are able to properly plan their experience.|- After explaining our problems to the manager, he apologized and said he would provide a solution. What ended up being a offered was a change of rooms to another room that was the same price as the one we were staying at, and a bottle of sparkling wine with dinner if we chose to eat at the restaurant. As we had already been lied to and were having a bad experience, we said we would prefer to leave and find another accommodation. He agreed to arrange a taxi and we booked the Ritz. However, less than five minutes later he called us and told us they would not refund the balance of our stay as we were on a non-refundable plan.||After going down and asking to speak to the GM we were informed he was not on-property. Despite expressing the fact that we had already said we were leaving, they insisted that we pay the full amount despite not being told this when we initially said we wanted to leave. We were told because we were on a “cheap” stay plan they would not refund us. I asked to speak with someone at the head office and was refused and told that their is no customer service department for the whole group and that they were responsible for dealing with all issues on-site. Despite insisting they refused to provide me with any solution. ||We have now left and I am forced to call my credit card and tell them to refuse payment. I am shocked at the low level of hospitality and customer service at what is marketed as a luxury property. We have now moved to the Ritz Carlton and are much happier. I will never stay at another Hoshino Resorts property again, and would strongly advise others to think twice before booking as the staff here is ill-equipped and unwilling to deal with any issues. The customer service level is not on par with the cost of the rooms, and the property is not set up to deliver a premium experience at the level they claim.||One last thing - after getting in the taxi to head to the Ritz the driver informed us that the staff told him that he had been made to wait for an hour due to “guests being difficult and refusing to give up.” How unprofessional is...

We chose this hotel for our honeymoon because we wanted comfort, relaxation, and a special experience. Sadly, what we got instead was stress, repeated problems, and a management team that refused to take proper responsibility.

From the start, housekeeping was inconsistent and poorly explained. We were told that cleaning would alternate between full service and eco-friendly service every other day. In reality, they just stopped doing basic cleaning until we called about it. Even the most basic things — washing our cups, making our bed — were neglected, which has nothing to do with being “eco-friendly.”

The situation got worse when our toilet broke, not once, but twice. The first time, I was unwell and forced to deal with maintenance workers in the room. The second time, after returning tired from a long day out, we had to completely repack and move rooms. This was disruptive and stressful, and it directly caused us to miss a dinner reservation and our evening plans afterwards. On our honeymoon and with limited days, this was especially upsetting as we had looked forward to our plans that day.

Communication problems made everything even harder. For our diving trip, we were told by the front desk that we should book a taxi two hours early. Trusting their advice, we woke at 5am, only to arrive 1.5 hours before the shop even opened, waiting in front of closed doors unnecessarily. This kind of misinformation wasted our time and further damaged our experience. At no point were we able to have a proper conversation with any staff member, as their level of English was unfortunately far too limited.

When we raised all of these issues with management we were offered small token gestures: drinks or breakfast. To make matters worse, their response came so late that we couldn’t even make use of them before we had to fly out. Offering something we couldn’t use on our last day before leaving was meaningless.

What is most frustrating is that the hotel only took ownership of the language barrier, while ignoring all of the much bigger problems: the broken toilet, the missed plans, the failed housekeeping, the misinformation. To suggest that the main issue was communication is insulting given the level of disruption we experienced.

This was our honeymoon, a once-in-a-lifetime trip that we looked forward to for months, and instead we spent it dealing with unnecessary stress caused by the hotel. The way management handled our complaints — brushing them off with gestures instead of taking meaningful responsibility — shows a lack of care for guests.

We will not be recommending this hotel to anyone. Future guests deserve to know how poorly our stay was handled and how unwilling management was to provide proper compensation for multiple,...

We chose this hotel for our honeymoon because we wanted comfort, relaxation, and a special experience. Sadly, what we got instead was stress, repeated problems, and a management team that refused to take proper responsibility.||From the start, housekeeping was inconsistent and poorly explained. We were told that cleaning would alternate between full service and eco-friendly service every other day. In reality, they just stopped doing basic cleaning until we called about it. Even the most basic things — washing our cups, making our bed — were neglected, which has nothing to do with being “eco-friendly.”||The situation got worse when our toilet broke, not once, but twice. The first time, I was unwell and forced to deal with maintenance workers in the room. The second time, after returning tired from a long day out, we had to completely repack and move rooms. This was disruptive and stressful, and it directly caused us to miss a dinner reservation and our evening plans afterwards. On our honeymoon and with limited days, this was especially upsetting as we had looked forward to our plans that day.||Communication problems made everything even harder. For our diving trip, we were told by the front desk that we should book a taxi two hours early. Trusting their advice, we woke at 5am, only to arrive 1.5 hours before the shop even opened, waiting in front of closed doors unnecessarily. This kind of misinformation wasted our time and further damaged our experience. At no point were we able to have a proper conversation with any staff member, as their level of English was unfortunately far too limited.||When we raised all of these issues with management we were offered small token gestures: drinks or breakfast. To make matters worse, their response came so late that we couldn’t even make use of them before we had to fly out. Offering something we couldn’t use on our last day before leaving was meaningless.||What is most frustrating is that the hotel only took ownership of the language barrier, while ignoring all of the much bigger problems: the broken toilet, the missed plans, the failed housekeeping, the misinformation. To suggest that the main issue was communication is insulting given the level of disruption we experienced.||This was our honeymoon, a once-in-a-lifetime trip that we looked forward to for months, and instead we spent it dealing with unnecessary stress caused by the hotel. The way management handled our complaints — brushing them off with gestures instead of taking meaningful responsibility — shows a lack of care for guests.||We will not be recommending this hotel to anyone. Future guests deserve to know how poorly our stay was handled and how unwilling management was to provide proper compensation for multiple,...