Traveling to Japan? Find Yakushima hotels

Sankara would be an exceptional "find" anywhere in the world. We stayed for four nights in October 2012. This was our 25th trip to Japan but our first to Yakushima. Our butler met us at the airport and drove us to the resort for a welcome drink and a package of maps and island information. Each villa has two floors and we were on the first floor. It was total comfort--from the beds to the marble bathroom. It looked just like the photos on the website. Breakfast and dinner were included in the villa price. Each breakfast offered a nice buffet selection and eggs made to order. Dinners are set course menus starting with tiny servings of delicious soups and other appetizers, followed by fish and meat courses and dessert. On our fourth night, we paid an extra fee to eat in the upstairs dining room where meals are prepared by a French-trained chef and his staff working in an open kitchen. Each party had different place settings and received totally different multi-course set meals. You get a printed menu with your personal meal. Our dinner was just exquisite. We were able to rent a car right at the hotel each day and pay by the hour, which was very convenient. Our butler helped us choose hiking routes, and when I asked where to buy nontouristy works of sugi wood like those displayed in the hotel, he made an appointment for us to visit a local craftsman. After two days of hiking I tried a "Thai traditional massage" in the hotel spa, which is another beautifully refined part of the Sankara property. Overall, our experience was just great.

This is a nice ryokan, with river scenery. The meals are of add on charges, but of great quality. If you're not staying in any ryokan but deciding if you should for this hotel, book this! The rooms are not new, but it's clean. Futons are also comfortable, so don't worry about sleeping on a hard floor. There are also indoor hotsprings separately for men/women, shoe dryer (perfect as Yakushima rains alot), rental for hiking gear/bicycle. There is a bus stop just outside of the hotel, which makes it easy to commute (being that there's only 3 times a day that the bus goes on the route, so you definitely cannot miss your bus). It's about 15-20 mins walk from the port. There are quite a few restaurants to dine in for dinner nearby.

I enjoyed the traditional japanese room with tatami mat, which was comfortable! The evenings after Trekking we're incredible. First because of the food which was amazing & second because of the Onsen. For Dinner there we're everyday different kind of raw & cooked fish, Variation of Tofu & Miso soup and small other Things which changed everyday (i eat no meet, but normally, there is also meat). Breakfast was which fresh fruit, Toast, Salat,... Or Japanese Style. The Onsen was great to relax and never too crowded, clean & with view in plants & trees. It was my best accomodation during my trip through Japan& i reccomend it to everyone, who wants to feel traditional japanese "Lifestyle".

Yuki has been the best host so far amongst all our trips! Glad to be the first travellers from Macau too. With as little as 0 concept about Yakushima, her help and offers via email on everything that you need to know to tour, arrive, to rent car or not etc. It made everything so much easier for us. Her utmost warm help is very much appreciated in every way! Now we are back with growing knowledge of wonderful Yakushima. Should you need to escape from the city, a stay that feels like home, and a big sister that helps you with everything, esp fulfilling your every dietary needs/wishes, Yuki is your best choice in Yakushima! We do have good sleep every night becos it is so so quiet, only the nature surrounds you - sth that is too rare nowadays for us who live in the unescapable city. Thanks Yuki! San & I will definitely be back! It's great to have a host like you, Yuki, that speaks so good English and can exchange so much, spiritually and mentally.

The owner and his family are nice and friendly, he takes us from the airport to the hostel and the bus stop Omachira in the next day morning for free. Breadfast and dinner are provided for us and taste delicious. If you go hiking, you could rent the equitment from them too. Shiratani Unsuikyo Valley is one of the most beautiful place in the world. We have a great time here. Wish I could stay Yakushima any longer.

We loved our stay. The hostel was quaint and warm. Guests are encouraged to interact in the cozy sleeping and communal areas. You really feel the hostel traveler vibe, and it was a delight to swap globetrotting stories with like-minded, savvy explorers. The host was the real star of this place. She was very warm, caring, and accommodating, helping you plan out your itinerary on the island, checking after your status for safety, and even going as far as to offer us a ride in her personal car to the ferry port since taking the bus would make us late. Thank you for everything Nee-san. We'll make sure to stay with you again when we make a return trip to Yakushima :)

First of all, I wanna say I will definitely book this hostel next time I come to Yakushima! Still remembered the heavily rainy day we arrived yakushima, we drove passed-by the hostel at least 5-6 times but neither of my boyfriend and me found it. After wasting at least 2 hours to look for it, we successfully located it at around 9:30 p.m. but found the owner had already been back to his house. Luckily he lived nearby and came back to help us for checking-in. Although he blamed on us to being so late, his sincerely care made us feel warm, he worried about us missing the boat actually. Secondly, most of people in Yakushima don't know any English, but this owner can speak fluent English and even showed us to see the oldest tree in Yakushima. No problem in communication this time. (although I can speak Japanese, but highly recommend people who dunno Japanese to stay this hostel). Last but not least, this hostel is located next to a river, if you are luck to have a sunny day in Yakushima, the amazing view from this hostel will let you surprise. Anyway, I will come this hostel next year!

Don't be set back by Mi Kun's eccentric ways and humour, he's the kindest host anyone could wish for! He's been so helpful, and things would have been a lot different if it wasn't for his extensive knowledge of Yakushima. So even if you came half prepared to visit this beautiful island, he will advise you and make the trip as easy as possible according to your desires. On top of that, he regularly asked us if we had any clothes to wash, he sometimes prepared us a small but delicious breakfast, and would drive us around to go grocery shopping (the supermarket is in town) or to go eat at a restaurant. The room is clean, comfortable, and spacious. We booked it in late October, and the blankets were enough for a good and warm night of sleep. Towels are provided, and just like the rooms, the shower is also clean and has hot water. It was overall a pleasant stay and I highly recommend staying there if you're looking for a different experience (it's a yurt after all!)

We enjoyed our stay here. They have air conditioning and a washer/dryer at the older home. It was clean. The kitchen and the bathroom were small, but typical for Japan. Location is easy to find. We didn't find any bugs at the location when we stayed there. The washer drains into the shower area. It was wonderful to have a dryer for our clothes. Price was right. Lots of stray cats in the area.

Miki the host is super-helpful! Loved the tatami room, the beds were SO comfortable (first time for us to sleep in a tatami room and it was amazing). Loved the view from the room too! The bathrooms with the two different tubs are great and came in handy after long days of hiking - so relaxing to be able to soak in them for a bit, almost like an onsen. Great to have a washing machine &dryer on site too. The location is at the south of the island, if you don't have a car it's a bit annoying to always take the bus for an hour to get to the trails up north but we enjoyed the bus-rides as well. Next time we go back we'll hire a car though for sure. Loved the little restaurant nearby that was recommended by Miki, we went there twice.