ANA Holiday Inn Resort Miyazaki

A great hotel in Aoshima, especially for surfers

The ANA Holiday Inn Resort Miyazaki is located at the very northern end of surf-rich town Aoshima. The hotel itself fronts the area's pleasant beach walk and beyond that the beach and the waves. From the first floor it'll take a matter of seconds to hit the sands. The Holiday Inn is a big operation housed in a U-shape building, reaching up nine floors, where it looks as if all of the rooms have great ocean views (certainly, ours did). For surfers then, it's the perfect place to stay in Aoshima as you can just crack open the curtains of your room to assess the surf conditions. The benefits continue for surfers at the Holiday Inn -- there is storage space for surf boards (although there is no way of locking things up), outdoor showers for a post-surf rinse, and no one seems to care about using the elevators soaking wet after a surf with board under arm. There's and "activity center" at on site that rents surf boards, and sells surf fashion. Rooms at the ANA Holiday Inn are what you would expect at this kind of price range -- comfortable beds, relatively shiny and spacious bathrooms, arm chairs / sofa by the window, fridge, and plenty of storage space. On a more standout note, at The ANA Holiday Inn Resort Miyazaki in-room coffee comes in the form of one those espresso maker machines (Brewstar) with capsules replaced every day. And you get to use an iPhone type thing for internet access. On the down side, the TV only has about three channels and the BS hasn't been subscribed to. If you have breakfast included in the stay, it's served at the 1st floor restaurant in a buffet style. It's not bad as far as Japanese breakfast options go. There is enough to cater to the western palate (i.e. mine) -- granola, fruit, yogurt, breads, waffles and pancakes. English-language newspapers are available at breakfast. There are two or three restaurants at the hotel, all of which were too expensive for us -- think around 3,000 yen for a full meal. The hotel has an indoor pool but even as guests you have to pay separately to use it. Plus you have to wear those stupid swimming caps. When such a glorious beach is right at your disposal a pool like this seems a bit redundant. Baths (as in the hot spring / public type) also incur a charge (or tax) regardless whether or not you use them. Around 300 yen a day (I think), it just gets added to your final bill at checkout. Staff at the ANA Holiday Inn Resort Miyazaki are friendly and service (check in, check out, etc) was efficient. Parking space immediately outside the hotel is limited. You may have to park further down the main Aoshima road. From the hotel to the main action of Aoshima the town, as much as there is any action, it will be around a 20-min walk. The same to get down the beach to the island of Aoshima. Although the beach stays lamp-lit throughout the night, the main road side of things can get quite dark at this end of town. There's not much going on in terms of other shops and restaurants around the hotel but there are a couple of eating options immediately across the road, and a 10-min walk south towards town will get you to one or two more restaurants. The hotel as a kind of convenience store / souvenir shop of its own. Expect prices to be inflated accordingly. (The nearest convenience store is about a 5-min drive to the other end of town.) There were two weddings that took place at the hotel during our stay. To be honest, you wouldn't have known they were happening were it not for the signs announcing them. On some evenings there is live music, but only briefly. A kind of decorative pool out the back (beach side) gets lit up in garish lights during the evening. It looks a bit stupid but maybe the kids will like it. The ANA Holiday Inn Resort Miyazaki is right next door to Kodomo no Kuni which, among other things, offers a Japanese take on pitch and putt golf. We were worried this place was going to be a center of noise during our stay in peak summer, but it seems that most guest of the hotel didn't even notice it was there. Overall, we really enjoyed our stay. The rooms are really nice, the location is amazing, and for a surfer it was just about perfect. Aside from breakfast and having to wait a while for the elevators we didn't really feel that the hotel, given its size, ever got particularly crowded or busy. A hotel like the ANA Holiday Inn is never going to be cheap but it's worth saving up for a nice beach stay in Aoshima.