ANA InterContinental Ishigaki Resort by IHG

This resort maintains a consistently neat and polished condition. Some areas have even been thoughtfully renovated, and it felt as though no corner of the resort had been left unattended. Considering the size of the property, such a high level of maintenance must require serious planning and focus—something that clearly reflects the dedication of every staff member. But above all, what left the strongest impression was how each guest was treated with a familial sense of care and attentiveness. Thanks to this, not only myself but surely many others walked away thinking, “That was a truly wonderful trip,” with a warmth that lingers long after departure.

Just had a wonderful week staying at the ANA intercontinental on the beautiful island of Ishigaki. |We stayed in the Bay wing which is the most modern and I would definitely recommend this over the other wings. The rooms were lovely & large and had views out to the pool & beach. |The pool area was lovely with two nice size pools and the beach area is less than a minutes walk. Lovely beach & with a large netted area for swimming. Beautiful calm sea which even had a separate area with a large inflatable activity area (chargeable) to use. |Our main restaurant was Saltida. Breakfast was great, with a large selection of choice both western & Japanese. We never had to queue or wait for breakfast & it was all run very smoothly. |We often had lunch in the Saltida restaurant which offered a good selection again of both western & more local foods. |We tried 3 of the restaurants in the hotel. All were good. Our favourite was the Saltida as the buffet offered a great variety for our family to enjoy. |You can also take a taxi (13 mins) to the downtown area if you want to try some of the local restaurants. |The island itself is beautiful and we did hire a car to tour round some of the sights which was well worth it. |You need an international licence to hire a car on the island which was very affordable and driving was very straightforward. |Finally I would like to end by saying all the staff at the Intercontinental were very helpful & friendly and we were made to feel very welcome. A very special mention and thanks to Gagan who really looked after us so well during our stay and showed just great customer service throughout our stay! He went above and beyond every day to check that we were having a wonderful holiday and making the most of what Ishigaki has to offer. We really like the IHG hotels and this one definitely does not disappoint.

Beautiful facilities and friendly staff! The whole place has a tropical vibe that really makes you feel like you’re in Okinawa. I loved that we could walk from the hotel to the beach — such a nice touch. At night, the stars were absolutely stunning. The food was delicious, and it was great to have the option of Japanese cuisine or a buffet. They even had a bonfire and a chapel, which added a special atmosphere to the stay. Highly recommend!

After staying at many international hotel chains over the years, I’ve come to notice a certain formality in the way service is delivered in Korea and Japan—impeccable, yet sometimes lacking a personal touch.||That’s why my time at ANA InterContinental Ishigaki felt so refreshing. From the moment we stepped into Yaeyama Restaurant, Ms. Toyama made our children feel at home, remembering their favorite dishes and asking whether they’d like “the usual” every morning. With so many guests coming and going, that level of attentiveness is rare, even at five‑star properties.||Ms. Moktan and Ms. Hokama continued that warmth throughout each meal, checking in with genuine care that made us feel less like customers and more like family. Staff members like them remind you that true hospitality is measured not only by efficiency, but by kindness.||The same spirit shone through in housekeeping. Ms. Miyazaki kept our room in pristine condition during all eight nights—so clean it felt newly prepared each day. Once she learned I preferred caffeine‑free drinks, she took the extra step to stock just what I needed. It wasn’t “one extra tea bag”; it was thoughtfulness, and it meant the world.||On departure day, Ms. Sato helped with taxis when our luggage wouldn’t fit in the first car. She handled the switch smoothly and stayed with us right until the doors closed, seeing us off with a smile that turned a stressful moment into a fond memory. ||From a hardware perspective as well, the resort maintains a consistently neat and polished condition. Some areas have even been thoughtfully renovated, and it felt as though no corner of the resort had been left unattended.|Considering the size of the property, such a high level of maintenance must require serious planning and focus—something that clearly reflects the dedication of every staff member.|But above all, what left the strongest impression was how each guest was treated with a familial sense of care and attentiveness. Thanks to this, not only myself but surely many others walked away thinking, “That was a truly wonderful trip,” with a warmth that lingers long after departure.

The ‘Resort’ is effectively 3 buildings, the Ocean & Coral wings around The Sunrise Pool and The Bay wing has the Sunset Pool. We were in the Ocean wing, which looks the oldest of the buildings. The rooms are a good size with all the usual facilities however the whole building just has an abandoned feel about it or simply things are not used. The most obvious example is that there are patios and terraces but there are no tables and chairs or access is blocked, so other than your sun lounger at the pool there is no where to sit outside and enjoy a meal, beer or coffee. The extreme example of this is that whilst all the rooms in The Ocean wing have sea views and balconies, there are no tables or chairs on the balconies, yet there are in The Bay wing, very odd and poor. The Sunrise pool is painted concrete surrounds which looks very dirty, and equally ‘The Pool Bar’ is an empty hut again with no tables or chairs, so the whole pool area is not up to the supposed hotel rating. By contrast the Sunset pool has tiled surrounds with lovely cabanas and sofas, with an adjacent restaurant and service and looks far more the part. However, there is a catch, despite there being no mention of this fact on their website and being encouraged to use the Sunset pool on check in, it transpired that they have a management policy that only guests in the Bay wing could use that pool. Having been at the resort on a 4 day stay, when the resort appeared to have a very low occupancy, on our third day of using the Sunset pool, we were unceremoniously asked to leave the Sunset pool. We formally complained to management but was not graced with any response or acknowledgment that their website, check in, or signage did not reflect their operational practise and therefore is a misrepresentation of what your are purchasing when booking. It is sad to write the above tale of management failings as the service from the individual staff members in the restaurants, the water sports and golf was excellent. In summary the Ocean & Coral areas especially the Sunrise pool needs a major injection of investment but above all a management who actually care and have an eye for detail and standards.

The room had bunks over beds which was quite fun and my daughters loved it. Great pool and access to the beach with numerous activities close by. Definitely great for a quick weekend getaway. The inflatable obstacle course on the ocean was spot on and wore my whole family out with a variety of great restaurants on site.

It was great to finally find a proper international hotel in Japan with international levels of service instead of something with Japanese characteristics where most international hotels refuse to bend to a request unless it was written in a rule book written by an old man in a suit in the office. More Japanese Hotels could learn from how the Bay Wing operates. Gagan’s can-do friendly attitude made all the difference. We’ve been looking for a hotel for years with this level of service in Japan to avoid the all-day travel time needed to get to a good resort in SE Asia. You can be by the pool at lunch time travelling out of Osaka. The older part of the hotel looked a bit run down, so I would recommend the Bay Wing. People who stayed in Club wing also rated it highly. Will definitely head back there at some stage.

We got a room with the ocean and pool view. It was great. The room was situated at the Ocean Wing, and was not new nor old. A few spots had stains but it’s clean overall speaking. There were many Japanese travelers. We were assigned to room 404 on 4/F, which is almost at the end of the corridor and it took a while to travel between the room and the lift lobby. We wondered if it’s because ‘4’ is not a fortunate number for Japanese people so they put us (non-Japanese) here instead of another room. We thought the beach right in front of the hotel (Maesato) would be a nice snorkeling site when booking, but it turns out there was very little fish, which makes the location unsatisfactory for us. (I highly recommend Yonehara beach if you are going to snorkel by yourself!) We didn’t drive at the trip so It’s not convenient to access the city centre from the hotel. Limited number of bus trips from the hotel to the city centre. Only around 5-6 buses a day. The balcony does not have anything. We had to hang our clothes on the fences and move the chair from the living room to the balcony to sit and appreciate the view. The hotel only informed us there would be a charge of 1000 YEN per person for using the facilities, no matter if we use them or not. However, 4 nights of staying already costs us 260,000 YEN. We would feel more comfortable if this was notified at the time of booking. Staff was overall friendly and helpful. The staff who brought us towel to the room even gave me a 90 degree bow. Despite it’s my companion’s birthday on one of the stays, no special arrangements were made by the hotel. Overall speaking, if you drive, like to play golf and have kids, this is a perfect getaway spot. For us as a couple and don’t drive, this price is way over what we expected.

ANA InterContinental Ishigaki Resort is one of the largest resort hotels on Ishigaki Island. It's about a 20 minute drive from the airport and a 10 minute drive from Ishigaki Port. It's also easily accessible by taxi (~800 yen from downtown) and by the Airport Bus (210 yen to Ishigaki Port). If you're feeling up for a walk, it's only a 35-40 minute walk to Ishigaki Port. The room we stayed in was on the 8th floor overlooking the ocean. It featured two twin beds. There was a flat screen TV, a minibar (with costly drinks), a Keurig machine with free pods and tea bags. The beds were comfy with soft pillows. There's free pillow services to switch to buckwheat among other options. The bathroom was nice; there was a large shower and a soaker tub. A toilet with an Inax washlet was in a separate room. There's small bottles of body wash, shampoo, conditioner and moisturizer. There's also a razor, a sewing kit, shower cap, body scrubs, Q Tips, a comb, and tooth brushes. One of the more important services available in the hotel is the Resort Centre. Several employees working at the desk speak English. Here, you can book tours to neighbouring islands or snorkeling/diving trips. They can also make reservations for you at various restaurants. Keep in mind that they do have relationships with specific companies so there may be more options if you do your own research. Nevertheless, the guy at the counter was very helpful. The Onsen (public bath) is available only in the afternoon and evening. Last entry is at 10:30pm. There's water and towels available inside the change rooms, along with free lockers There's only one bath inside and unfortunately, no rotemburo. There are combs and hair products for you to use but no razors or tooth brushes. The beach is really nice. It's a great place to watch the sunrise in the morning. There's options for various marine sports / activities such as banana boat, snorkelling trips and deep sea walking. However, none of it is included and can be quite pricy. There's also shops in the hotel selling souvenirs and drinks. It's a bit more expensive than outside of the resort. Food-wise, there's several options which we didn't try other than the breakfasts. As part of our room package, we had access to a Japanese breakfast or a breakfast buffet. The Japanese breakfast is a set menu with fish, rice or rice porridge, natto, soup, and some pickled vegetables. The buffet features a wide variety of foods including salads, fruits, soup, rice porridge or mixed grain rice, bacon, omelettes, various Okinawan dishes (e.g. bitter melon champuru, soba noodles). There's also breads, juices, coffee and tea. We didn't get a chance to have lunch or dinner at the hotel. Overall: - Pros: resort centre with english-speaking employees, nice breakfast buffet or Japanese-style meal, easy access to downtown (35-40 minutes by foot), clean and modern interior. - Cons: on-site marine sports are a bit expensive, only one bath in the onsen and limited hours