Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Eef Beach (
イーフビーチ
; Īfubīchi) in Nakazato Town (
仲里
; Naka-zato), about 4 miles (6
kilometers) away on the eastern side of the island.
Because the island is popular with Japanese travelers, it offers far more choice in hotels,
restaurants and other accommodations than other islands comparable in size. In all, Kume
sports three luxury resort hotels, several standard class hotels and more than a dozen
minshuku
.
Kumejima's best, the Cypress Resort Hotel.
Top of the line is the newly renovated and reopened Cypress Resort Hotel (
サイプレス
リゾート
; Saipuresu-Rizōto), located less than 1.25 miles (2 kilometers) from the airport and
1.75 miles (3 kilometers) from Gushikawa Town. Some might object because of its relatively
isolated location, but the hotel commands its own expansive place right on Shinri Beach (
シ
ンリ浜
; Shinri hama). In fact, guests don't even have to walk the hundred meters to the beach.
A swimmer or chaise longue dweller can enjoy the view overlooking the ocean and beach
from the comfort of the hotel's ultra modern infinity pool. Altogether, the Cypress is about as
elegant a place to stay as one could wish for and it's probably the island's nicest place to have
a drink and watch the sun set over the ocean.
Kume's two other top properties are the Kume Island Resort (formerly the Nikko Resort)
and the Eef Beach Hotel. Both are first class but neither can really be said to be “luxury.” All
three of these hotel resorts have rates that can vary from as high as $350 a night (twin occu-
pancy) to as low as $100 or $150, including breakfast. The vast price differences can be ex-
plained by time of year (seasonal rates) and whether the hotel is booked as part of a package.
It's always worth checking with local travel agencies to see what sort of deals are available.
Remember that your fellow Japanese hotel guests have almost always paid less than you be-
cause they booked the resort as part of a package.
If no reasonable deals can be found at the big hotels, it's worth checking out the rates
at one or more of the many
minshuku
or lesser-priced hotels on the island. There's a fairly
large number of both
minshuku
and smaller hotels in Gushikawa and even more in Nakazato.
