A real home stay”

To make the most of Miyako-Jima you really need a car. This also applies to Condominium Hillside in that it is a little isolated and even allowing for the free use of the bikes, you do feel somewhat trapped being that far out of town. That said, our lack of car was compensated by the fact that the owners - who live next door - were prepared to drive us everywhere ... (We insisted on making a small contribution to their petrol.) Condominium Hillside is in fact a large house within which are 5 separate apartments. We had the large one at the top of the house and enjoyed 2 double beds, fully equipped kitchen, large front room, private toilet & bath and balcony with washing machine & drying area. Each apartment offers different facilities so check carefully when you book. Ten minutes on those bikes got us to the glorious Sunayama Beach (The bikes will be safe if you lock them and leave them just inside the car park) and the same time in the other direction got us to Coco convenience store. Our hosts were kind enough to invite us to a BBQ and despite no common language between us we had an amazing evening. If you want somewhere a little off the beaten track that allows you to enjoy some wonderful peace and quiet then this is the place for you. We loved it!

Warm and friendly hosts at a home away from home”

Our stay at the Condominium Hillside Sands was excellent to say the least. We stayed in the Cherry suit in the bottom floor and had access to two bathrooms, a kitchen, dining area, back patio, laundry facilities, and a couple bicycles. The room itself was comfortable, but the bathroom were facilities just outside the room. It's more of a big house then a condominium and felt like our private house because no one was staying in the only other room on the bottom floor. We didn't rent a car because we both didn't have international drivers licenses. I'd recommend you rent a car if staying in Miyakojima. But really, the taxi fares we paid would have cost the same. Sunayama beach is only a 10 minute bike ride away and was our favorite beach between Maehama and Sunayama. The condominium/house is about $13 away from the airport by taxi and $7 away from the city centre, $25 to Maehama beach. On our last night there we were treated to a Okinawan traditional BBQ by the condominium owners who were so friendly and so happy to have us there during our stay. The people we met were incredibly friendly, the food (and beer/sake) was excellent and endless, and we felt so lucky to have stayed here. It was so much more than a hotel. I can't recommend this place more, especially if you really want to get away from all the tourists and experience something unique. We loved it and wish we could have stayed more than the four nights we did. Thank you very much Shimijiri and Mitsuko!