Anonymous User
No, absolutely not. I cannot recommend this accommodation.
tldr: even I paid in advance and had a valid reservation I could not check in.
I had called around midday and explicitly said that I would be checking in late in the evening. I was assured that this would not be a problem. An older woman told me I could check in until 10 p.m.
When I arrived shortly before 10 p.m., however, the operator knew nothing about it. He simply asked me, “Who are you? I don’t have you on the list.” This was despite the booking being fully confirmed through Trip.com. Apparently, it had simply been forgotten or overlooked.
Allegedly, there was then no room available. On Yakushima, it is naturally difficult to find another place to stay online at short notice, as there are generally not many options. I also already found this accommodation quite expensive.
The operator then called a friend who also runs a guesthouse. Guests there had coincidentally cancelled, so I was able to stay there instead. However, he still wanted to keep the full amount of money, even though this replacement accommodation had nothing to do with my original booking.
I had deliberately booked this accommodation because I wanted to use an onsen after hiking. The replacement accommodation, however, had no onsen, was smaller, and the room was nothing like what I had originally booked.
I later complained to Trip.com. Trip.com was actually helpful and arranged a partial refund for me. So credit to Trip.com for that. Unfortunately, there was no other suitable accommodation available at short notice on Yakushima, which is why I had to accept the alternative arrangement.
Overall, the operator seems very disorganized. Something like this can become a real problem on Yakushima, because you cannot simply find lots of alternatives spontaneously. This could have ended much worse.
The location is good, but because of this experience, I cannot recommend the accommodation.
