After a great time at Sankara (and Yakushima overall) 2 years ago, we decided that a return visit was in order. Would a second stay serve to enhance or diminish the fond memories we had from 2019? I can emphatically say that our love affair with Sankara was reaffirmed - no aspect of our experience caused a blemish to the fond memories we had. The food, spa, service, accommodations - they were all exceptional yet again. We thoroughly enjoyed the Sankara Villa Suite during our prior stay, but decided this time to go for the top room, the Sankara Suite. It's a gigantic 126m² in size, and has separate bedroom/living room/dining room, an indoor and open-air bath, and even a spa room with massage beds (for 2 people) where you can get treatments in the comfort of your Suite if you prefer. It also had an expansive balcony with views of the Ocean. Although we loved the Sankara Suite, there were some aspects to it that would have us recommend the Sankara Villa Suite (at least the one we stayed in, which was Room #10) over the Sankara Suite. For starters, the panoramic view of the ocean from the Villa Suite is completely unobstructed, unlike in the Villa Suite, which - while still very nice - had roofs that were visible in the line of sight, partly because the Villa Suite is more elevated. And the Villa Suite is still spacious (104m².) We also felt that the spa room in the Sankara Suite was overkill and unnecessary - it's a very short (and covered) walk from the Sankara Suite to the actual Spa, and Mrs. KI-NRT wanted to check out the spa products on display in any case, so having the therapists come to our room wasn't such a valuable luxury worth paying the huge price difference between the two rooms. Which leads me to my second point... Sankara is very, very expensive. Even the entry-level rooms are not cheap by any means. The Sankara Suite is not quite double the price of the Villa (which is already in nosebleed room rate territory), but at the prices that they charge, you sort of demand perfection and then some. Thankfully, Sankara's overall experience was so extraordinary that it somewhat justifies the exhorbitant rates. It's worth noting that breakfast at Ayana and dinner at the amazing Okas restaurant were included in our room rate. While there are many wonderful boutique luxury hotels and ryokans in Japan, in many ways Sankara takes service, convenience and amenities to an Aman-like level. Airport transfers are complimentary and private (each group of guests get their own driver and van), they have a fleet of vehicles that you can rent by the hour (and you'll want to drive because getting around in Yakushima via public transport is extremely inconvenient) and - while they don't assign a butler to you - most (if not all) of our preferences from our previous stay were recorded and remembered. For instance, they knew that we don't like Champagne, so as a welcome offering in our room, they had a nice bottle of wine waiting for us upon arrival. What's
Very Good
25 Reviews