Apa

Make no mistake. The hotel, like most other Japanese establishments, is kept impeccably clean and the maid service is top notch. The size of our room (2 twin beds) was very cramped with little room for large baggage. Arriving at our hotel was a story in itself. Our taxi arrived in front of the hotel late at night and the moment we stepped out of the cab, we were swarmed by what we could only guess were night club hawkers trying to get us into their nearby establishments. Now my companion and I were Asians, and the moment we opened our mouths and began speaking English, these hawkers turned tail and fled like roaches. A little confused, we proceeded to check in to our hotel, with a friendly and accommodating staff. Looking for a late night bite to eat, we headed out into the streets behind the hotel and we came to realize that the Apa Hotel was right smack dab in the middle of Naha's adult entertainment district. This may appeal to certain travelers at first, but keep in mind these establishments are strictly forbidden for non-Japanese. On our last morning at the hotel, there was even a street brawl visible from our window involving several drunken patrons, 4 police cars and numerous more police officers who made absolutely no move to arrest the disturbers. If you are a native Japanese speaker, you perhaps can make full use of the hotels' location, otherwise travelers should make note of the rather long (10-minute) walks to the city's nearest monorail stations.

This hotel is right in the middle of downtown Naha, on the main road that runs right through all of Okinawa. You will definatly hear people revving their motorcycles / scooters at night. There is nearly an unlimited number of places to shop, eat, and drink nearby, more so to the north than to the south, and there are nice little parks everywhere in the area. American Village in Chatan is a 3000yen taxi ride, or a 6 hour walk if you can stand the heat and walking that long. The rooms are clean, and the hotel staff was very nice, as is the same with most of Japan. They spoke enough english to get me checked in easily enough. My biggest complaints would be that the room was about 3 meters square - although it made the 32" flatscreen look huge. The bed was not just too firm, it was hard, they only give you one pillow, and the chair for the desk didnt have a back rest. You can find a better place to stay in the same general area (within 10-25km) with way bigger rooms, better furnature, and for pretty much the same price per night. All in all, I suppose it wasnt bad for what it was, a full out business hotel, with room sizes that reflect that. I definatly think it should have been cheaper to stay there though. Aleast it had air conditioning, which is definatly a must have in Okinawa, Although the air conditioner was too big for the room, so its either too hot or too cold.