Grand Mercure Okinawa Cape Zanpa Resort 5 stars

So many aspects of the hotel were magnificant. The food was extensive, fresh, well signed, a real credit to such a big operation. Beer on tap and help yourself! Yet for kids, chefs couldn't rehead kids nuggests or chips properly, 2 evenings in a row. 5 pools, 3 heated yet if not a weekend, closed at 6pm so my 14yo was well disappointed. We paid a lot of money for these pools...yet closed at 6pm! When they were open, absolutely beautiful. Overall, a magnificant stay, 2 nights cost us a fortune, could have been better. Luckily the surrounding beach and walks were first class.. Book 100% but a short stay is recommended for a relaxing stay, charge the batteries, lots of other parts of the island are good value too.

I would personally rate this experience lower, but that would be an unfair evaluation of the hotel itself. I travelled here with a friend hoping for a few relaxing days after a big holiday in Japan. This resort was very full. It took almost 20 minutes just to check in with the line of how many people were there. The room was massive. It was well kept and very clean however, it seemed to be the time of year for screaming children running through the hallways early morning and late night. If you wanted to get breakfast, it seemed that you had to lineup before 6 am. And the bathhouse is no tattoos- I understand this policy in traditional areas of Japan. It is not a policy that I’ve even stumbled upon an Okinawa with the last place. I’d expect to see it upheld. I personally would not stay at this resort again. However, if I had young loud children, it seems to be the perfect place.

We had a lovely experience at the Grand Mercure Cape Zanpa despite the non stop rain. We loved that it was so close to the beach. The lounge times with the free snacks and drinks was a great surprise. Breakfast options were endless! The slides and the pools were also a hit! It was also great to have the night time access to the pool on the Saturday as it was the only time it didn’t rain. It is some distance away from other tourist destinations but if you have a car there are plenty of great eateries within 15mins.

There is one aspect of my stay that left me quite disappointed. I initially booked a non-refundable room by mistake, and then accidentally canceled it. Upon realizing my error, I emailed the resort to ask if the cancellation could be reversed, but the issue was not resolved. In my opinion, if a reservation is truly non-refundable, shouldn't the system prevent it from being canceled so easily in the first place? Because of this, I ended up paying almost double for my stay, factoring in both my rewards and additional cash payments. I find this highly unfortunate and frustrating.

(1) Over a week to get replies to emails prior to our stay (2) The dinner buffet is very overpriced/expensive and although there was a large selection..., the food was not very good overall and was very similar to breakfast. (3) The breakfast buffet had almost the same items as the dinner buffet and overall was not very good. (4) Room was large and well appointed with comfortable-enough beds..., but no available drawer space to allow you to unpack as the few drawers were filled with hotel items. (5) TV - only a few Japanese channels, no international news in English and NO STREAMING OPTIONS! Nextlix etc. was not allowed. NEED TO FIX THIS! Very disappointed!! (6) The cafe is the only other dining option to the buffet but had limited hours for dining in. (7) Liked that we could get coupons for the store since we didn't need room service during our stay and that housekeeping left us bags of fresh towels. (8) Liked the refreshements provided in the lounge. (9) Chairs and couches etc throughout the property were stained. (10) Many stains on the carpet in the hallways. (11) Need a 'convenience store' on site e.g., Family Mart, 7 Eleven for snack/meal options, sundires etc. (12) Cannot provide feedback on the pool area as it rained the whole time we were there.