Hotel Palm Beach

The food is the highlight for me. The chef spent a long time cooking in hotels, and it shows. Everything was so delicious that after eating here, I didn’t want to go anywhere else. If you ask ahead, they can bring out a nice selection of local craft beers too. Mr. Iida, the manager, is incredibly kind and fun. If you ask him, he’ll arrange a ride and pick you up. The rooms are spacious and tatami-matted, which works well for families. The owner is a well-known martial artist, and there are even autographs from famous fighters. This is my third visit this year. Honestly, if you’re going to Oshima, Palm Beach is the place to choose.

The best reason to stay here is diving. The hotel has facilities for managing air tanks and showers, and Nodahama, a nearby dive spot, is within walking distance. The pool has a deep area too, so it looks like it was built for dive practice. For diving, the location is very good. For a resort holiday on Oshima Island, though, I wouldn’t recommend it. The hotel and surrounding area don’t have enough facilities for that. The building feels old and dirty, probably built during the bubble economy and apparently never renovated. The outside looks worn, with no visible repairs. Inside there were ants in the corridors, cockroaches in the rooms, and what looked like insect cocoons hatching in ceiling cracks. They keep insecticide spray in the hallways because there are so many bugs. It’s understandable to see insects in the surrounding nature, but not to have them inside like this. Some rooms don’t have showers, and the bathhouse only fits about five or six people. The food was neither especially good nor bad, though the dishes are strongly seasoned, apparently with island chili peppers. The person who seemed to be the owner came across as gruff, but the woman serving meals was friendly and kind. It’s called a resort hotel, but to me it felt more like a diving training camp. I left disappointed.

I’d happily stay here again on a future trip to Izu Oshima. The meals were a big part of that: for an extra 1,700 yen I had breakfast and dinner, and the dinner alone was worth it. There was plenty of variety, it tasted great, and the ingredients felt typical of Oshima. I was there to cycle around the island. The staff were thoughtful about where to put my bike and luggage, which helped a lot. The building is older, but my room was very clean and comfortable. I didn’t run into any large insects, despite what others have mentioned, maybe because I was on the second floor. I noticed a car from a well-known Tokyo kickboxing gym in the hotel parking lot and asked if they were holding a training camp. They told me the gym owner, a former K-1 fighter, had recently taken over the hotel. They’re renovating the pool and plan to build a gym on the grounds.

It was a short walk to Nodahama beach, and my room had air conditioning and a TV. The room was clean, and the facilities were usable, even if they weren’t spotless. On the Izu Islands, inns can be surprising, so this felt within the range I could accept. If this had happened in Okinawa, I would’ve been furious (lol). I was caught off guard when I arrived and they asked whether the room would be okay, since I’d requested a Western-style one. Had they not assigned a room until I showed up? No one told me where the bath was or what time breakfast started. There wasn’t bread with breakfast either. When I asked, they brought me one cold butter roll. Quite a shock. Did they think I was a regular? The food was plentiful and tasty, though some dishes were pretty spicy.