HOTEL R9 ‘The Yard’ Miyakojima
Shipping containers as a hotel room, why not?
I don’t normally talk about hotels or accommodations in Japan. Normally, when I am traveling solo, I stay at many Japanese hotel chains. The main reason for where I stay and why is usually: price, comfort, convenience and distance to where I wanted to go. I finally decided to stay at Hotel R9 ‘The Yard’ Miyakojima because it checked all of the normal boxes, plus it was a unique hotel concept and it wasn’t too expensive. My total cost was 19,000 yen for three nights. I am not sure how much it would cost at other points in the year but definitely think that I paid the ‘off-season rate’ when I went. The hotel is included in all of the major hotel booking sites. I like to use Agoda.com when I book my hotels in Japan, but not sure why.
Googlemaps - Miyako Airport to Hotel R9 The Yard
But its December, isn’t it cold?
I was not concerned too much as the temperature when I went in late Dec 2022 was around 17-22C. As with all hotel rooms that I have stayed in, there is an instruction guide in English and a remote to control the heating and A/C if needed. There is also a window for ambient light and fresh air so it does not feel so enclosed.
AccuWeather forecast of Miyakojima - Dec 2022
So why stay here?
I have been curious about the idea of shipping containers being used for housing but never thought I could 'try one out’ on vacation. Each unit is a self contained hotel room with all of the usual amenities. (No fancy video here, just a few quick snapshots with my phone). The bed is quite spacious and comfortable for the solo traveller so no need to worry. The tv did not have many channels but the WiFi signal was strong and free with my stay so I spent most of my time at night editing photos and video conferencing with friends in Canada on my experiences so far.
Two of the other great perks of staying here without sounding like a sales pitch is that parking was free and they have also have coin laundry facility. As this was the beginning of my trip, I did not need to use it but its nice that you don’t need to go somewhere separate to do laundry if needed. I normally try not to overpack when I travel in Japan and use a coin laundry mat half way through my trip. It is an interesting experience which I will talk about in the future. The coin laundry room here is not opened 24 hours and there are limited number of machines. In general, the washing machine price is based upon weight, which can be an interesting proposition, as there are no scales and the machine does not tell you the weight of the clothes that you put in either. Also, most, if not all washing machines that I have used, dispenses the soap for you so you don’t need to worry about buying. Also, some machines doubles as the dryer as well. Very cool!
Map of the place.
A view of some of the various rooms including the laundry facilities which are the first two units with the glass door on the right..
Another welcomed bonus was the daily ‘snack voucher’ that I was given when I checked in for a small single portion meal from their freezer. I received 3 vouchers since I was staying there 3 days. I can only redeem one per day so choose wisely. Since I wanted to go take photos/videos of sunrises or get ahead of the crowds each day, I grabbed their frozen onigiri for tomorrow and after I came back at the end of each day. The frozen onigiri can be thawed out in the fridge overnight in your mini fridge in the room before using the microwave to reheat quickly.
Hopefully, this was interesting to read. I didn’t want to ‘review’ my experience and I am not sponsored by the place. I thought it was a unique experience that I wanted to share and a fun one that I would not hesitate to try again.
