HOTEL LiVEMAX BUDGET Naha

Choose a traditional Japanese style room with a tatami. That fitted well into the charming very local neighbourhood of owner run restaurants and coffee shops. It is also a stone throw away from the ferry to other islands. A surprise win.

I might stay at this hotel again if I were in Naha on business by myself, otherwise I would find someplace else that has slightly larger rooms and hotel amenities. My wife and I stayed 5 nights here and we made it work by staying out of the room as much as possible. Besides being a bit too small for two people with luggage, the rooms have a small window which looks at the next door building 5 feet away. We were basically paying for a comfortable bed to sleep on, a secure room to store our things, as well as a private bath, so that was fine with us for the price we paid. There is a small lobby with two couches, but other than that, there is no other place to hang out in the facility. Their business model is built on real estate sales and rentals, so any potential lounge or restaurant is used for the livemax real estate office. There is a patio on the second floor above the real estate office, but they don't have any furniture or umbrellas out there. There is a Family Mart next door, the equivalent of 7-11, so that's where we would get coffee and breakfast in the morning, as wee as snacks or beer later in the day. The staff were all awesome, but interacting with tourists isn't their strong suit, but that's okay as long as they're friendly. The hotel location is convenient. 4 blocks from either tram station, and 6 blocks from the central bus station. We caught the bus to Maibaru Beach on the East side of the island, which was well worth the hour bus drive and short connecting Taxi ride to the beach. We also took another bus to Zanpa beach to the North, but that took about 90 minutes and wasnt worth it. The Naha beach is only 20 minutes away on foot, so we did that a couple of times even though it has a highway running through it. Before going there, we would stop at the Aeon grocery store to get some fried fish, cone sushi, sliced sashimi and cold beer. The store is one block from the beach, so very convent.

The main advantage in choosing this hotel as your stay would just be the location which is 5-10 minutes away from the train station. The bus station beside the train station has many routes to elsewhere in Okinawa. The hotel is also near the famous shopping street of Naha of about 15 minutes walk. Staff members of this hotel are nice and eager to help if you have any enquiry in planning your trip. Air-conditioning is remarkable, especially when you come back to this hotel in a very hot summer. The major problems of this hotel are: No Wifi, pathetically small bed size, and small room space. I would recommend this only to those who don't drive and who prioritize cheaper prices for stay in the trip.