IC ANA Okinawa Manza Beach Resort

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked one of the classic rooms and managed to use a suite upgrade certificate for a Nago bay suite

How are the rooms?
From what I saw the rooms are rather small for a beach resort.
The suite was the size of two rooms (one for the bedroom + bathroom, one for the living room + entrance). It was not overly spacious, but comfortable and had everything you could need. Everything was in very good condition, probably renovated a few years ago. The suites are in the corner at the edge of the building so you get views in front (ocean) and on one side (either manza bay or nago bay). They have a big corner terrace in front which is very private. In a word: great.

How is the exec. lounge?
It's a gorgeous space. It takes one end of the building (towards the ocean) so you get 3 sides of floor to (high) ceiling windows with mostly sea view. The indoor seats around 80 people, with a bar in the middle and the food area at the back. One of the most beautiful lounges I've been to. There are two terraces on the side so you can eat outside, they are nice but rather small, it'd have been better to cater for more outdoor space. As a result the indoors gets a bit busy (nothing too bad).
Offering: very nice semi-buffet breakfast with a good selection of cooked to order items. Afternoon tea didn't impress. We had it twice over four days and the selection was the same. Not sure if it doesn't change, or just a coincidence. Evening canapés were nice: 3 canapés rotating each day + a good buffet of nibbles. You could make it a meal if you want. Good drinks selection. Children allowed up to 6:30, then adults only. Breakfast and evening both had some local (Okinawan) options.

What was good and what was bad?
Good:

• Nice suite.
• I think most of the rooms have a good view
• Big private beach area
• Great lounge
• Top notch service as expected in Japan
• Good restaurants. We tried Unkai Tepannayaki, PST pizza by the sea and the ocean café, and generally everything was good and worth the expense. Apart from Unkai where a meal for one costs almost as much as a room, we found prices to be very reasonable
• The IC actually gives welcome drink vouchers for Diamond, in addition to the welcome amenity choice (where you can still select welcome drinks). However you can't use them at all places, and where you can use them they are fairly basic options, so we didn't even use them all.

Bad:

• Every activity has a fee, so it adds up. I think it's the first time I have to pay for the planet trekkers kids club even as a club IC guest.
• There are many restaurant options, but most of them only open on some days. And you have to book the upscale ones. So if you want to eat at a specific place, you have to organise your schedule in advance.
• Some staff had very limited command of English. I think the hotel recognises that as there were a number of foreign staff.

Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
I thought the rooms were actually cheap (~25kJPY / night, similar in points). Even if I hadn't been able to use the upgrade certificate, I think it's great value.
Club rooms cost double and suites cost triple, so wouldn't recommend if you already have yearly lounge access.