Review - Pino Island
A few years back there was a vaguely Japanese themed dance club called Pino, which included a surrounding area that included an Onsen (bath house) and mountain caves. Pino closed, but a replica went up in its place - 'Pino 1971'.
The original creator, Belle Connoisseur has now built yet another Pino - Pino Island.
This is a full region, which again is quite loosely Japanese themed. In addition to a beach and a small Japanese village, Belle has also added a small Japanese love hotel, with rentable rooms.
My conclusion? Though I can’t recommend the hotel as suchl, Belle's done a superb job with Pino Island as a whole.
Look and feel
When I visited Pino Island for the first time I imagined that Belle might have just reached into her inventory, and brought back areas from the old Pino. As a result, it was good to see that everything looks almost new.
As mentioned there are areas that have a Japanese feel to them, like the village and the onsen. And then there are areas that most definitely don't, like an incredibly ornate club near the landing point decorated and built in a neo-classical style.
However, somehow it all works. I liked the landscaping, the attention to detail in the decor, and the range of things to see and do.
Overall - 4.5 / 5
The rooms
Pino Island includes a small hotel, that you can reach either via the landing point or through the village. Once you tp upstairs you're presented with a Love Hotel style reception desk and another tp point to the rooms.
The rooms themselves are modified Minimal Room No 9 Suites, decorated in quite a loud red and complete with adult features such as a pole dancing pole in the middle of the floor.
It's not bad if that's your kind of thing, but the problem comes when you look at the price which is 8L per minute, or 960L for two hours.
Sure, I get what these rooms are designed for, but really? Le Chateau also now has suites using the same modified Minimal room design.....at a cost of 500L a day. Meanwhile, with everything from sushi to giant kitty rooms, the Hotel Eroyado does a much better job at mimicking a RL Japanese Love Hotel.
Finally, there are free rooms such as the mounrtain cottage and water bungalow, though of course they offer no privacy.
Overall - 1 / 5 (3/5 for the decor)
Facilities
These are quite extensive and include:
The beach, with beachside snack bar
Onsen (bath house)
A village with a karaoke bar - my personal favourite
A mountain cottage
A water Bungalow
Overall - 4/5
The animations
I didn’t try these as I went solo, but the hotel suites seem to have adult beds from West Dakota. In the main club I also saw an Abiss Royal Bed.
The PG sitting animations worked well enough for me.
Other considerations
Is it adult? Yes
Lag. Was a problem for me
Privacy. The hotel rooms have orbs. The other areas are free but not private
Conclusion
I absolutely recommend Pino island as a place to visit (with or without your significant other). The hotel, which isn't actually a major part of the sim, not so much.
