Koko Hotel Osaka Namba Ebisucho

The staff were attentive and friendly, and everything was impressively clean. The facilities were well cared for, which made the stay comfortable. It was also easy to get to nearby attractions from this location, and the price felt like good value.

The bed was comfortable, but the room felt small and the bathroom drain smelled. There are only four washing machines for 200 rooms, so finding one free was difficult. Noise was the bigger problem for me: sirens went off all night, and I could hear traffic and cars revving.

We paid almost ¥50,000 a night, possibly because the World Expo was closing, even though we avoided the Chinese National Day holiday crowd. I was furious by the end and didn’t even take photos. We were a couple traveling with our 5-year-old daughter, and had booked a twin room. This was the worst hotel of our entire Japan trip. The room was only 14㎡. We had to push the beds together just to make barely enough room to open one suitcase, and our 20-inch case wouldn’t lie flat. The bathroom was so cramped that two people couldn’t stand in it together. There were only two pillows for the three of us. When I asked the front desk for another, they said the policy was one per bed and refused. They handed me three bath towels and suggested rolling them up as a pillow for my daughter. The location was great, but it was extremely noisy. Motorcycles revved on the street outside, and ambulances and fire trucks passed all night. The square vent right by the window, which is shown in the photos, was loud too. The slippers were very thin paper and poor quality, and there was no complimentary water, unlike at every other hotel we stayed at. When I asked to speak to a manager, I was told he didn’t work weekends. We also wanted to check out early, but were told the booking couldn’t be canceled and wasn’t refundable. At this price and with these conditions, it felt like they were trying to rip off whoever they could. Breakfast ends at 10 a.m. At other hotels, we’ve been allowed to finish eating when our child was still at the table. Here, staff came over to say they were closing and basically told our daughter to stop and leave. I’m sharing what happened in the hope it helps someone avoid the same trap.

I can’t really comment on the rooms since I wasn’t staying at the hotel, but I stopped by the cafe twice and had a wonderful time both times. After a long day walking, the beautiful, relaxing decor and atmosphere were a lovely change of pace. The staff and service were excellent, and the food and drinks were delicious and nicely presented. They also have forks and knives if you’re not comfortable with chopsticks. If I get back to Osaka, I’d like to visit again ^_^.