KOKO HOTEL Osaka Shinsaibashi

Check-in was simple, all on screen, and the staff were friendly and helpful. I picked the hotel because, like many people, I wanted robots to check me in. Maybe that wasn’t the best reason. The room was tiny with almost no storage beyond a coat hanger, so we lived out of our suitcases and had little room to open one. There were two opaque windows and no view. It had an LG Styler that freshened clothes and removed creases from shirts, very good air conditioning, a good shower and bath, and a wash basin in the room. The bed was firm, which I liked, though my wife didn’t. Breakfast was in a small lounge area with only a few tables, so one wasn’t always available. There were Japanese items like triangular seaweed-wrapped rice cakes and miso soup, which didn’t suit my western palate, though other guests liked them. They also had bread and croissants, cereal and milk, fruit and yoghurt, and black coffee and milk. If you arrive on the red M subway, find the underground Starbucks. Go behind it to an elevator that brings you to street level near the hotel. For a really good coffee, leave the hotel, turn left, cross the first road, and look on the left for Mill Pour, a small cafe that opens at 9:00 a.m.