Namba Oriental Hotel

The location made it easy for us to get around with the family, and we’d happily stay here again. Our room was roomy and well cared for, and the hotel felt clean, comfortable and welcoming. Staff were friendly and ready to help. A very pleasant visit, and a good choice for families in the area.

The guest lounge and its free drinks are much appreciated, and having refreshments in the laundry room is convenient too. The older facilities have had quite a bit of refurbishment, so the place has a vintage feel with a modern touch. I’m staying here now, and the location is excellent. The toilet takes far too long to refill, which gets in the way when you need to flush. After I complained, the issue was fixed quickly, but the hotel barely responded and didn’t even apologize. That left me disappointed.

The location is hard to beat: Dotonbori, Kuromon Market, Takashimaya and Namba station are all under six minutes away on foot. There’s a shopping street just outside, with a Lawson downstairs. I really liked the lounge, with Sakae, beer, refreshments and a pancake maker. The laundry room has lots of washers and dryers, plus a heavy-duty vacuum machine to flatten-pack clothes. It gets packed at night, so the morning may work better if you’re having breakfast nearby. There’s also a place to leave luggage. The rooms are a bit old, and the carpet looked stained from years of use. Mine felt a little mucky. I told the front desk, and the staff member quickly offered to ask the cleaning team to deep-clean it. I appreciated that, especially with young kids playing on the floor. One evening, it was cold outside but stuffy in the room. We hadn’t figured out how to open the window and were wary of doing so with the kids there. The air conditioning was set low, but nothing seemed to change. Staff explained that it’s a central system. I asked whether that meant the room controls made no difference and whether guests should be told that, since I was confused. They brought over a male staff member who spoke better English. His name tag read H***l. He seemed annoyed from the start, as if thinking, “what does this one wanna complaint abt now”. I asked why the room was warm when it was so cold outside. He replied, “well obviously it’s cold that’s why the room is being warmed”. I was shocked by the unnecessary sass. I explained that where I’m from it’s always hot, and air conditioning is usually for cooling, so this auto “warming” system was new to me and he could just explain it. He said, “well yes but this is Japan”. I told him I didn’t appreciate the sarcasm. He quietly smiled, seeming pleased with himself, and didn’t apologize for the misunderstanding. To me, that confirmed his rudeness was intentional. The hotel is excellent overall and I’d still recommend the location if convenience matters most. All the other staff I spoke with seemed courteous and friendly. That one staff member felt like a bad egg.

The location is amazing, right in the middle of Namba near the station, with Lawson's and burger king next door and Takashimaya, big camera and other things close by. I’m still here and already happy to write a review. We’re very pleased with the spacious residence room and the breakfast. We’d been travelling for two weeks and were getting frustrated with small rooms, so I asked to upgrade from the triple room at check-in, even though I hadn’t seen it. The change was handled quickly, and we paid and checked in without fuss. The residence has a small balcony, our own washing machine, and basic amenities including a microwave oven and electric stove. We didn’t receive the special gift for residence guests because we changed rooms at the last minute.