Rakuten STAY Osaka Station North

The room itself was clean and fairly modern, and there are paid washers and dryers on the first floor along with luggage lockers. There was no towel service during our three-night stay. But for our group of eight in two rooms, checking in was probably the worst and most difficult process of all our stays in Japan. The front desk is unmanned, and check-in is done on tablets. Online and video support is available, but it took a long time and was hard to hear the staff through the screen while other families were checking in beside us. I wish we could have checked in online beforehand with our passports, as we did at other places.

A comfortable, nice hotel that feels new, with enough space for six people. It’s also close to Umeda Skybuilding.

We had a lovely mountain setting, an open living and dining area, and a fully equipped kitchen. The beds were reasonably comfortable, which seems uncommon in Japan. The upstairs bathroom was a highlight, especially the tub fed by hot spring water.

For our family of five, the room was good value and had a lot going for it: comfortable beds, a lounge chair and coffee table, a coffee machine, and a spacious bathroom with a tub and bidet toilet seat. Having an elevator meant no carrying suitcases up stairs. The self check-in was a real hassle, though. It took about 15 minutes, three video calls, several failures, and trouble getting the room code. The hotel is around 600 metres from the subway, and getting to the bridge means hauling bags up two flights of stairs. A taxi from Osaka station cost me ¥2000. There wasn’t a convenience store nearby either. I’d recommend it for the facilities and price, with the location as the downside.