Shinsaibashi ARTY Inn

The service really stood out. We’d accidentally booked a smoking room, but the staff switched us to a non-smoking one when we asked at check-in. There’s also someone at the front desk around the clock. We used the many free toiletries in the lobby, including skincare, stain remover, lens cleaner, and mouthwash. The ladies’ room has heat and hair styling tools and products, individual stations with vanity mirrors, and face and foot massagers. You can walk to Dotonburi in about five minutes, and the hotel is very central. The trade-off is a busy, urban street that can be crowded and noisy during the day, though we had no noise inside the hotel. Getting there from the train station with luggage was an interesting walk through the crowds. If that might bother you, consider arriving early in the morning or late at night, or taking a taxi.

The location was really nice, near lots of thrift and indie clothing shops and a short walk from dotonbori. The hotel refunded the payment for our eight-night stay and canceled it once we realized it wasn’t right for us, so we could book somewhere else. We checked in for eight nights, but the room was dirty, with stains along the carpet and walls. The wall stains bothered me because the bed was pushed right against the wall and had no headboard. The double bed was smaller and shorter than the other double beds we’d had in Japan, and the bed and pillows were extremely firm and uncomfortable. The rules also felt strange: they asked us to leave the room key at the front desk when we went out, and although the rooms weren’t cleaned, they said we’d need to move to a new clean room during our stay.

Update: The hotel’s explanation is misleading and doesn’t match what happened. Nobody told me the room change was temporary. When they later asked me to move, a staff member admitted they hadn’t explained it properly and blamed “language limitations.” I find that hard to accept because the staff I dealt with spoke English clearly and communicated without trouble. The claim that this was explained from the start simply isn’t true. This was the worst hotel experience of my life. My first room was right next to the elevator in a very old building with almost no soundproofing, so the noise was unbearable. The staff agreed to move me when I asked, and I was genuinely thankful to get a better room. I unpacked and started my trip. The next afternoon, someone who said he was the manager called me in my room. He spoke Korean and said the change had only been “temporary,” and that I had to leave early the next morning and move into a smaller room once it was available. I’d already paid in full for five nights, yet was told to check out in the morning and come back after 3 PM to check in again. I can’t understand how a hotel can justify putting a paying guest through that. I went to the front desk and spoke to the manager myself. He said the staff member couldn’t speak English well enough to explain that the change was temporary, which made no sense to me because that staff member had seemed quite fluent. In the end, I packed everything again that night, checked out the next morning, and left for the day, with instructions to return at 3 PM. I argued that this defeated the point of paying for consecutive nights. After a long complaint, they rushed to prepare a room in about 30 minutes and moved me into a smaller corner room. The way they handled this was completely unacceptable and not what I expect from a hotel. The building is very old, the rooms are strongly saturated with cigarette smoke, and cleanliness is below standard throughout. The value for the price is extremely poor, and I have no intention of returning. The public bath is worse than a basic neighborhood bathhouse, and I wouldn’t recommend this place for families. At night the surrounding area becomes a nightlife district and doesn’t feel safe.

The front desk staff were friendly and helpful, and our rooms were clean and a good size. We stayed three days in an interesting part of central Osaka, with plenty to see and do. Recommended!