カモンホテル なんば — Hotel in Osaka

This is a great place to stay in Osaka, a bit of a hidden gem of a hotel that offers a different experience than the many bland chain hotels found in the surrounding Namba area. I very much recommend this place to any families or groups of three or four people who are looking forward to experiencing the intense urban Japan of Osaka’s Namba and Dotonburi areas. This was our first stop in Japan after an overnight flight into KIX from London. The hotel is down a sidestreet about 10 minutes walk from the Namba train station complex (we caught the train from KIX direct to there). I was a bit worried about finding it, given our jetlagged state (family of four, two children aged 16 & 13) and also Japan’s well-known issue with street names and addresses, but there are a series of short videos on the hotel’s website (under ‘access’) showing you the main routes, and once we’d found the right exit from Namba station, finding the hotel was very straightforward. It’s a contemporary, stylishly-designed hotel space, with touches that might look ‘hipster’ or ‘boutique’ to a Western eye. Lots of exposed wood, as per the webpage pictures. The staff are very friendly, charming and helpful. We stayed in one of the 4 person bunk-bed rooms, again a nicely-designed space I thought. Do not worry, European travellers, the size of the room and bathroom is absolutely fine for a 2-3 night stay (we stayed two). Great aircon, also slippers and yukatas (robes) supplied, also fridge, kettle. Some reviewers find the beds and pillows hard – as a mid-40’s man I thought they were fine (unless you really do prefer a very soft pillow). Location is another huge plus of this hotel. One block and two minutes away is Kuramon Market, a set of covered arcades of a kind common in Japanese cities, crammed with street food vendors and fishmongers who also sell wholesale to the literally hundreds of restaurants in the nearby districts. Go here for a huge variety of Japanese street food. Walking along the street while eating at the same time is a bit of a no-no culturally, so you usually stand and eat your mackerel / octopus / chicken skewers at the stall you’ve purchased from. It’s also a five minute walk north from the hotel to Dotonburi – definitely better in the evenings. Do not leave Osaka without experiencing this pedestrian street and nearby canal-side streets, these are the heart of the city. An intense urban experience: vibrant, crowded, colourful. Lots of street food (especially Okonomiyaki and Takoyaki) and more bars/restaurants than you can count. Nearby Namba train station complex has trains and subways linking to all points, including a short subway ride up to Osaka’s other main centre around the Osaka Station (Umeda Sky Building is here). The hotel also has a lovely roof garden for guests – you can buy a couple of chilled cans of beer down at reception, and get the lift up to the roof in the evening, a cool green space to sit and have a drink. The one thing I can’t comment on is the food at the hotel, as the evening noodle restaurant was closed, and we didn’t have the breakfast (you can easily stock up on fruit, snacks and breakfast food, yoghurts etc. at one of the numerous nearby Family Mart shops). So – go for it; this is a great hotel in Osaka, lovely people, warm welcome, nice design, great roof garden, excellent...

As a tourist in Japan for the first time, I was hoping for my hotel to be a welcoming place where I could rest after a long day in Osaka. I was very disappointed to say that my experience in Kamon Hotel Namba was quite the opposite. From the first day, the checkin process took over an hour which was annoying to say the least especially since my family and I had just landed and all we wanted to do was shower and rest. To make matters worse, the list of flaws with this hotel continued throughout the duration of our stay. The photographs online mislead us to believe that the rooms were bigger than they actually were. Upon opening the door to my hotel room, I was shocked at the difference between the photographs posted online and the room which I was to spend the rest of my week in. The clear difference between the two made me question if the hotel was overcharging simply due to the fact that their beds were a place in a more unique way than others. Additionally, the staff working at the reception desk were nothing close to helpful. On the last night of our stay, our flight got cancelled causing us to have to stay an extra night. When we approached the reception desk about this issue, they had the audacity to charge us more than the prices we saw online and when we questioned them about this, they very rudely told us to book an extra night online. Ultimately, the only redeeming quality about this hotel was it’s location. I do not recommend this hotel to anyone who is hoping to live comfortably and receive the proper amount of respect from individuals who supposedly label their hotel...

I booked this hotel well aware that the rooms were small but most reviews were saying that it was clean and the ratings were good on Tripadvisor and other sites.||The reality did not meet expectations. The room (with 2 double beds) was small indeed, but it also was in very poor condition with some of the wooden frames ripped off and black stains on pretty much every wall. Then our neighbors arrived in the evening and we could hear them talking as well as hear them showering. The noise insulation is very bad.||We had booked 2 nights and I asked if we could check out 1 day early. Communication with the front desk was fairly easy at check in and became suddenly much harder with staff saying they don't speak English. I was not offered to get another room so decided to check out 1 day early. I emailed the hotel about it and asked that they refund me the last night. The staff at the reception then told me that I had to request for a refund via the travel agent (Agoda). Then things did not really go as expected since Agoda said that they had to go to their partner and the hotel was not accepting to refund anymore. I emailed the hotel and they replied that Agoda had told them that they don't have to refund. So a lot of finger pointing which result in very poor customer experience.||So to sum up, this hotel has noisy rooms and poor maintenance. The hotel management is not trustworthy. Avoid this hotel. There are plenty of better alternatives in the...