APA Hotel Namba-Shinsaibashi — Hotel in Osaka

TERRIBLE. POTENTIAL THEFT.

We stayed in October 2023. There is a woman at the front desk who acts like she hates her job and everyone and everything else and isn't shy about it. She was so apathetic and checked out. She wouldn't even assist with simple queries.

Supposedly, the whole hotel is non-smoking. However, there was someone smoking cigarettes on our floor so heavily that we came back from sightseeing to a hazy smoke-filled hallway and room. This made me question if the hotel smoke detection system actually works and if it is fire safe. When raising this concern with the front desk staff I was simply told by a male staff member "if I see someone smoking, I will tell them to stop". Which was clearly just to shut me up.

The room is terribly tiny. There is not even enough room to store your luggage. They expect you to put your suitcases under the bed but the floor is dirty and worse there is a pile of tangled exposed wires under there. Even then the only way to open our suitcases in the space was to put them on top the bed.

The room is not very clean. There was some black mould in our bathroom that didnt get cleaned up until the scheduled clean on day 3. The bed is extremely hard and uncomfortable and gave us back aches. There was also some slop down the wall near the fridge. The bath is too short so the shower spray hits the wall and gets water all over the floor.

Worst of all, we left two rings and a bracelet in our room on the day we went to Universal Studios thinking they would be safer in the room. When we got back, a ring was missing. We searched the whole room and our bags. We then told the front desk who just said "if we see it we will let you know". They did not take any notes or a description about the ring nor did they offer to assist us to file a missing property report with police. Interestingly, the ring that went missing was the most expensive of the 3 items and also had a Japanese Kanji symbol engraved on it. We can only conclude that the ring was taken from our room.

So, in short: poor attitude from staff, the room is tiny, cramped and uncomfortable, smoking is rife, and your valuables are not safe in the room. I do not recommend that...

"Look, I've been living in this country for seven years, and I still can't read the headlines. Yes means no. Maybe means never." - BLACK RAIN

Ganbatte! I admit I somehow morphed into the quintessential Japanese salary man lol. APA Hotel Namba Shinsaibashi is no Ritz or Miyakojimap, but what it lacks in glamour and leg room it's just enough for business trips and efficient stays.

I was first introduced to APA by my J-bestie who wondered why I wasn't staying at any APA Hotels across Japan. She then said that all Japanese men with a second life stayed there. It was followed by a sinister laugh. Since that inauspicious moment several years ago, I have found myself checked in several times in Osaka and even once in Tokyo.

Toshio Motoya is the owner of this Japan company founded in 1988. It is no secret he leans towards the more Japanese Nationalist side of beliefs. It's hard to ignore him when staying at APA as his face is literally on all the magazines in the lobby eh! In my stays I can honestly say I have not witnessed any Yakuza board meetings nor have I bumped into Steve Bannon-san.

The first thing you'll notice is the cube-size rooms, but what it lacks in size, it sure makes up in other areas. I like the choices of locations, and since each room is a cookie cutter layout you know what to expect. A comfortable bed, large television, a workstation/vanity, a basic chair, a mini fridge, a mini hot water pot, Geisha tub, and Japan toilet with sprayer iykyk lol!

In the end, I recommend APA, particularly this APA Hotel Namba Shinsaibashi in Osaka, yet I'm sure most are very similar. Great for business travelers, budget travelers that don't want a capsule, and even average sized couples lol. I've seen families in the lobby, however I can only vouch for my stays as the quintessential Japanese salary man! じゃまたね

Pls follow my adventures: IG...

Location is great! Right by Dotonburi. Rooms are small and can smell like smoke if you have a smoker in the nearby neighboring room(s). Get connecting rooms if you can, it will give you more space, if you are a family of 4. Bathrooms can get very humid after a hot shower, making it smell as towels and placemats does not dry.

Suggestions for the hotel - Get better shower curtains, will prevent water getting everywhere in the bathroom while showering. Contain all the smokers to specific floors instead of individual rooms, or just not allow smoking at all within the hotel building. This will improve the quality of the stay for all your guests dramatically. Set rules for quiet hours, like not talking in the hallways between 10 pm and 7 am or something along those lines. We had neighboring guests having full long conversations in the hallway at 11pm, not great when you trying to get some rest for an early start the next morning. The doors for the the bathroom can be a bit more closed off instead of that large gaping hole at the bottom, smells and sounds travel quickly within the...