Candeo Hotels Osaka The Tower — Hotel in Osaka

My wife and I are currently staying for 9 nights at the Candeo Hotels Osaka the Tower Hotel, using it as a base to explore Osaka, and via the rail system take two or three day trips to Kyoto, and also a single day trip to Hiroshima via the Shinkansen bullet train. Our criteria for a hotel is recently built or renovated, centrally located with a metro station within a few minutes walk, to allow us to range easily across the city and connect with the main rail system for day trips to other cities, with an executive lounge that provides (at an acceptable premium) a relaxing haven to return to during the day for coffee and snacks, and in the evening provides complimentary drinks and light food. This hotel delivers outstandingly on the first half of this criteria but unfortunately fails on the executive lounge offering.|The hotel is brand new and the rooms (we are in a Deluxe King with executive lounge access) are finished and presented to an excellent standard, although lacking in storage space. A great feature is the day bed / settee in front of the full height windows, that allows you to lie down and look out over the city below.||Contrary to the experiences of other guests who mention in reviews English is not widely spoken by staff - particularly on reception - our experience was that at check-in the staff members spoke excellent English, and whilst at breakfast and around the hotel staff appeared to have limited English vocabulary, they were unfailingly friendly, helpful and well trained - which allowed any communication problems to be overcome. ||The breakfast buffet offering in the main restaurant had a good range of international hot and cold breakfast dishes, but the foods aimed at western international guests were limited - particularly the hot dishes. The buffet area is poorly designed and creates log jams of guests around the fruits and cereals section, whilst the single coffee machine in this area creates queues (there is a second machine at the far end of the restaurant that is under used). The restaurant is a magnificent space with spectacular views out across the city, and away from the food serving area has plenty of room to accommodate guests without ever feeling crowded.||The executive lounge is a beautifully designed and exclusive feeling space, but fails to meet our expectations and needs in terms of food and service offering. |Our criticisms are based purely on our experience of other lounges at hotels in different countries, against which this lounge is lacking. Firstly the lounge isn’t open during the day until 4pm - access cannot even be gained during the day to get a coffee from the self service machine and a biscuit. From 4pm self service access to a good range of alcoholic and soft drinks is available, but the food offerings are limited to extremely sparse cold hors d’oeuvres, biscuits, nuts and some small cakes. The lounge is not staffed and hardly visited by staff during the evening, so the rather pathetic food offerings run out quickly and do not seem to get replaced - overall there is a lack of management commitment to the executive lounge and in our view it is not currently worth the additional room tariff cost to have access to it.||Overall this hotel is an excellent choice for a comfortable centrally located stay in Osaka. It is a few minutes walk from Yodoyabashi metro station from which fast access around the city on the metro is easy, and Osaka railway station for main train services, and Shin-Osaka station for Shinkansen (bullet train) services are only a few metro stops away. The standard of service in the hotel is high, with friendly, helpful, well trained staff. English language communication was not a problem we experienced. The hotel is brand new, spectacular, and kept spotless. The rooms are beautiful, compact but not cramped spaces - but storage space is limited.|The executive lounge could be excellent with better management commitment to its operation, and improvements to the opening hours, food and service provided. It is currently not worth paying to use...

1-Star Review: Deeply Disappointing – Not Even Close to 5-Star

Having travelled widely across Japan and stayed in many truly excellent hotels, our experience at Candeo Hotel Osaka The Tower was by far the most disappointing. Despite its slick marketing and claims of being a 5-star hotel, this property falls well short in almost every area that matters—comfort, service, layout, and value for money.

Room Size & Layout: The room was extremely cramped. There was barely enough space to open a suitcase, and absolutely no real storage—no drawers, minimal hanging space, and nowhere to place luggage. The layout felt very poorly planned and impractical for more than a single night.

Bathroom Configuration: The bathroom was awkward and claustrophobic. The toilet was squeezed into a space so small it was nearly impossible to close the door while inside. Even more bizarrely, the washbasin is positioned immediately inside the entrance to the room—hardly an inviting first impression.

Bed Accessibility: While the bed was reasonably comfortable, it was set very low to the floor, which made getting in and out unnecessarily difficult—especially for older guests or those with mobility or joint issues.

Housekeeping Standards: Over our four-night stay, room cleaning was virtually non-existent. Apart from a towel change and the bed being roughly tidied, nothing else was touched. Surfaces weren’t cleaned, bins were not emptied daily, and toiletries were not replenished. For a hotel claiming 5-star status, this was frankly unacceptable.

Breakfast Chaos: Breakfast is served only between 7:00am and 9:30am, which leads to overcrowding, long waits, and a noisy, stressful atmosphere. The food itself was underwhelming—basic and repetitive. There is no option to eat breakfast in the Executive Lounge either, so guests are forced into the chaotic main dining room.

Executive Lounge Letdown: We had access to the Executive Lounge as part of our package, and it was a major disappointment. Located on the same floor as reception, it was only open between 4:00pm and 9:30pm. There was no “happy hour,” and while wine, beer, soft drinks, tea and coffee were available, the food offering was minimal—some biscuits, basic cheese, and little else. Compared to executive lounges at similarly priced hotels, this one was lacklustre and poorly thought out.

No Concierge Service: It’s also worth noting that there is no concierge, so guests must handle all of their own luggage and bookings. Again, a surprising omission for a hotel that markets itself as a premium experience.

Staff Interaction: One of the few positives was that the reception staff were polite, respectful, and generally attentive when approached. Their professionalism stood out in contrast to the otherwise disappointing experience.

Overall Verdict: This hotel relies on image and clever marketing rather than delivering a genuine luxury experience. The much-hyped rooftop onsen and glossy aesthetics can’t make up for the cramped rooms, poor layout, limited service, and overcrowded facilities. For the price we paid, the overall value was extremely poor.

We would not stay here again and strongly recommend others consider alternative hotels in Osaka—there are many that offer much better quality, space,...

I don't usually go about reviewing hotels but I did want to share a few notes about this hotel to help future travelers.

Mind you I booked through Agoda and paid ~$200 USD per night for the Premium Universal twin bedroom (for a total of five nights including taxes) which I thought was a great price for the experience we got and that's how I'm going to base the rest of my thoughts.

The lobby of the hotel was on the 17th floor and we did not receive any help taking our bags up (but I personally don't have an issue with that even in the Four Seasons and other five star hotels I usually move my own bags). Our room was on the 24th floor and my initial thoughts was that it was a spacious and beautiful room. The bathroom had a lot of space plus a shower and bath. I do think it could have had some extra counter space though for our amenities. The view was extraordinary and everything was clean and tidy. I did read some other valid reviews about outlet placement however, I had a longer cable and brought a converter with multiple inputs so really I had no issues.

The gym I will say was lackluster in the amount of equipment and machines available, I decided to skip it since it was mostly cardio and I think one or two weight machines. Besides, I was walking plenty during the day. I don't usually fault a hotel for their gym but it's like a one star gym if you compared it to say the four seasons.

The Sky Spa was great in my opinion. I didn't originally know about the no bathing suit rules but that was consistent in every onsen or hotel I went to in Japan. I never went in and found it too crowded either at night or in the morning. I watched the sunrise and set from the outside sky spa and enjoyed the cold plunge pool. I do absolutely agree we needed more towels and that's something simple they could easily provide upon entering. The room we had only had two towels for two guests and we had to bring our own to the spa.

The breakfast was alright maybe a little over priced I think at 4,400 yen a person for the buffet? I didn't experience a line when I went but I also only went one day because I wanted to try local places. I'm from NYC though so it's not like things aren't overpriced there, I'm on vacation and usually not considering price.

The location of this hotel though was superb, it was conveniently next to the Yodayabashi Station which gets you basically everywhere you need to go from Shin-Osaka to Dotonburi.

Finally, the hotel staff was lacking a little on English but nothing we weren't able to work through but I guess that depends who you get. They also helped us with forwarding our bags to the next hotel we stayed at.

Overall, I loved the hotel I really didn't need much service help or use the gym / buffet so to me this was a four star experience but not like a five star four seasons level hotel. I guess it depends what you're looking for. We had a great view in a great location with a great spot to relax after an evening I've had way less for $200 a night.

p.s. a great nearby bar was Bar Craftsman,...