Hotel Forza Osaka Namba Dotonbori — Hotel in Osaka

I'm used to traveling in Asia and realize that most hotel rooms are smaller than what you would see in North America. If your on the larger or taller side I wouldn't recommend this hotel.

Pro's: Great location in the heart of Dotombori and easy walking distance to the Namba station. Cost was very reasonable and the rooms where clean. The coffee machine in the lobby is available 24-7 and produces a decent cup of coffee. The staff where all friendly and helpful.

Con's: I stayed in the 3-bed corner forza suite and it was small, even by Asian standards. The entry way is extremely cramped--the door swings in and the entry way is so small that it can be hard to get in and out, especially while juggling multiple bags. The bathroom is tiny--and I mean tiny. I'm about 5'11" and 230lbs with quite a bit of muscle mass and when I sat on the toilet my leg was jammed against the toilet paper rolls so much that I needed to shift my leg to unroll the toilet paper. The room is also very small with absolutely no space to open up a medium size suitcase and leave it open. Due to the limited space your constantly tripping over things and bumping into the foot massagers when you walk through the room. The room itself only has heat and they provide small portable A/C unit. The controls are all in Japanese with no english translation and the unit itself works poorly so the room gets very hot and stuffy at night. This was the biggest issue for me. The beds are small and hard, the standard for Japanese hotels unfortunately.

Advice to the hotel: get more creative with your small spaces. There are many smaller rooms that feel bigger and have more usable spaces like fold out nooks to fold out suitcases for example. Put the foot massagers away and give guests the options to take them out if they want them in order to provide more space for guests to walk through the room unimpeded. Provide directions in multiple languages for the portable A/C units.

I personally wouldn't stay at this hotel again, but if your small and traveling lightly or if the location/cost is most important to you this may be a great...

Location: Perfect! You are in the heart of Dotonbori. However, since you are in Dotonbori Street, you can't directly drop off here. The street is not accessible by vehicles because of the crowd. Restaurants nearby are also crowded, but just head to Sennichimae Street, and you'll find less crowded food places.

Reception: They have machines for automated check-in. You just need to scan your passport, and it provides key cards. All guest should scan their passport and it generate key card for each, which I really appreciate. First time to experience a hotel that gives multiple key cards for a room. If you are not comfortable using the machine, they still have receptionist that will assist you. We arrived around 10pm, and the receptionist is still available. I'm not sure if they are available 24/7 or if you need to just use the machine if you arrive late. Don't forget to pick up some toiletries here as well

The Room: Our room is Standard Double Room. This room is spacious for a couple. We have two luggages and we don't find it difficult to open as we take some of our stuff. We even add additional large luggage, and we still can manage to walk around the room. The photos on their website are accurate. I love that they have an open wardrobe area. Their toilet is clean and spacious! I enjoy their modern japanese toilet. It is heated and complete with bidet options. There is enough space for toiletries. First time that I love using the hotel shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel. Aside from the space, you will also appreciate the soundproofing of their room. We are in the middle of Dotonbori, but we can't hear the noise outside.

Breakfast: We didn't include this on our booking since it's expensive and theres plenty of convenient stores around. We tried their breakfast once, and you need to avail it in advance since it tends to be sold out. They have a nice selection of food.

Service: All their staff is accommodating. They speak English fluently. When I availed of a luggage service from a third-party provider, it was coordinated...

TL;DR - Good location only for Dotonburi, not for the rest of typical Osaka. Check-in was messy with some weird kiosk ticketing system. Breakfast had selection, but was not good at all. Spacious rooms & free coffee/water was the best part.

LOCATION: If you have luggage, be weary that it's on a walking street with no direct front door or car access. Taxis can only take you maybe 4 min walking away across the river. Location's outside is like being on the Las Vegas strip and it's very overcrowded and trashy but walking into the hotel is a complete flip.

ROOMS: Large and had full bath tub. Quiet from all the noise down below on the streets.

CHECK-IN: By far the worst part - The staff behind the desk directed us to a kiosk to get a ticket - which made no sense as there were 4 people behind the desk. We had to hand them the passport anyways, so why not just do that first and skip the technology awkwardness?

Took about 20 minutes to fully check in, they didn't offer water or for the older members of the party to sit down while they handle their issues. Not really great hospitality to set the tone, they also forgot the breakfast tickets at check-in, I had to prompt them. Other parties in line also seemed to be frustrated with the check-in process.

BREAKFAST & AMENITIES: They have a FREE coffee machine and water machine by the front desk for 24/7 use. Best part of the hotel.

The breakfast itself has a vast selection of Japanese options and Osaka, but the quality was pretty subpar. The french fries were even soggy and the fried eggs were.... over-fried...

OVERALL: It's worth the money to stay here, it's average with clean rooms. Don't expect anything more. If you stay here - go to Ichiran ramen and the Melon bread ice cream stand across from the hotel - totally worth it for both. Photo attached below of the ice cream stand.

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