Hotel Kaga — Hotel in Osaka

I was going to give this place a decent review but the last 24 hours convinced me otherwise. It's not luxurious. The rooms are 10 feet by 7 feet and they have western rooms and Japanese style rooms. The Japanese style rooms have very thin futons which are not that comfortable. The showers are on the first floor and open from 8a till 8p. There are two showers but I never had to wait long so that must be enough. Each floor has a multi stall bathroom. There is a small laundry room on the first floor that is reasonably priced. All in all, it was ok, for the price which was cheap, about $23 a night. The tiny rooms also have ac. It's definitely not luxury. My complaint is with the front desks attitude. Today, the front desk guy yelled at me for what I think was me being in the lobby without a shirt. I was coming from the shower and I wanted to ask him about the extra towels. When I checked in they gave me 5 face towels (tiny ones) and said that I should come back in 5 days to get 5 more. I have already stayed 10 days with the 5 towels and it's fine but why tell me to come back and get more if you don't want to give them to me. So he yelled at me this morning and tonight when I came in he gave me a weird response that they were out of towels. And why is he yelling at me for walking through the lobby without a shirt on when I have seen at least 10-15 other people do it. Why did he decide to yell at me? Was it because of the towels? This place does not understand what it means to be nice to customers. I'm not even thin-skinned about this. I just don't understand where they get off yelling at me. So one star it is ! On top of this, I did not see any signs or notes in the lobby about walking through with no shirt on. I have the feeling this is an example of different rules for Japanese...

I hadn't done my research on the area (or at least I had, but hadn't quite taken it seriously!) The area the hotel is supposedly the most dangerous area in Japan, I had read that areas of Osaka could be a little rough and dangerous but figured "its japan! how dangerous could it possibly be? certainly not as dangerous as my own home town!" and while this did turn out to be true during the day, I arrived at the station at 11pm, waving google maps on my ipad around as i passed a sea of homeless people - a few of the peeing by the side of the road. As a woman alone I felt... a little uncomfortable, in the short walk to the hotel MANY police cars past by - the area is safe enough, especially by American and European standards, but be a little wary if you are arriving alone at night! I'm sure most of the homeless men are harmless, but I've since read a few stories of aggressive drunk men in the area, so be cautious! That said I would stay in the area again.||The hotel itself was perfectly adequate for the very reasonable price I paid! Some of the staff spoke really good english, but its not a hugely touristy hotel. Alot of other reviews mention cockroaches but I didn't see any on my 4 night stay, I was however on the sixth floor and didnt open the window. Wifi worked really well and the womans bathroom was really clean, only one shower but I never had to wait for it while I was there. The walls were a little thin and all through out the hotel I could hear the sounds of people coughing things up/throwing up - seemed to be a few people so I found that a little strange however I would choose to stay...

It's hard to rate Hotel Kaga: if you are a backpacker and touring Japan on a very limited budget, then you will love this hotel. Everything you might need is here in the building or within 5 minutes walk. In the hotel there is a college-style community toilet and sink room on each floor; The men's contains 2 Western-style and heated-seat toilets, and one Japanese-style. Ladies have their own toilet room, but I guess need to share the sink with the guys. The sink room serves as a kitchen as well, as there are two hotplates that can be used for ten yen per 10 minutes. There is no hot water(!) other than in the single, private shower on the 1st floor. || My single room had a fridge, a flat screen TV, an air conditioner/heater, and a closet. There is good WiFi beamed into the rooms. The hotel is very quiet, so no trouble sleeping. I took advantage of discount tickets, available at the front for JPY1,100, to Spa World. Go there!! You won't have to wait for a bath/shower!|| In the area there is a coin laundry, two train stations, a brand new Don Quixote (quirky discount store), some convenience stores, etc. And of course it is a short walk to Shinsekai (wonderful 50's-era amusement area, now known for its kushikatsu). So, if you reset your expectations for luxury and are ready to get a deeper understanding of Japan's lower social classes, this is a guaranteed good time - even at...