Moxy Osaka Honmachi — Hotel in Osaka

Having spent the previous four nights at the excellent Moxy Kyoto Nijo we had high expectations of Moxy Osaka Honmachi but were disappointed from the outset. On the face of it the two hotels are very similar - same hip Marriott branding, modern building and young staff. However, unlike the check-in staff at Moxy Kyoto (with no masks) who greeted everyone entering or leaving the hotel cheerfully, the welcome (behind masks) at Moxy Osaka could only be described as functional best (We saw numerous large groups check-in, with cordoned off areas for breakfast, and suspect that independent travellers are not this hotel’s core business or focus - unlike Moxy Kyoto). We had booked two rooms - one twin and one queen for four nights. The twin room on 10th floor with floor to ceiling windows was terrific. Evidently all the rooms on each of the four sides of the hotel were similarly impressive…except the handful of rooms occupying the central void of each floor…including our queen room, which was a windowless box. To be fair, the room had been booked via our airline but our booking said nothing about us having one of the windowless rooms at the hotel. The helpful supervisor, Yang, eventually offered an upgrade for an additional payment, despite his colleagues insisting for 90 minutes that the hotel was was full (and their own website showing that it wasn’t). This issue was probably the airline’s fault but there was no empathy shown or help offered by front of house staff (not being able to see facial expressions behind masks didn’t help). Unfortunately this was a poor start to a bad experience that was to follow. The temperatures in Osaka were 40c+ and the hotel air conditioning, although controlled in-room, reverted to 25.5c after about an hour. This led to four sleepless nights having to get up and reset it. Each morning we complained and each morning they said they would look into it/get it sorted/call out an engineer. Nothing changed. I suspect that this was a known problem (both our rooms on the 10th floor were the same) or a cost cutting exercise. Either way, there was, again, no empathy or help from the front of house staff (all we got was a very un-Japanese shrug of the shoulders). The breakfast was the same buffet concept at Moxy Kyoto but the kitchen couldn’t cope with the volume - it was either a bun-fight or picking over scraps after the crowds had gone. The gym was virtually identical in size and offering to Moxy Kyoto but it was no surprise that it was at the Moxy Osaka that the water fountain ran out. A pretty terrible experience was topped off when they tried to charge me twice for a late check-out. It’s difficult to believe that two hotels in the same chain and only a few miles apart could be so different. Just goes to show the impact of impact of...

When you enter the hotel, it had an open concept lobby with a small cafe on the side of the check in counter with a long table just by the entrance flanked by a sofa set on the left hand side of the entrance. As we were a group, we were checked in at the far end of the cafe where a small conference room was. There were 2 pitchers of juice and a couple of snacks ( popcorn and caramel pops) offered to us whilst we were checking in. Staff were cordial. Hotel was boutique type, hip and youngish feel. The color scheme was grey with splashes of pink all around. Even their sign was lighted pink. My room had a functional , IKEA ish feel to it. I feel like I was in New York. I loved it! It was small but everything was functional and didn’t feel boxed in. You had room to move around. Good for 2 people. The bathroom amenities were adequate and the containers for the shampoo, body wash and soap were pink! So young and fresh. The bathroom was very Urban and lots of black metal with pink accents thrown in in the form of the hair dryer, and amenities container. As I mentioned, it screamed chic, hip and young. Bed was twin sized and comfy. I took lots of pics of the room bec it was so different from all the hotels I’ve ever been. I like this hotel for just a short stay. Location wise, not so. It’s in a quiet part of Osaka. Lots of small little resto around it. Not much else. You need to walk a bit to get to the metro station, Honmachi station is about 20-25 minute walk away. I took it to go to Namba for all the shopping and food tripping needs. There was also a Seria 100 yen shop about 10-15 minute walk from the hotel. I was in heaven when I entered this shop. Quality of products were better than DAISO. There’s a huge supermarket called LIFE about 25-30 minutes walk away. Warning though, you will get lost a bit before you find these stores as the map provides by the hotel was confusing and not much help. I had to enter another hotel to ask for directions when I was getting lost trying to find the 100 yen shop on Moxy’s map. I also couldn’t understand the hotel’s map when I was trying to find the LIFE supermarket indicated on their map. It was a nice short stay though. You could just choose any of the Restos that are littered everywhere outside the hotel. Someone told me that the hotel’s breakfast was basic so it’s best to go out everytime when u need to have a meal. Sorrounding area is quiet and you will rest well in your room. No views outside your window so just close the curtains. Area is safe to walk around even at night. There’s lots of mini marts...

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the Moxy Honmachi! From the minute we walked in the door it was obvious this place was designed for our generation. From the giant instagram monitor to the couches with the cat pillows the design and vibe of the place was on point! The staff was attentive and friendly; we did have a few English/Japanese breakdowns throughout our stay but we have to remember we are in Japan and they were very pleasant and patient in resolving. The room was super cute. It was so handy to have all the pegs to hang things on and the ability to be able to put away or pull down the table or extra chair makes really efficient use of the space. The space was small as is expected most anywhere in Japan, but much larger than other rooms we had on this trip and had a smarter layout. The bathroom was also one of the largest we experienced and it was downright luxurious for the price point. The shower was definitely the high point of said luxury, with both a handheld and a rain shower head with wonderful pressure and temperature controls. I felt a little guilty for how much we enjoyed it. Weird misses in the otherwise wonderful bathroom: the sink was lacking the water pressure of the shower and was kind of useless and the toilet didn’t have all the standard Japanese buttons and functionalities (ie: no heated seat). The bed was comfortable and we had some of the best nights sleep there (thank you blackout curtains) of our entire trip.

We booked breakfast with the room and while it’s hard to complain about it, I’m not sure I would do the same if I stayed again. The pluses: the quality of the food was reasonable, the had a noodle bar with some surprisingly good ramen and udon to start your day off right, the western style breakfast items left much to be desired, but we found that to be the case most everywhere. The granola and bread were good, coffee not great and sadly often out. That was the biggest minus of the breakfast program is that they often were out of things, coffee, butter, cheese, bananas, and it wasn’t really THAT large of a selection so I’m not sure if they were just understaffed or what. But each day we were able to get our fill and so much so that we skipped lunch most days.

The location was brilliantly convenient! Just a few train stops away from all the excitement of Kuromon market, Dotonbori, Den Den and really easy to navigate to/from both airports.

WiFi was exceptional, coming home to a live DJ every night...