VIA INN Shinsaibashi — Hotel in Osaka

One of the best overall lodging experiences I've had in Osaka (that I felt compelled to write a review). In the past, I've visited Osaka 2 times and stayed at borderline to decent places. However, this hotel went above expectations. First of all, I chose this hotel because it was the only one available after struggling to find a hotel for Thanksgiving weekend. We stayed for 6 nights. The hotel is located within a 2-3 min walk to Shinsaibashi Station (at the intersection with Midosuji). The hotel also provides free breakfast to all guests. Their menu varies depending on whether it's an even or odd day. Generally they serve rice, eggs, natto, rice porridge, soup, salads, and baked pastries (butter croissants). My personal favorites were their rice porridge (with toppings), scrambled eggs, and butter croissants.||||We got a room on the 12th floor with a nice view of the city (which was the least of my expectations due to it being the last available room on Agoda). The rooms aren't extremely spacious but it's enough if you don't bring large luggages. We also didn't get a lot of table space so we had to leave most of our stuff on the ground (-1 Star). Other hotels we've been to in Japan offered larger desks. Our room also had dirty walls which didn't bother us too much but wanted to note. The bed was enough to fit two people and we got a non-smoking room as we requested. One thing we noticed was that the shower room was not elevated. Which is great! It was also more spacious than the others we've been to.||||Hotel staff are generally super kind. I didn't have my expectations high prior to coming to Osaka - due to past experience. Though after staying here, my views have changed. Sometime during our 6 days, we returned to the hotel and decided to do laundry. My boyfriend left his wallet at the laundry room and didn't realize it went missing until the following morning. We checked the laundry room and it was empty. So we decided to take the elevator down to ask the staff at the front desk. The staff recognized us at the elevator and told us to proceed down. They had the missing wallet! It gave us so much relief as we had a good bunch of days remaining of our trip and didn't want to...

One of the best overall lodging experiences I've had in Osaka (that I felt compelled to write a review). In the past, I've visited Osaka 2 times and stayed at borderline to decent places. However, this hotel went above expectations. First of all, I chose this hotel because it was the only one available after struggling to find a hotel for Thanksgiving weekend. We stayed for 6 nights. The hotel is located within a 2-3 min walk to Shinsaibashi Station (at the intersection with Midosuji). The hotel also provides free breakfast to all guests. Their menu varies depending on whether it's an even or odd day. Generally they serve rice, eggs, natto, rice porridge, soup, salads, and baked pastries (butter croissants). My personal favorites were their rice porridge (with toppings), scrambled eggs, and butter croissants.||||We got a room on the 12th floor with a nice view of the city (which was the least of my expectations due to it being the last available room on Agoda). The rooms aren't extremely spacious but it's enough if you don't bring large luggages. We also didn't get a lot of table space so we had to leave most of our stuff on the ground (-1 Star). Other hotels we've been to in Japan offered larger desks. Our room also had dirty walls which didn't bother us too much but wanted to note. The bed was enough to fit two people and we got a non-smoking room as we requested. One thing we noticed was that the shower room was not elevated. Which is great! It was also more spacious than the others we've been to.||||Hotel staff are generally super kind. I didn't have my expectations high prior to coming to Osaka - due to past experience. Though after staying here, my views have changed. Sometime during our 6 days, we returned to the hotel and decided to do laundry. My boyfriend left his wallet at the laundry room and didn't realize it went missing until the following morning. We checked the laundry room and it was empty. So we decided to take the elevator down to ask the staff at the front desk. The staff recognized us at the elevator and told us to proceed down. They had the missing wallet! It gave us so much relief as we had a good bunch of days remaining of our trip and didn't want to...

I am really disappointed by this hotel and can not recommend it.

The room was okay. Quite small for the price. Cleanliness was okay as well. The main problem was the friendliness and helpfulness of the staff. I would give the staff only 1 star!! They are not ready to help their paying customers.

I would rate the hotel 3-4 stars but because of the unfriendly staff I can only give it 2 stars.

Following problem: I bought very expensive fruit and had a flight early morning the next day. Therefore we asked when we checked in if they have a knife for us. The unfriendly staff said in japanese to my wife that they do not have a knife.

As I could not believe that a hotel does not have a knife, I went down again with the fruit (it was a single nashi pear)and ask them to help me cut it at least. This time it was just me and I asked in English. The next unfriendly staff told me again they had no knife. Since I know they serve breakfast I asked her if she just borrow me a knife from the breakfast kitchen. She answered that they don't have a knife in the kitchen.

This must be an obvious lie. Which kitchen does not have a knife?!? It was obvious that they didn't care about our problem.

I will avoid hotels from this company in future and I would recommend you to avoid those too if you care...