Villa Fontaine Grand Osaka-Umeda — Hotel in Osaka

The Good: The hotel is located near Osaka/Umeda station with a nearby elevator access to the station underpass for guests with luggage. It's also located in the middle of a street full of izakaya bars and restaurants, so there's no shortage of dining options. In-room TV provides useful information, particularly for the status of laundry equipment and congestion in the public baths.

The BAD: Service quality is below par for a Japanese hotel. The reception staff comes across as clinical, rather than polite (later realized most of the staff are Koreans, which might explain for the lack of Japanese "omotenashi"). More shocking was that the reception staff was unaware of basic hotel security. My roommate lost her room cardkey and we went down to reception for new keys. The staff initially just issued her a new key by asking for our room number and her name (without verifying her identity from her passport) and also without asking for my cardkey. I then told the staff that she should be resetting both cardkeys because if the keycode remains the same, then anyone who happened to pick up (or steal) the old cardkey would be able to enter our room at any time. The staff didn't understand the issue and I had to repeat it to her three times before she reset both our cardkeys to a new code. The room was spacious due to the lack of any usable storage space. There were no drawers or shelves that might be useful for guests staying beyond a night. There were no luggage rack in the room and none available at the reception on the first night. So we had to use the big sofa, and also request for a table (for the second luggage) and an additional sofa chair (for a seat). Breakfast was terrible. There was very little variety, and no bread provided for guests not used to traditional Japanese breakfast. The quality of the food was also poor. The grilled fish were pre-cooked and simply reheated lightly with a torch. The quality of the ingredients used, such as the miso in the miso soup were not of good quality. The drinks, such as the citrus water and the cold tea tasted bad. Even the "fresh milk" tasted weird - suspect it was made from poor quality powdered milk and had a coffee creamer taste to it. Coffee was very bitter. Just don't bother to pay extra for breakfast if you plan to stay here. The public baths were nice, but the experience were marred by foreign guests who did not follow basic bath etiquette of washing one's body thoroughly first before entering the common pools. They simply entered the pools with their unwashed bodies. This "horror scenario" might explain why I hardly see any Japanese guests at the hotel. The hotel should provide adequate instructions in clear sight to educate their guests on how to use the baths and not assume that everyone...

I got a great rate for this hotel from Agoda.|Location: Right on a covered shotengai, very close walk to many restaurants / bars, and closest to Higashi Umeda station on the Tanimachi line of Osaka Metro where you can access the underground city and multiple other rail lines. It's very lively here at night yet we never had a problem about street noise that we could hear from our room. |Check-in: There were self check-in kiosks available but the staff were extremely polite & friendly, and helped us use the machines.|Room: We booked standard double. The bed is comfortable with ample size for two people, smaller than a U.S. king but still spacious enough. Keep in mind with this room category, the room is small and one side of the bed is pushed against the wall so one person may need to crawl on the bed. I didn't mind this. There's a wall outlet on both sides of the bed so each person can charge their cellphone, and there's a cleverly placed ledge above the headboard for putting items like phone. Air conditioning is through a wall mounted unit with remote control, and works very well. Bathroom has a slightly open concept, but the toilet and shower are both enclosed in their own compartments. Shower head is strong and very advanced, and bath amenities smelled great. Wifi is fast. |Onsen: This hotel does have a gender-segregated public onsen area on the same floor as the lobby. The hotel room TV has a "congestion meter" so you can check if the onsen is crowded before going down. In the onsen there were group and individual hot tubs, and I had a relaxing time.|Breakfast: We booked breakfast packages and the front desk will give you breakfast coupons that you present daily per person. It's buffet style and the dishes alternate slightly every day, so every 2-3 days you will rotate back to something you've already had. Good selection of Japanese dishes like pickled veggies, eel rice, miso soup, udon, tofu, simmered meat. There is pretty much no bread and I didn't mind. The silverware, bowls, etc are very sturdy and feel luxurious. I enjoyed the counter where you request grilled fish such as salmon, mackerel, and a daily special fish that changes daily. |Additional amenities: There is a microwave around the corner from the lobby in case you buy food that needs reheating. There's also...

I got a great rate for this hotel from Agoda.|Location: Right on a covered shotengai, very close walk to many restaurants / bars, and closest to Higashi Umeda station on the Tanimachi line of Osaka Metro where you can access the underground city and multiple other rail lines. It's very lively here at night yet we never had a problem about street noise that we could hear from our room. |Check-in: There were self check-in kiosks available but the staff were extremely polite & friendly, and helped us use the machines.|Room: We booked standard double. The bed is comfortable with ample size for two people, smaller than a U.S. king but still spacious enough. Keep in mind with this room category, the room is small and one side of the bed is pushed against the wall so one person may need to crawl on the bed. I didn't mind this. There's a wall outlet on both sides of the bed so each person can charge their cellphone, and there's a cleverly placed ledge above the headboard for putting items like phone. Air conditioning is through a wall mounted unit with remote control, and works very well. Bathroom has a slightly open concept, but the toilet and shower are both enclosed in their own compartments. Shower head is strong and very advanced, and bath amenities smelled great. Wifi is fast. |Onsen: This hotel does have a gender-segregated public onsen area on the same floor as the lobby. The hotel room TV has a "congestion meter" so you can check if the onsen is crowded before going down. In the onsen there were group and individual hot tubs, and I had a relaxing time.|Breakfast: We booked breakfast packages and the front desk will give you breakfast coupons that you present daily per person. It's buffet style and the dishes alternate slightly every day, so every 2-3 days you will rotate back to something you've already had. Good selection of Japanese dishes like pickled veggies, eel rice, miso soup, udon, tofu, simmered meat. There is pretty much no bread and I didn't mind. The silverware, bowls, etc are very sturdy and feel luxurious. I enjoyed the counter where you request grilled fish such as salmon, mackerel, and a daily special fish that changes daily. |Additional amenities: There is a microwave around the corner from the lobby in case you buy food that needs reheating. There's also...