Welcome to my hotel review in Osaka!
The hotel building
(Photo: Nest Hotel's website - click here for the hotel website.)
My original plan was to book my accommodation in an Airbnb apartment but after some thoughts about it, maybe staying in a hotel would be more convenient and comfortable for us. So doing some detective work, there are a lot of hotels in the central area but a lot of them were on a high end side in terms of pricing especially I had to book 2 rooms. Eventually this hotel's name came out and I decided on it for 2 reasons: Reasonable hotel rate and location. The location is just a stop away from Namba station, near the heart of the city. To get from the airport (Osaka Itami) to the hotel, it takes around 50+ minutes by train and an additional 10 minutes to walk from the nearby station (Daikokucho Station) to the hotel. So with that in mind, I went ahead to do the booking.
I booked this hotel using a 3rd part app but somehow when I did a check using this same 3rd party app recently, the hotel listing had disappeared. After checking the hotel's website and I noticed there was no availability in any of the hotel's rooms for the rest for the year and even in January next year. I read a comment on tripadvisor and one of them mentioned that that the hotel had operated its last few days and would be shutting down in due course. So for this hotel review, I decided to publish it anyway to share my thoughts on it. So in case if the hotel made a come back (maybe due close temporary due to renovation work or something), you have a brief idea how it is like.
A little hiccup experience
Just to share with you a little lesson I learnt during this check-in process. I tried to pay with my card but the hotel's credit card system declined and I wondered what was wrong. Since I had made a transaction earlier that day I wondered why it wasn't working this time? Fortunately for me, I had a back-up card (usually I don't use it unless its an emergency) and it worked so obviously it was my card's issue. I decided to investigate in the room after check-in. It was only then I realised that I locked my card and forgotten to unlock it prior to checking in, how silly am I!
How to get to the hotel?
For us, we alighted at the Daikokucho Station (Exit 1) and walked about 5-10 minutes to the hotel. There are also other options: 6 minutes walk from Ebisucho station and 3 minutes walk from Imamiyaebisu Station.
For those travelling from Osaka Kansai Airport, there are a few options to get to the hotel, here is the link (Goggle map) to assist you. The journey time from KIX to the hotel is around an hour by train.
A Brief Info about the hotel
This hotel's branding is known as 'The Rise', was launched in July 2024, managed by the Shinwa Hotel Property. This 11-story hotel features 300 rooms with 6 types of room and there is a rooftop bar and indoor sky lounge for hotel guests to use.
Welcome to the Nest & Rise Osaka Namba Hotel!
The entrance to the hotel
The lobby
The hotel lobby consists of a dining table and multiple sofa chairs for the guests to use. There is complimentary wifi in this part of the hotel.
The reception area
There were also self check-in kiosks but they were not in operation at that time.
Laundry room
Hotel Facilities & Amenities
- Laundry (Paid)
- Vending Machine
- Complimentary WiFi
- Restaurant
- Rooftop Bar
- 2 Bottles of Water
- Toiletries
- Satallite TV
- Working Table
Interior of the toilet
This toilet size is quite common in most hotels and homes.
Interior of the room
You can see how small the room is, hardly any space to walk especially with my luggage blocking part of the passageway.
The main complaint I have is the poor wifi connection for my mobile devices, however I had no connection issue with my laptop. That is fortunate because I had some online work to do during my stay.
Map layout of the room (Double room) - Hotel's website
12 metre square room
Maximum 2 persons
Pros
- Comfortable bed
- convenient location with convenient store and train stations nearby
- Good number of charging ports available
- bath room with basic amenities available for each guest
- reasonable hotel rate
Cons
- Small room
- Window view blocked by the grill (part of the hotel's exterior design)
- Cramp
Location to get to one of the popular parts of Osaka
To get to Dontobori area, it takes about 15 minutes walk to Namba Station and from there, continue to walk to get to the tourist area. At this point of time, the future of the hotel is unclear and if the rumour is true about the hotel closure, then it is the most unfortunate but whatever it is, I wish all the best for the hotel staff and management.
Random photos of Osaka
This is Ebisu bridge, located at the popular Dotonbori area.
This area can be very crowded especially during the weekends.
Plenty of shops to check out especially eateries.
Osaka Castle
Look at how majestic this castle is!
Stars: 
Hotel Staff: 7/10
Location: 8/10
Hotel room ambiance: 8/10
Hotel Amenities: 8/10
Nearby Convenience (Example: Train Station, Covenient store...etc): 9/10
Hotel room size: 5/10
Cleanliness: 10/10
Bed comfort: 9/10
Shower: 10/10
Value for $$: 10/10
Overall rating: 84/100
Percentage: 84%
Conclusion
Although the room is small, I find the bed to be comfortable and the few nights stay at the hotel was pleasant. I did a check on the twin bedroom, the size of the room is slightly bigger than mine but it is still small and cramp and for the person sleeping near the wall side, have to tip-top at the edge of the bed to get out of it if someone else is sleeping on the other side. There is very little space between the wall and the bed.
My aunt and mum didn't have any wifi issues but for my room which is located just a few rooms away, had connection issues with 2 of my mobile phones but for my laptop, it was working fine. I did a few reset of my phones but to no avail. However, when using the hotel wifi on my mobile devices at the main and lift lobby, I had no problem. This is strange right?
For the price I paid, I think it is reasonable and more important the location is not that far away from the Namba station and that is where the excitement is at. The location of the hotel is at a quieter area which maybe a good thing but this may not be suitable for those prefer to stay in the heart of the shopping district. At least at this location, there are a few places you can walk to nearby and what is important is that I find it safe to walk at night as there are street lights but of course do be aware of your surrounding no matter how safe the city is.
For whatever reason is for the closure of this hotel, I am glad to be able to experience this hotel's hospitality and bring you this hotel review. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.
Stay tuned for my next hotel review @ Kyoto, blog post coming up shortly.
Thanks for reading!
Charles
For my previous blog post: (My Shinkansen ride from Kyoto to Tokyo), click here
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