東瀛Stays 501箱根 お洒落な和洋室

Hotel Description

You know what caught me off guard about this place? The name says Hakone, but you’re actually smack in the middle of Osaka’s Nippombashi district – and honestly, that’s way better than I expected. I mean, who needs mountain hot springs when you’re a five-minute walk from Den Den Town’s electronics wonderland and some of the best hole-in-the-wall ramen joints in the city?

The room itself is this interesting mix they call “wa-yo” – basically Japanese meets Western, and they actually pulled it off without making it feel like a theme park. There’s tatami in one area where you can sit properly Japanese-style (your knees will thank you for the practice), but also a regular bed and Western seating. The whole setup feels more like staying in someone’s carefully designed apartment than a hotel room. I particularly loved the little details – proper wooden chopsticks instead of disposable ones, and the way they’ve arranged the lighting so it’s warm and subtle in the evening. The bathroom’s compact but functional, with one of those deep Japanese soaking tubs that’s perfect after walking around Osaka all day.

Location-wise, you’re in this sweet spot where tourists don’t usually venture, but it’s incredibly well-connected. Nippombashi Station is literally around the corner, which means you can get to Namba’s chaos in about three minutes or head to Sumiyoshi Taisha shrine in fifteen. The street itself (Nihonbashi-higashi) is pretty quiet at night – no drunk salarymen singing karaoke at 2 AM, which I definitely appreciated. During the day though, there’s this gentle buzz of local life happening. There’s a convenience store downstairs (because of course there is, this is Japan), and I discovered this tiny coffee shop two blocks over that serves the most incredible morning sets – the kind of place where the owner remembers your order after day two.

The 8.1 rating makes sense to me. It’s not luxury by any stretch, and the walls are a bit thin – I could hear my neighbor’s phone conversations occasionally. But the cleanliness is spot-on, the Wi-Fi actually works everywhere in the room, and the staff, while minimal, genuinely tries to help even with the language barrier. I had an issue with the air conditioning remote (all in Japanese, naturally), and they didn’t just fix it – they left me a little hand-drawn diagram showing which buttons did what. Check-in was smooth, though they do prefer you arrive after 3 PM, which gave me time to explore the neighborhood first anyway. For the price point, especially in Osaka where decent accommodation can cost a fortune, this place delivers exactly what it promises – a clean, comfortable base with character that puts you right in the thick of local life rather than tourist bubble-land.

Rooms

• Estimated price from: $110. Family Suite with 2 single beds and 2 futon beds for Max persons: 2

Reviews

• Florence from United States – 31 March 2024 (7/10)

  Fast response and good communication from host. Even at the end asking for luggage storage which was not provided and the host allow us to leave in the room for 1 more hour after check out.
  
  What could be improved: Bathroom has a smell, a little moldy and air is not circulate well.

• Si from Singapore – 27 December 2023 (8/10)

  10 min distance from train station, nearby has several convenient shop.
  
  What could be improved: Washing Machine is not inside the room, not convenient to wash clothes.

• Sharon from Japan – 23 October 2022 (9/10)

  The property was so clean and comforting. The staff was so accommodating. Thank you for letting us check-in ahead of schedule. It helped us settle ourselves before heading to Kyocera Dome and for guiding us how to get to your property from Shin-Osaka Station. Checking in and out were both so smooth and swift.
  
  What could be improved: The distance from Namba station. We thought it’s just about 10 minutes but it was actually 16-min. walk from Namba

• Jack from Australia – 10 November 2024 (8/10)

  Location was amazing, super close to several train stations and several food places, all of them within walking distance

• Layla from Canada – 10 November 2024 (8/10)

  It's actually a small apartment, so everything you could need is in it. Not just beds and a bath, but a stove, fridge, all of that. The third bed was a futon, laid out in what would be the living room area if a person was living in the apartment. It was a good space for three people, there were enough beds and bedding to go around easily, and more in the bedroom closet. Bedroom is separated by a door. Bathroom is super tiny, but they have made amazing use of it to have a stand up shower and a small tub in it. No hotel staff, no check in procedures. Great for people who just want to do their own thing. If staying in Osaka for a longer period of time, I would certainly consider this place for a home base.
  
  What could be improved: There are clothes washing facilities, but they are at street level and only two washing machines that are frankly not that great. We wound up hanging things to finish drying even after using the heated dry. The mattresses on the beds in the bedroom are really not great. We slept all right, but more than a night or two could be very difficult.

• Jennifer from Australia – 9 October 2024 (7/10)

  Location was great and happy about the lift as on 5th floor. Good spacious place for 3 people.
  
  What could be improved: Mattress are needing replacement as have no support at all. Need to have cleaner linen as there were some stains on linen which need to be replaced.

• Myeongjae from South Korea – 24 September 2023 (9/10)

  Very cozy place near the Dotonbori area(10~15 min on foot). Looks like typical Japanese urban household. 🙂

• Zhong from Taiwan – 30 January 2023 (9/10)

  Comfortable Japanese-style bedroom
  
  What could be improved: You need to walk for at least 8-10 minutes to take the subway

• Javier from Spain – 13 June 2024 (6/10)

  There was no noise from the streets. Near city center and with two small markets nearby.
  
  What could be improved: The mattresses were really unconfortable.

• Anita from Hong Kong – 25 December 2022 (6/10)

  spacious for family of 4
  
  What could be improved: some bad smell from the toilet, not enough amenities eg tissue but difficult to call for replenish as no staff available on-site

SURROUNDINGS

Facilities