Hot Spring Osaka Hinode Hotel Nipponbashi

“Pretty Much Akin to All-Inclusive Experience!❤️😍”

(If you don't like lonnnnnng, emojified, overly small reviews and do not wish to know the score look away now....😜) What a wonderful establishment! Myself, co-parent/ex-partner & our 4 yr old daughter all thoroughly enjoyed our stay here. The hotel is EXCEPTIONAL value bang for your buck. Every n… more

(If you don't like lonnnnnng, emojified, overly small reviews and do not wish to know the score look away now....😜) What a wonderful establishment! Myself, co-parent/ex-partner & our 4 yr old daughter all thoroughly enjoyed our stay here. The hotel is EXCEPTIONAL value bang for your buck. Every night, between 5 & 8 there is a FREE BAR. Yup. You read that correctly. And I don't just mean a box of crappy fruit juice-ish wine - I mean a (very funky - you gotta try it), beer machine, sake & decent branded (santory) spirits. Kids bored? They got that covered with FREE ICE CREAM the same hours.🤣 Feeling tipsy come 9pm? Not to worry - they lay on FREE RAMEN! (Difficult as veggie however). Kid tired of sightseeing? FREE JAPANESE KID FRIENDLY CULTURAL EXPERIENCES/EVENTS perfectly timed around your sightseeing/mealtimes at 11am & 5pm. The kimono experience is a must-do. My 4 yr old loved being dressed up & having her hair done, & then a lil'photoshoot on the roof terrace with a fab view of Osaka. She also loved the flower pressing & crafts. (Thankyou soooo much to the F staff member doing these; our daughter adored you!) Tired from sightseeing? - Enjoy the FREE onsen baths, ICE BATH (!) sauna - plus THE best massage chairs I have ever tried.* Honestly? The value here is incredible. We legit saved £££ staying here! Truly wonderful! And of course, the usual things you would expect in a 4 or 5 star hotel are present; exceptional staff, comfy beds, GREAT location. Opposite the Osaka tower & market area. 20 mins walk from Dontoburi. Bonus environmental points: if you decide you don't need your room changed everyday to be eco-friendly, unlike most hotels, you do not have to forfit loo roll, fresh dry towels & toiletries - you can select to just have those & they will leave them outside your door in a lovely tote laundry bag you get to keep. Bonus kid points: a kid pack is given out to tiny humans, with the cutest free teddy bear slippers. Travelling light? They provide pyjamas, slippers, face/body cloth & daily toothbrushes/paste, along with the regular stuff you'd get in a regular 4* UK hotel. Above & Beyond bonus points: * We had bookended our 3 day break to Tokyo with 3 nights either side to sightsee Kyoto/Osaka here. I thought I'd ask, just to check, not for one second ACTUALLY thinking they'd say yes. They allowed us to leave most of our luggage at the hotel whilst we were in Tokyo, making our trip soooooo much easier and/or saving us lots of money in storage. I know its customary for hotels to do this on check in/out days, but not for dayyyyyysss!!! *Coffee is available FREE throughout the day & night! As is tea & health water. Music to my ears as a coffeoholic. Breakfast INCREDIBLE. One of the best ever! Even as a veggie I found something to eat! Scrambled egg, sweetcorn soup, tofu & green beans! - you name it, they have it! Excellent mix of asian & western on offer. Any negatives? • Gym not really a gym - it's a running machine & a cycling machine, that's it. They shouldn't really advertise it as one, because some of us (smug) excercise nutjobs book based on the ability to excercise. Mind you, excercising drunk on their free booze became a fun novelty of my stay, so I forgave them! • Room is very small, like having to stack the chairs onto the desk to leave room for my case small. Americans if you are reading this you will need to book a superior room, because it will really drive you crazy. WORTH it for the hotel overall however. • not their fault as this is commonplace in Japan, but you cant use the onsen with tattoos. The japanese are literally miles ahead of everyone (omg toilets! Kindness/compassion to strangers! - the west can learn so much!), but on this one thing, they have not progressed: Tattoos still mean gangsters & criminals. I was able to use it as had called up in advance from the UK, told them I had tattoos & for some reason they said I could use the facilities, so I obviously trekked over there unknowing. I pointed them out to the lady on duty & she smiled & let me in because it was quiet. But there's literally posters all round forbidding entry, so navigate your expectations. • Aircon confusing & room initially stuffy. However kindly they set it for us so that the ability to use heat was disabled & then it was fine. Consistant exceptional kindness from staff here. All you need to do is talk to them and they will set it and I wish I'd done that on the first night now. That's my bad. Ways to improve? - please do a veggie ramen option, or at least one night where we can enjoy. I think in a major hotel in a major city with a flowing tourist trade, striking a decent balance between, "In Rome, do as the Romans do" & "hey, our entire income relies on foreigners" is important. With this in mind I would suggest the following: • one veggie ramen option at least one night so we can partake in that magic, More fruit options at breakfast and some healthy brown bread. • Why not have an hour a day (or at least every few days) where people with tattoos (SO MANY Gen Z/millennial Westerners) can enter the onson and still enjoy it, whilst still respecting the cultural traditions of the host nation. • It would be lovely for the hotel to have a few dishes on offer. Either Asian or Western - but just the ability to order meals at the hotel would be lovely. Deliveroo delivers to the hotel very easily however & there are a plethora of fab restaurants legit on the doorstep. Fellow veggie? - check out the place in the market (the one behind the tower not Dontoburi) with the jumping noodles outside - you'll totally see it & know which one I mean - a spicy vegan ramen.🔥😋😍 Honestly for a family hotel? This is nigh on PERFECTION.❤️ If you are reading this trying to whittle down Osaka hotel options - this is your cue from the universe to stop your search & book here. Thankyou SO MUCH Hotel Osaka Hinode Team for making our bi-annual "family unit" holiday fabulous. Emmy, Jacob & Willow ✈️❤️

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