| Hotel Rating: |    | | Satisfaction: |    | | Reviews: 2 | Photos: 6 | | 16-19 Toyosaki 3-Chome, Kita-ku |
 | Osaka Ramada Osaka Reviews | 1 - 2 of 2 |  |
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 | Ramada Osaka: Good value, modern hotel, close to metro station
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I stayed at the 3* Ramada Osaka Hotel for 6 nights during a visit to Osaka in November 2008.
I booked my stay via www.lastminute.com and paid 56 GBP per night for a Standard Single with en-suite facilities, but without breakfast. This was a real bargain at the time, since most other websites were quoting twice as much.
Location
The Ramada Osaka Hotel is located directly above the Nakatsu subway station (station M15) on the Midosuji metro line. You can enter the hotel directly from exit 3 of the Nakatsu station platform.
This is a very convenient location, being just one stop from the Umeda metro station (which has connecting walkways to the main train station) and just two stops in the other direction from Shin-Osaka metro station, both of which are important transport hubs in the city.
Arriving in Osaka from Kansai International Airport, I caught a train from the airport on the Nankai main line to Namba station. From there, I walked to the adjoining Namba metro station (station M20 on the Midosuji line) and took the subway for five stops to Nakatsu, before alighting the train and exiting straight into the Ramada Osaka’s ground floor concourse. The train journey from the airport to Namba took approximately 45 minutes and the metro leg from Namba to Nakatsu took around 10 minutes. Despite my initial confusion at the seemingly endless railway and metro line options, the journey to the hotel was remarkably smooth.
Alternatively, instead of using the metro, it is possible to walk from the hotel into the heart of Umeda (a skyscraper and shopping mall-filled business and commercial district of Osaka) in under 10 minutes. The city’s famous Umeda Sky Building can be reached on foot in 15-20 minutes.
There are plenty of restaurants and shops (including 24 hour grocery stores such as 7-11) within the immediate vicinity of the hotel.
Bedroom
My Standard Single room was small, but was exceptionally well furnished, was very comfortable and was spotlessly clean.
The bed was as soft and comfortable as any bed I can ever remember, and it was also heated somehow from underneath.
Next to the bed was a working desk with all the essentials for a business traveller, including a large flat-screen TV (which transformed into an Internet terminal with one push of the remote), a computer keyboard and mouse, coffee and tea making facilities, a lamp, a digital alarm clock and a telephone.
Having free Internet access in my hotel room was a real bonus and this was the first time I’d encountered this. Instead of having to search out an Internet café and pay a ludicrous sum to check my emails and read the latest football news, I could do so from the comfort of my hotel room. So impressed was I, that I subsequently bought a netbook upon my return to the UK and now consciously look for hotels that offer free wi-fi access. It’s fair to say that this hotel helped to change my travelling habits.
Another important feature in the room was the mini fridge. This is something that I tend to take for granted when I have one, but miss terribly when I don’t. I was able to stock up with soft drinks and chocolate from the nearby 7-11 store.
The en-suite shower room was small and spotlessly clean. It contained a bathtub, a shower, a toilet, a washbasin and a host of complimentary toiletries and fresh towels each day. This could have been an en-suite shower room in a hotel anywhere in the world, but for two features that I had never before experienced:
Firstly, the famous Japanese toilet with it’s multitude of buttons and hot water sprays. Press the buttons and wait apprehensively as the warm jet sprays get to work on your nether regions!
Secondly, the steam-free mirror. Usually, a hot shower in a small bathroom leads to the mirror becoming steamed up and therefore pretty much useless. Not so in this shower room. The majority of the mirror *did* steam up, but there was a steam-free area in a perfect rectangle shape right above the washbasin. Magic!
General
No breakfast was included in the room rate and the quoted price was sufficiently high to deter me from opting in.
There are several restaurants within the hotel:
Lampada (Italian)
Neuf Neuf (a la carte buffet)
Tres Tres Bon (gourmet deli)
Tenzan (Teppanyaki)
Goti-Kura Kobe Bistro (Kobe beef)
Chinese Buffet Tai Yo Ro (Chinese)
I never ate at any of them, as the prices were on the high side. However, I used to pass by the majority of them on my way from the hotel to the subway station and there were some very nice aromas coming from within!
An excellent hotel with a central location right by the metro line. Rooms are clean and comfortable and cater for business and leisure travellers alike. Very highly recommended!
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