The Osaka Travelogue – Part 1 : Accommodation in Osaka
Osaka has always been close to my heart as it’s the first city I did my first ever solo trip. Yes, first solo trip in a country I’ve never been where I dont speak a word of the language? Quite an adventure, I must say. Also, Osaka is known as Japan’s food city and the (highly debated) birthplace of okonomiyaki (savory cabbage pancake) and takoyaki (savoury octopus balls pastry?/buns?) – but more on that later.
I’m writing a multiple part breakdown of my trip to Osaka. Hopefully I can break it down with enough information that will be useful for you! :)
- Part 1: Accommodation in Osaka (this post!)
- Part 2 : Day 1 – Umeda Sky Building, Dotonbori (upcoming)
- Part 3 : (Upcoming)
Accommodation:
In both my trips to Osaka, I have opted for hostels. The hostel I stayed at this trip was “Ark Hostel & Cafe Dining” which was a relatively new hostel that has an attached café. The hostel is not difficult to find and is in a good location. The cafe is also very cute, I had lunch there on my first day.
The hostel has multiple floors with one floor dedicated especially to females. One floor is the kitchen/pantry/tv area which opens out to a balcony where the washing machines/dryer are. The kitchen has a fridge which you can put your stuff and label it. There is however no water provided so you would have to buy your own water at the nearby combi. Also, there is a small elevator (yay!)
Note: I generally choose female only floors, not because I don’t feel comfortable sleeping in mixed hostels, but my thinking is that its usually cleaner and more “well maintained”. Photos that follow are from their Facebook Page as I cant seem to find the photos I took.
The hostel has multiple rooms with 6-8 beds per room and each room has a keypad lock which is quite safe (meaning residents of other rooms cant enter your room). The main entrance also has a keypad lock and the entrance is closed between 11pm-8am.
For storage it also has a rack of lockers (bring your own padlock!) as well as chubby holes for shoes – both located at the corridors. The luggage bags can be left in your room.
One thing to note is that the reception only opens at 3pm (which is also the check-in time), so there isn’t anyone at the counter during that time, so you cant really come early and drop your bags off (altho they did for me). Also they don’t receive mail in the hostel (eg, if you want to get your wifi dongle sent to you) – altho they did make the exception for me, as I didn’t know.
Other that those minor grips, I quite like the hostel. Its in a good location, there’s a 24hr Matsuya, a gyudon (Beef rice bowl) restaurant, as well as various convenient stores nearby. Its also few minutes walking distance from Higobashi station. (Subway Yotsubashi Line).
Ark Hostel and Café Dining
1-15-11, Edobori, Nishi-ku, Osaka shi
Tel num (Overseas): +81 6 6136 6550
http://ark-osaka.jp/en/information/
Some accommodation tips:
- Bring a padlock – always useful for lockers and bags. I tend to get the ones with the number keypad then I don’t have to worry about keys
- I usually buy a big bottle of water to put in my bedside, its much easier to drink rather than going all the way to the pantry/kitchen
- Hostels in japans (the 3 I’ve been in) provides shower gel and shampoo (or a body gel+shampoo combo) so usually I only bring a hair conditioner, facial wash, toothbrush and toothpaste to the bathroom.
- The bathrooms are tiny box/cubicles so claustrophobic people should take note.
Alternate accommodation in Osaka:
- Goma Guesthouse – Stayed here during my first trip in Osaka. Much cheaper but no lifts, only stairs. Very near the Osaka City Terminal. 2,500 yen per night, cash only, advanced payment required. http://www.osaka-guesthouse.com/en/index.html (pic below, left)
- First Cabin – I’ve stayed in the Tokyo Akihabara one (pic below, right), not the Osaka one but I loved it. Fav hostel so far. Much pricier than the rest at 3,000-4,800 Yen per night. But oh soo nice! http://www.first-cabin.jp.e.jr.hp.transer.com/locationlist/osaka.html
Okay so thats it for accommodation in Osaka. Next is sightseeing!
