Meet people, integrate into the local culture, savor Buddhist food...? You choose!
Looking for accommodation in Osaka seems synonymous with large hotel chains located in skyscrapers where sleeping can cost you almost as much as the plane. However, for a few years, they begin to appear all over the city smaller, cozy, cheap places, run by locals, where sleeping is not only pleasant, but it is a whole experience plus. These are some of the most lovely.
Own style
CHILLOUT HOSTEL
Its very name already says it all; this is the perfect accommodation for relax to the rhythm of good music. The colorful hostel, whose decoration will make you imagine for a moment that you have left beach vacation, is located in an area halfway between Namba and Umeda, two of the neighborhoods Famous from Osaka, and very close to horie, one of the areas with the most restaurants per square meter of the city.
The best thing about its location is that, in addition to being comfortable, it is quiet , since it is located on a street without much movement and very silent. The owner of this place seeks above all that the visitor feel at home, and he gets it. Whether you are a lover of parties and to make friends, as if you prefer to be to your roll, both possibilities are at your service in this hostel where, according to its owner, all the people who have visited it are good people.
In the living room there is a screen with movie sessions throughout the day, a music system where it almost always plays reggae, Y free coffee for 24 hours. Totally recommended.
LODGIN & KIN
For the owner of this small hostel, located very close to the central train station Namba, the most important thing in this life is coffee, music, beer and camping . The result of uniting all these passions, along with an interest in wood design and construction , is this place.
It has the capacity to 14 people, spread over two bedrooms and two private rooms. In addition to being elegant, it is cozy. Its entrance/bar allows the guest to enjoy a delicious coffee or a good beer surrounded by travel books and maps . The decoration is so centered on the nature that it is easy to forget that we are in a big city and not in the countryside, and there are even a tree that seems to hold the entire structure right in the middle of the hall.
Lodgin & Kin, very welcoming
HETOGEP
This tiny hostel specially designed for backpackers opened two years ago in one of the side streets of the busy area of Namba. Its motto is freedom , and it is evident in the decor of the premises, with walls where everyone can leave their mark painting, and craft constructions and colorful.
Despite being surrounded by restaurants and bars, and being one of the most tourist of the city, its semi-hidden position, on the second floor of a building that is almost impossible to find, makes it a haven of tranquility in the middle of the big city.
Its owners, two Japanese enthusiasts of history, art and meeting people, invite all those travelers willing to have flexible plans to stay and socialize with them. The reason is that they want to teach you that other osaka that few travelers get to know. Your tour guides are hilarious and interesting, and they will teach you details of the history of Osaka that very rarely appear in the most conventional.
**PAX HOSTEL (THE PAX) **
this is a hostel beautiful, located in the neighborhood of Shinsekai, one of the oldest areas of Osaka where you can see firsthand the local life from the city. The place, which has the air of a theater stage, Covered in colored wood, it promises lodging, vinyl records, cafe/bar and more, and it fulfills it.
The bar is very focused on the music and it is a perfect place to have a drink before or after a tourist route. The lighting is very nice and it really looks like you are in a artist environment, although in reality you are in the center of Osaka, just a few minutes walk from the famous Tsutenkaku Tower, one of the symbols more traditional from the city.
Until recently, this area was a secret for most travellers, but their luck is certainly changing. If you really want to live Osaka more local and authentic, this is an ideal place to mark your starting point. The restaurants in this area are, in addition to cheap , delicious , especially those specializing in skewers known as kushikatsu.
Discover the most local and authentic Osaka at The Pax
BLEND INN
your location, not so central Like the other accommodations on this list, it is highly compensated for having metro and train stations very close, and for its unique sense of Showa era Japan in the neighborhood in which it is located, that of Konohana.
Its owners, Kana and Henguchi, are a perfect combination of organization, art and design. Precisely, the decor It is what most attracts the attention of this hotel. Despite being built in an old cement building, the modernity of its rooms, which they seem to float above the street, the use of colored crystals to give it a fresh and unique air, and the fact that even the smallest detail is taken care of, such as, for example, that each of the rooms has custom names , from famous songs, make it a place that is not only ideal for sleeping, but also for observe and enjoy.
Breakfast is included in the price, and comes from a neighboring artisan coffee shop, Mirow, that provides the local with food and delicious coffee. An ideal hotel for both solo travelers and families with children. In addition, the Universal Studios Japan it is just a few stops by train from the nearest station.
HOSTEL 64
A hotel located in a old office building dating from the year 1964, hence its name. The owner of this cozy establishment, Ryosuke Tabata, is passionate about design , and it shows in the excellent decoration of the hotel.
For Tabata, the most important thing is art and craft , which is why he considers that visitors with a passion for esthetic, as well as for the architecture , they will have much to enjoy if they stay at this place.
There are two types of rooms available, Western and Japanese and both are cared for down to the last detail. In fact, if the traveler opts for a Japanese-style stay, it will be like being in a ryokan , or traditional hotel, but cheaper and in the middle of the city. At night, the hall becomes a bar where they serve a delicious coffee and Japanese craft beers.
MACONDO HOUSE
Casa Macondo is like the heart of Colombia in Osaka. Its owner, Óscar Pineda, is a Colombian who has been living in this city for years, but his love for Latin America you breathe in each of the corners of this wonderful and colorful place , located just a few minutes walk from the station Namba.
It is the perfect establishment for travelers looking to make friends miles from home , because its workers will make you feel like at home just enter. Right there, next to the reception, is the hostel Bar, a place decorated with plays of different artists, and with very good music, where every detail has been thought so that the guest can enjoy a cheerful and full of life.
It is especially recommended for party lovers, because on the terrace of the upper floor life is sometimes celebrated to the rhythm of beer and good melodies.
Macondo House: Colombia in Japan
WAQOO
A little different than the rest of the hotels on this list, but included by its originality and for being the perfect place to sleep if you are a lover of Japanese traditional culture.
Waqoo is located in Tennoji, one of the areas with the most temples from the city, and very close to one of the buddhist monasteries oldest and most beautiful in Osaka, the Shitennoji . The special thing about this establishment Elegant , opened in April 2017, is what is known as shukubo , an accommodation designed so that visitors feel that they are in a Buddhist temple.
Not only does it have impeccable facilities, but everything inside this building is related to this religion : from the color of the walls of the rooms, to the activities that are offered. The shukubo were, traditionally, places thought to monks and pilgrims , but the growing love for Japan and its culture led the owners of this place to create one designed for travelers, mainly foreign.
If you stay here, you will enjoy the vegetarian buddhist cuisine , shojin ryouri, famous for how colorful and careful of his presentation, and you will have the privilege of participating in the morning prayer at the nearest Buddhist temple. In addition, you will be able to carry out various activities related to this religion, such as meditation, shabutsu and shakyo (the art of meditation through calligraphy).
Try meditative calligraphy at Waqoo