Misterpiggy apologizes for his tardiness in getting his hotel review out, since his return from Osaka. Anyways here it is.
He stayed at the four star Swissotel Nankai Namba; Swissotel is the name of the global hotel chain, Nankai is the subway station the hotel sits atop, and Namba is the district located in Osaka. There are two busy shopping areas and Namba is the southern one in the Minami ward, the northern one being called Umeda in the Kita ward. Both shopping areas are serviced by various train lines which makes them a very convenient location for travelling to other areas of the Kansai district of Japan, however the Swissotel occupies a key location in Namba as it is walking distance to many tourist spots in Osaka, including the Dotonbori, the Shinsaibashi shopping street, the Horie district, Den Den town and Tennoji.
view of hotel from ebisubashi st, takeshimaya dept store in foreground.
view of hotel from namba parks shopping concourse
Located right above the Nankai train station means that you have easy and direct access to the Kansai International airport via the Nankai express train. The Osaka Itami airport bus also stops just steps across from the hotel. Undeground, one has access to the Osaka municipal subway system and the huge shopping complex known as Namba City.
The Swissotel entrance is very non-descript and is easy to miss. From street level, you have to take an elevator to reach the hotel lobby which is located on the 6th floor. There is also a lounge area and a small cafe located on the same floor.
After you check in, you take a different set of elevators to take you to your room. The Swissotel Nankai Namba consists of 36 floors, the top floor occupied by an Italian restaurant. Floors 34 and 35 host executive conference rooms and banquet halls. Floors 32 and 33 have premium hotel rooms which can only be accessed by a special keycard in the elevators.
Misterpiggy's room was located on the 31st floor, with a commanding view of the Osaka Namba skyline, however he later discovered that his room was the smallest on the floor! Other rooms on his floor were double the size of his. :( Even though this floor was specified as non-smoking, cigarette smoke permeated from the room next door and Misterpiggy had to squeal on his neighbour, so to speak.
There wasn't much in the way of closet space but there was a desk area with lots of drawers under the flat screen TV and work area. Inside the closet was a small drawer and a room safe. The bed was very comfy and you could order different types of pillows if you wanted, but Misterpiggy was happy with the default ones. Amenities included a work area with complimentary Internet access (wired and wireless), a little fridge and kettle and surprisingly a Nespresso machine, with all the fixings.
Although Misterpiggy brought his travel adapter he didn't need it was there were no voltage issues using the many electric plugs provided throughout the room. The washroom was on the small side and Misterpiggy is not a fan of the bowl type washbasins, as water just seems to splash everywhere. Also a negative was the useless glass panel that wasn't a shower curtain. These were very common in the European hotels that Misterpiggy stayed in during his France trip last year. Perhaps Swissotel used them because they were a European hotel chain. On a positive note, it was really nice to have a heated toilet seat with all the bells and whistles so customary in larger Japanese hotel toilets.
Typically Japanese hotels have a very high standard of cleanliness but Misterpiggy noted that this wasn't the case at this hotel. The carpets were dirty and never vacuumed, neither in the hallways nor in the rooms as far as Misterpiggy could tell. What he saw one day was a cleaning lady walk around with two-sided tape and lift dirt and nubbies off the hallway carpet. A chocolate peanut that Misterpiggy had dropped on the floor by the desk was never picked up until nine days afterwards!
Oh Misterpiggy should add that there was a spa and pool on the 10th floor, which he never visited and that the elevators were extremely fast as you very rarely had to wait too long for one.
Ok, here is Misterpiggy's hotel rating for the Swissotel Nankai Namba in Osaka Japan:
Size: 0
Comfort and storage: 1
Bathroom: 0
Roomsafe: 1
Convenience and access: 1
Cleanliness: 0
View: 1
Quiet: 1
Free Internet/Wifi: 1
Score: 6.0 out of 9. Misterpiggy would stay here again only because of it's premier location and convenience. As a four star hotel, it doesn't quite shine as well as say the four star Southern Century hotel that Misterpiggy stayed at in Tokyo. The hotel could definitely improve it's housecleaning policy, but sadly not sure if there's anything that can be done about the small and clumsy bathroom. If one is lucky, you might get one of the larger rooms but don't take 3102 if they give it to you. 3127 is much larger.
