While we genuinely enjoyed our stay at Osaka Castle.
The location is excellent. Being directly opposite Osaka Castle is incredibly special. It is also very convenient to the train station, making it easy to explore Osaka and beyond. Although this isn't the busiest tourist area, we actually enjoyed that. If you spend a little time wandering the surrounding streets, you'll find some fantastic local restaurants tucked away. It felt a little more relaxed than staying in the heart of Dotonbori while still being extremely accessible.
We chose a river view room rather than paying the additional cost for a castle view, I'm actually very pleased we did. Watching the river, trains and city come alive each morning became one of my favourite parts of the stay. You still enjoy beautiful views of Osaka Castle from the breakfast restaurant, so for us, the river view offered the best of both worlds.
The room itself was modern, clean and comfortable. However, if you are travelling with 3 adults with the rollaway bed option and luggage, there was not much room left to move around for a long stay so we booked an additional room after arrival.
The restaurant staff deserve recognition, were always polite, helpful and accommodating.
The reception experience, however, was probably the biggest disappointment. The front desk staff here felt noticeably unwelcoming. Nothing was necessarily wrong, just lacking some warmth and care.