Il Cuore Namba Osaka -Reception

For me, the two most important aspects of a hotel are location and the bed. And Hotel Il Cuore Namba Osaka satisfies the criteria.

In Osaka, you should aim to stay around Namba Station, the centre of the city and most convenient to get around. There are 8 subway and JR lines intersecting at the station.

Also: Namba station runs directly to and from Kansai International Airport, so you don’t need to transfer to another line lugging your heavy luggage. You can just alight here and walk to to your hotel.

The location is also walkable to Dotonbori, a popular shopping and eating district where the famous Gilco man signboard is.

Hotel Lobby

There are numerous hotels around the Namba Station, so you don’t have to stay at Hotel Il Cuore. If you have money, consider Swissotel Nankai Osaka, which is just above the Namba JR Station.

Besides the most important factor (the convenience), we chose Il Cuore because it is affordable (only about S$125 or ¥10K) a night. So no Swissotel for us.

Room view from the door

The location hotel is super convenient. It’s like one or two-minute walk when you exit from the JR station. Most important criteria: check.

The check-in was also the swiftest we have encountered. Definitely within a minute. Amazing.

There is nothing fancy about the room but comparing to the rooms in Tokyo and Hokkaido, this room is a mansion!

It has all the amenities of a good hotel. Within the room, they have a bar fridge, kettle, hairdryer, and even a humidifier.

The only thing the room does not have is a safe but they do have safes in the hotel lobby.

TV, Couch, Humidifier

As for amenities, everything is provided, including bath robes, disposable shavers, toothbrush and toothpaste. (Many hotels these days don’t provide toothbrush and toothpaste.)

Amenities

There are two missing factors:

-the bed is rather hard but not as hard as the bed at Aetas Hotel in Bangkok. After that bed, I can sleep on any bed.

-Because the hotel is rather old, they don’t have usb plugs beside the bed.

OMG BATHTUB!

When I saw the toilet, I was pleasantly surprised! Not only is it big, it has a BATHTUB! It’s rare to even find bathtubs in Singapore hotels these days, much less a Japanese hotel.

Magic mirror

I also discovered something very funny. After a hot shower, the mirror fogs up except for the face area! LOL. Why don’t they anti-fog the entire mirror instead of just a spot? Haha.

Day view from the room

As for facilities, there are none but one. No swimming pools, no gyms. But there is a restaurant that serves breakfast. When we were there, the breakfast goes for only ¥600 per person although on their website, they state that it is ¥1200.

Nightview

In conclusion, we were very satisfied with Il Cuore:

Pros:

-Affordable

-Super near to Namba station (one to two-minute walk)

-Bathtub!

-Adequate amenities

-Old but clean

Cons:

-Hard bed

-no facilities

-No USB beside the bed

You may be interested in…
–Hilton Niseko Village Review, Hokkaido: Naked in Nature! Wild Wild Wet!
–What to Eat at Niseko Hokkaido
–10 Must-Eat Food in Hokkaido
–8-Day Self-Drive Hokkaido Itinerary: Pre-Planning

Written by Dr. A. Nathanael Ho.