My next stop in Japan afer Tokyo was Osaka! I stayed in Osaka for 2 nights in Drop Inn Osaka Guesthouse in the Female dormitory room. This is my second review for the hostels in Japan. My first one (in Tokyo) can be found here.

Drop Inn Osaka

Initially when I made my booking through Booking.com, I thought the location was pretty near to Osaka Station which was great. However, after going there, I realised that the hostel was not as close as I would like it to be from the station. It took me around 1o – 15 minutes walk which was not very ideal when I had to bring my luggage under the hot sun. The walk was okay without my bags though just that after a long day, the walk can be dreadful.

I also thought that the Shinkansen would take me to Osaka Station (because I’m a Japan newbie LOL). Instead, the train arrived at Shin-Osaka Station which was one stop away from Osaka Station. I guess it was pretty okay since it is only one stop away plus the train to Osaka Station is on the JR line so it’s free (included in the JR pass) but the change of line was pretty annoying. Anyway..

What I liked about the location is that it is still pretty near to Osaka Station and Osaka Station is HUGE. Up till the last day, I still got lost so many times in the station although I think that my sense of direction is pretty good. There are 2, if not more, large departmental stores attached to the station. HEP Five, a mall where all the youngsters in Osaka like to hang out in, is also connected to Osaka Station. Not to mention, there’s a Pokemon Center too there!! If you have the time, you would probably need one whole day to explore the entire station thoroughly. Maybe even more than a day!

Again, like my experience with the hostel in Tokyo, I was (pleasantly) surprised that the actual place look very similar to the photos on Booking.com. I liked how Drop Inn Osaka provided slippers to wear around the guest house and an actual shoe rack for everyone to place their shoes in before stepping into the room.

One thing I liked most about staying here was that the bunks had a small space next to bed for you to place your stuff in. The other 2 hostels I stayed in Japan did not have this feature so my luggage had to be placed outside of my bed which made me slightly insecure but here, I could put it right next to my bed where I can constantly see it. There’s also a mini table next to the bed with a drawer that can be locked which is great.

(HUGE) Tip: Request for bed #425 (upper bed) or #426 (lower one) and get more space!! The other beds are perpendicular in orientation with respect to the wall (like the photo above) but these two special beds are actually parallel with the wall (look at my bed below – sorry for the bad quality photo & mess but I had no other photo~). It’s hard to explain in words but I’m sure you can see the difference between the two type of beds. These two are the best beds and I was lucky enough to be able to swap to #425 although they initially gave me bed #428.

The wide stairs to the upper bunk bed was also something that I did not see in other dorms that I stayed in. It makes climbing up to the upper bed so much easier 🙂

Drop Inn Osaka also has a nice and large pantry space where you can eat breakfast in the morning (It’s provided for no additional charge until 9.30AM I think) and meet new people if you want to. They also have coffee and tea there together with a small snack store in case you are hungry.

One thing I did not really like about the hostel was that the toilets were not as frequently cleaned compared to IRORI Nihonbashi in Tokyo. I felt the toilets were more dirty BUT that being said, it’s still pretty clean for a shared bathroom.

OTHER USEFUL INFORMATION IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO STAY HERE

1. Drop Inn Osaka provided one free towel per guest.
2. They have free lockers for you to use. The key that you get when you check in is actually for the locker, not for the room.
3. The use of the laundry and drying machines is chargeable.
4. They provided free luggage storage if you plan to come earlier than check-in time and if you want to leave Osaka later than the check-out time.
5. The front desk closes at 9pm so if you check-in early, you need to come back before 9pm to collect your keys and get your bag!

Total Damage: 7000 yen for 2 nights (3,500 JPY per night) from Sunday to Tuesday for the female dorm room. They have a mixed dorm room too. The mixed one costs less than the female one. All bookings were made via Booking.com with free cancellation and no booking fees policy.

Overall, I loved Drop Inn Osaka’s “room” and I had a pleasant stay but it would have been way better if their location was a little closer to the station. Besides the location, I did not have any much complains about it 🙂