Holiday Inn Osaka Namba: A Super Convenient and Economical Accommodation Choice Right Next to Dotonbori

Post date: 2025-11-04 | Categories: Japan Travel

Holiday Inn Osaka Namba was formerly known as Hotel Vista Grande Osaka. A few years ago, it was acquired by the IHG group and renamed Holiday Inn Osaka Namba, with the Japanese name being 「ホリデイ・イン大阪難波」. Holiday Inn Osaka Namba is quite impressive in terms of location, quality, room size, and other aspects, and the price is relatively cheap. It absolutely qualifies as one of the hotels with the highest cost-performance ratio in the Namba and Shinsaibashi areas.

I first stayed at this hotel in 2012 and then again in 2013, and it left a very good impression. However, during those two stays, it was still Hotel Vista Grande, before the takeover by Holiday Inn.

Holiday Inn Osaka Namba Accommodation Review

Hotel Name: ホリデイ・イン大阪難波 (Chinese Name: Holiday Inn Osaka Namba, English Name: Holiday Inn Osaka Namba)

Dates of Stay: March 2012 / April 2013

Number of Nights: 2 consecutive nights

Room Type: double room

Accommodation Cost: 4,400 yen/person x 2 people x 2 nights = 17,600 yen

Hotel Website: https://www.hiosakanamba.com/

Booking Channels: Klook | Trip.com | Hotels.com | Rakuten Travel | 日本樂天旅行

1. Location and Transportation of Holiday Inn Osaka Namba

Holiday Inn Osaka Namba is located in Sōemon-chō, at the intersection of Osaka’s Namba and Shinsaibashi, adjacent to Dotonbori. It sits right in the heart of Osaka’s most bustling shopping and tourist district, so its location is absolutely fantastic.

It’s only about a 1 to 2-minute walk from the hotel to Dotonbori and the Shinsaibashi Shopping Street. Walking to tourist spots like Kuromon Market, Horie, Minami-Senba, America Mura, Den Den Town (Sakaisuji), and even Tennoji Shinsekai takes only about 10 to 25 minutes.

For city transportation, Holiday Inn Osaka Namba is situated between Namba Station on the Midosuji Subway Line and Nipponbashi Station on the Sakaisuji Line. The walking time to either station is similar, about 5-6 minutes. Since the route to the subway stations goes through a tourist area lined with shops, it doesn’t feel very far.

To get to Umeda from the hotel, it’s more convenient to use the Midosuji Line. For other destinations, including Kansai Airport, Kyoto, and Nara, you can use the Sakaisuji Line. For detailed transportation information, you can refer to the details in this Dormy Inn Namba Natural Hot Spring review.

If I had to point out a drawback, a more significant one for Holiday Inn Osaka Namba might be that its location is a bit far from the Nankai Electric Railway’s Namba Station, about 700-800 meters away, requiring a walk of about 10 minutes. Although this distance isn’t long and the path isn’t difficult, dragging heavy luggage to the station to take the Nankai Railway at the end of your trip can be a bit of a hassle.

Walking route map from Holiday Inn Osaka Namba to Nankai Namba Station

However, this isn’t a unique shortcoming of Holiday Inn Osaka Namba; other hotels in the same area, such as Cross Hotel Osaka, are in the same situation.

↓ Below is the location of Holiday Inn Osaka Namba on the map ↓

View Holiday Inn Osaka Namba’s location on a larger map

Below are photos of the surrounding environment and the hotel’s exterior taken from the hotel’s periphery.

Exterior view of Holiday Inn Osaka Namba taken from Taizaemon Bridge over the Dotonbori River.

Taizaemon Bridge, with Dotonbori in the foreground.

View of the Dotonbori River from Taizaemon Bridge.

The Ichiran Ramen next to Taizaemon Bridge is much less crowded during breakfast hours compared to lunch and dinner, and it’s open 24 hours.

The crossroads between Taizaemon Bridge and the hotel.

Sōemon-chō used to be one of Osaka’s red-light districts, with many nightlife workers soliciting customers on the streets at night, so some people felt it wasn’t very safe to stay here. However, the situation has changed now. On recent visits to Osaka, I found that this area no longer has the feel of a red-light district at all.

During my previous two stays at Hotel Vista Grande Osaka, there was a curfew on the main door. The main hotel entrance would be closed from late night until early the next morning. If you returned to the hotel during this time, you had to ring the doorbell and wait for hotel staff to open the door. It’s unclear if the current Holiday Inn Osaka Namba still has this curfew system.

The main entrance of Holiday Inn Osaka Namba; there is also a side entrance on the other side.

Hotel side entrance.

Klook.com

2. Facilities at Holiday Inn Osaka Namba

Holiday Inn Osaka Namba is a business hotel, so it certainly doesn’t have facilities like swimming pools, fitness centers, bars, or upscale restaurants found in higher-end hotels. However, its basic facilities are quite good.

The lobby of Holiday Inn Osaka Namba is quite spacious for a Japanese business hotel.

Because the lobby is spacious, the area available for temporarily storing luggage is also large. Check-out time is 11:00, and guests can leave their luggage at the hotel temporarily after checking out.

Newspapers are available in the hotel lobby, but only Japanese and English newspapers are provided.

A seating area is set up in the hotel lobby.

If you want to use a computer to access the internet, you can use the two computers in the lobby.

The hotel has a mechanical parking garage located next to the side entrance. Overnight parking costs 2,500 yen.

Additionally, there are paid parking lots opposite the side entrance. If you only need to park for a shorter time, you can use these.

Ground floor elevator lobby.

You need to insert your key card to select a floor when taking the elevator from the lobby to the guest floors.

Guest floor elevator lobby.

Underground Elevator Lobby

You need to insert your key card to select your floor when taking the elevator from the lobby to the guest room floors.

Guest Floor Elevator Lobby

3. The Rooms at Holiday Inn Osaka Namba

Guest Floor Corridor

We’re in the room! First, insert the key card to activate the power.

Now, let’s check the emergency evacuation map.

On the left side, there’s a built-in wardrobe, which isn’t very large.

On the right side are the toilet and bathroom.

Staying at Hotel Vista Grande Osaka (Holiday Inn Osaka Namba), its toilet/bathroom gave me quite a few pleasant surprises. I originally thought its toilet/bathroom would be the same modular type found in most Japanese hotels. These are made from molded plastic, are very small in area, and entering them gives you a feeling similar to being in an airplane or ship’s toilet, so I always involuntarily feel a sense of swaying or even dizziness due to this psychological effect.

However, it turns out the hotel does not use this type of toilet/bathroom. Moreover, the design of the toilet/bathroom is quite good, and the area is relatively spacious.

The toilet/bathroom is separated from the bedroom by glass, but you can pull down a blind for privacy.

Now that we’ve covered the toilet and bathroom, it’s time to introduce the main part of the room – the bedroom.

We stayed in a double room. The room area is 20 square meters, which is much larger than the typical 15~16 square meters of business hotels. Furthermore, the bed width is 160cm, ensuring a comfortable sleep.

Because the room area is large, there is enough space to move around even when two suitcases are opened at the same time.

View from the window

Slippers provided by the hotel

Bathrobes are also provided, one-piece style, but they don’t look good when worn.

In-room TV

The room has free wired broadband internet and provides a LAN cable. If you have a travel router, you can convert the wired broadband to wireless Wi-Fi.

Mini refrigerator, similar to those in typical business hotels. It’s empty inside, so you can use it to store drinks or fruit you buy.

Teacups and electric kettle are placed here.

The hotel provides two free bottles of drinking water daily.

If you feel the air is dry, you can use this humidifier.

Finally, let’s introduce the in-room safe, which can be used to store valuables.

4. Holiday Inn Osaka Namba Stay Summary

Links to booking pages for Holiday Inn Osaka Namba on major websites:

Klook.com

Other Recommended Accommodations in Osaka

Besides Holiday Inn Osaka Namba, you can also check out the reviews and information for these other hotels I’ve stayed at in Osaka’s Shinsaibashi and Namba areas: