Hotel Review: Hotel Il Monte Osaka – Walking Distance to Osaka and Umeda Stations

If convenience is what you are after, there are few other properties in Osaka that are as central and wallet-friendly as the Hotel Il Monte located close to Umeda Station.

If you are intending to visit Kyoto as well or flying in/out from Kansai International Airport, the Hotel Il Monte makes for an excellent base in Osaka since the Osaka Station is also located here. You can make the trip without having to change trains.

During the Osaka leg of my trip to the Kansai region, I stayed at the Hotel Il Monte. Exhausted from a long overnight flight from Singapore, I checked in at around 10am and was relieved to find the property accommodating my check-in request.

Hotel Il Monte is a listed property under Hotels.com where it may have a special deal from time to time. The thing about smaller hotels in Osaka is that many of them don’t have their own websites and as such, the only practical way to book them is via an OTA such as Hotels.com.

The interface of Hotels.com for booking of accommodations is pretty straightforward. You get different prices corresponding to the room of your choice, for cancellable and non-cancellable rates and with/without breakfast. What I love about the layout here is how users can easily invoke a pop-up to show room details such as size, amenities and bed configuration.

For those booking online, make sure to sign up as a member at Hotels.com first. This will allow you to earn rewards with every booking. Once you earn enough points, you can use it to offset the cost of your succeeding bookings.

For the case of Hotel Il Monte, breakfast is purchased directly at the hotel itself. Upon payment, the front desk staff will issue vouchers which guests can redeem at the restaurant near the lobby.

My room for this particular stay was the Twin Room. Measuring 21 square meters, it was quite decent for a no-frills property. The room was clean but basic. WiFi is very fast, provided free of charge and there isn’t even a need to log in.

The room consisted of two twin beds, a sofa, a proper work desk as well as a refrigerator and kettle. A sign by the door allows guests to choose between three different housekeeping option. The first is the full service which entails a thorough cleaning of the room. There is also a middle option which only entails the cleaning of the washroom as well as the replenishment of towels. The last in the selection is, of course, the “no disturb” option.

The bathroom is typical of Japanese no-frills hotels. What I always love about Japanese hotels is that complete amenities are always given where in other countries, you’ll have to request for it. This includes a shaving kit, dental set, bath amenities and even cotton buds.

There is also a distinct effort to include a tub even though here, like in many other smaller Japanese hotels, it exists in the form of a “shub” or a combined shower/tub.

As mentioned previously, I availed of the hotel breakfast which lasts from 6AM to 9:30AM. The spread was quite nice with plenty of hot dishes such as stir-fried fish, hamburger patties, teriyaki chicken and even pork tonkatsu. It would have been filling enough for lunch. Overall, the breakfast is certainly more lavish than what the hotel’s price point suggests.

Verdict

Overall, the Hotel Il Monte is adequate as a no-nonsense hotel in Osaka. If you foresee yourself traveling around town the entire day (such as what I did) and need a clean and convenient place that works for sleeping, this is a great choice. The property’s location was central enough such that it allowed me to head back everyday after a morning of sightseeing for a short siesta. After my nap, I headed out again for the afternoon to continue my tour of the city.

Hotel Il Monte
7-13 Doyama-cho
Kita-ku, Osaka
Osaka-fu, 530-0027
Japan

Reservations: HERE

My trip to Osaka and Kyoto was a collaboration with Hotels.com. All opinions are my own.