On the northern bank of the Dojimagawa, 1 km south of Osaka Station, this solid house is in a central location. The 24-story structure could be mistaken for just another office tower in this business district were it not for the large motor entrance that runs for a city block and is perennially clogged with taxis disgorging guests and their luggage. The area's many businesses account for the hotel's mainly business clientele.
The lobby, overflowing with brochure racks, bulletin boards and shops, is forested with eight wooden pillars the size of redwood trees, four of them bounding a marble pond sprouting metal mushroom fountains. The mix of materials seems indecisive, leaving one wondering about the intent of the interior decorator.
The only
restaurant on the ground floor is the split-level Cafe in the Park (actually the Cafe in the Lobby, but it does look out on some foliage). An escalator rises to the fancy Rose Room French restaurant and to the Library Bar, a windowless refuge. Chinese and Japanese restaurants occupy the sixth floor, the latter serving kaiseki, tempura and sushi. Guests seeking teppanyaki will find the room devoted to tabletop grilled meats hidden in the basement, where there's also a small shopping arcade. Room service is available from 6:30 am to 1 am. Tipplers head for the enchanting lobby lounge, where each crescent booth curves up against a pool of swirling water, a stained-glass "umbrella" overhead.
A beer garden opens up seasonally on the fifth-floor terrace. Also on this level are a two-lane indoor pool and sauna. A small business center supports meeting 
space for 800 buffet-style in the largest banquet room. If guests are so inclined, there are self-service laundry facilities, rare in a hotel of this caliber.
Old-fashioned keys open low doors with chimes that afford access to standardized guest rooms. Standard rooms, though dated with bland, Danish-modern appointments, are perhaps preferable to the Premier room plaid quilts and dark wood furnishings. Dimensions are on the small side, with room enough only for functional desks and, in superior rooms, two armchairs and a small breakfast table by the windows. TVs, minibars, trouser presses, and plump duvets on single or double beds come standard. Sofa beds expand sleeping space in some units. Sinks are located separate from midsize combination baths complete with bidet toilets. Business travelers should opt for specially designed rooms offering free high-speed Internet access 
and flat-panel TVs. There are 120 rooms for nonsmokers and one for the handicapped.
Views are lackluster, as the Dojimagawa has all the charm of the Los Angeles River, an urban catch basin with an elevated expressway running beside it. Yet remarkably you'll pay more for this view, as most singles and the least expensive rooms face the opposite direction toward Osaka Station.
This reliable house offers steady—and rather predictable—appeal to both Japanese and Western tastes, but there are more interesting picks than this one, especially the Imperial Hotel Osaka for its location on the cherry tree-lined Okawa River.