Where to stay in Osaka: the best neighbourhoods and hotels

If you have seen one picture of Osaka, it was taken here. Dotonbori is a canal lined with giant mechanical crabs, pufferfish lanterns and the running Glico man, and the streets either side are a non-stop feed of street food stalls, standing bars and restaurants. Just south, Namba is a tangle of covered arcades, department stores and comedy theatres.

It is the obvious first-trip base, and a practical one: the Nankai line runs straight from Namba to Kansai airport. One five-star sits directly above the station; a 33-storey newcomer towers over the entertainment district; and plenty of four-stars are a short walk from the canal. Expect crowds and late noise at street level. That is rather the point.

North of the canal, Shinsaibashi is Osaka's shopping spine: a long covered arcade on one side and the ginkgo-lined boulevard of Midosuji, with its designer flagships, on the other. Tucked behind is Amerikamura, the city's youth-culture quarter, all vintage shops, street art and bars the size of a wardrobe.

Hotels here put you a three- to eight-minute walk from Dotonbori without sleeping on top of it. Keep going north to Honmachi and the mood turns smarter and calmer: a butler-service five-star on Midosuji, lifestyle hotels with all-day cafes, and good-value rooms a couple of subway stops from both Namba and Umeda.

Umeda is Osaka in a suit. The district is built around JR Osaka Station, a small city of platforms, malls and food halls, with the Grand Front Osaka complex on one side and the Umeda Sky Building, with its open-air observatory between two towers, a short walk away.

This is where the city keeps most of its top-end hotels: high floors, indoor pools, serious restaurants and skyline views. One hotel is connected to the station itself, another is two minutes' walk away, and the newest luxury names have opened in the redeveloped Umekita quarter. JR trains run from here to Kyoto, Kobe and Nara, so it works well for day trips too.

Osaka Castle sits in a huge park of moats, stone ramparts and plum and cherry trees, the white-and-gold keep rising above the lot. A short way west, the river splits around Nakanoshima, a slim island of museums, rose gardens and handsome old public buildings.

Both make calm, green bases between the two halves of the city. One hotel stands directly in front of the castle, with keep views from its rooms; another is a ten-minute walk from the gates with an indoor pool. On Nakanoshima, a sky-high five-star occupies the top of a tower, and a quieter four-star sits among the island's parks and riverside paths.

South of Namba, Shinsekai is Osaka at its most gloriously scruffy: a retro entertainment district of lantern-hung kushikatsu joints and pinball parlours under Tsutenkaku Tower. Next door, Tennoji has the zoo, the ancient Shitennoji Temple and Abeno Harukas, a skyscraper with an observation deck that looks over the whole plain.

It suits travellers who like a bit of grit with their sightseeing, and those watching the budget. The grandest stay is high up in the skyscraper itself, close to Tsutenkaku and Nipponbashi; elsewhere you'll find a big upscale hotel with a pool and spa, and simple, good-value rooms in Shinsekai's backstreets.

Universal Studios Japan sits on the waterfront west of the centre, and a row of official hotels has grown up at its gates. If the park is the reason you are in Osaka, stay here: you can be at the turnstiles before the day-trippers have changed trains, and back for a rest when small legs give out.

One hotel is a minute's walk from the park; another, by Universal City Station, has a natural hot spring on its 31st floor for aching feet. Across the water, the bay area has the Kaiyukan aquarium, the Tempozan Ferris wheel and tower hotels with big views. For Dotonbori dinners, allow for a train ride back into town.

Shin-Osaka is where the bullet trains stop, a few minutes north of Umeda by subway. There is little to see, and nobody pretends otherwise. What you get is speed: Kyoto and Kobe are within 15 minutes by Shinkansen, and Hiroshima and Tokyo are a single ride away.

Hotels are modern, business-minded and usually cheaper than their city-centre equivalents, and some have suites with kitchens and washing machines, handy for families on a longer trip. Stay if Osaka is your hub for a rail holiday. If you came for the neon, stay in Namba and take the subway up.

Kansai International sits on its own island in Osaka Bay, a fair ride south of the city, so an airport night can make sense around a very early flight or a late landing. Izumisano, on the mainland side of the bridge, is also home to Rinku Premium Outlets, for anyone with spare yen and luggage space.

Hotels here are about convenience, not character: large, efficient places with free parking or airport links, plus a resort-style spa hotel. One night is plenty.