Forget it. This place is dated and old. Need serious upgrade. They rent bathing suit to tourists, meanwhile wouldn't expect you to wear your own. I found wearing rental bathing suit just purely gross. Although customer service is mediocre, if you don't speak Japanese, the old ladies in the spa areas don't appreciate it and give you crap. It is not expensive, but many North American's spa are nicer and more worthwhile. Not Osaka's highlight. Again, dated and old.

My fiance and I visited Spa World recently during our trip to Japan as our hotel was quite nearby. We had a very good experience and would recommend it to everyone (particularly those who will be based in cities and may not have the opportunity to visit a traditional Japanese onsen).

You first purchase your entry tickets from machines just inside and to the right of the front doors. There is an English language option. You then give your ticket to the staff at the reception area who trade it in for a wristband. You then take your shoes off before proceeding into the facility and store them securely on the ground floor. From here you then head up to which ever floor you wish to visit - the spa floors are on levels 4 and 6 and these interchange between male and female floors each month.

When you arrive at your chosen floor you go through to the changing room, get naked and lock your clothes away before proceeding through to the spa area. Before going in, it is courteous to shower first. You then have free roam of the numerous baths. Some bathes (those that are particularly hot or cold) have sinks and cups next to them so that you can splash water over yourself to acclimatize to the temperature.

If you are visiting with others (of the opposite sex) there are clocks in the spa areas so that you can arrange a time to meet up again outside (or on another floor) and keep an eye on the time whilst in the spa.

Anything else that you want as part of the experience such as drinks, food, a massage or entry to the stone sauna (separate floor) can be added to your wristband which is then paid for at the end of the experience.

There are food options on floors 3, 4, 6 and 8 and if you decide to leave the spa areas for these for anything else, they provide you with some gowns/clothes for you to wear around the rest of the facility.

When you have finished in the spa, they have drying areas with hairdryers, combs, earbuds etc. You dry off, collect your clothes and redress and then head down to the ground floor to deposit and pay for your wristband (no extra charge if nothing else has been added). The machine that you pay on again has an English language option.

We found the whole experience really relaxing. The whole nakedness-thing is unusual for most Westerners to begin with but very quickly becomes normal. It's definitely something we would do again if we were in the area and recommend trying all of the bathes! We visited for 1.5-2 hours but could easily have spent 4+ hours here.