Top 4 Luxury Hotels in Osaka

The service is excellent. The breakfast is delicious. The scenery is extremely beautiful. It should be the best-decorated hotel in Osaka. The service attitude is enthusiastic. It is just too troublesome for minors to check in alone.

Concierge: We emailed the hotel weeks in advance of our stay to assist with bookings. Weeks would pass before they would respond, and multiple follow up emails were required to get a response. They did successfully book one 3 Michelin star restaurant to which we owe them significant credit. However, when we arrived and asked basic requests such as where to find restaurants or stores, the concierge was usually very short and had no suggestions. We were better off consulting Google maps. And this for a 5 star concierge service? In addition, the English skills of many of the concierge staff were extremely limited. While I know some Japanese, it should not be required at a hotel of this calibre. In fact, when visiting Japan, a 5 star hotel should have fluent English speakers for most front facing staff. Hotel Condition: The hotel has significant and noticeable wear and tear. We were in a Grand Deluxe Suite and when I arrived, a man was literally gluing on a piece of the door that had torn off. The woodwork throughout the suite was heavily scratched and dented including tables. The carpet was worn thin, and the sofa's velvet exterior was worn. In any event, for a hotel suite whose copay was $500+ per night, this was disappointing. Check out Process: The check out process was extremely troubling and disappointing. We asked for a Butler to assist with bags multiple times, and even after 45 minutes they did not come up to our room to collect our bags. This resulted in us having to drag our bags down to the lobby ourselves, as we were rushing for a Shinkansen train. Normally, this would have been fine, but we had a lot of luggage. The significantly wait time for luggage assistance is not characteristic of a St. Regis. Hidden Taxes and No Final Folio Provided: The hotel has some hidden taxes associated with rooms that have copays for upgrades. While we expected to pay 50,000 yen per night + about 37,000 yen in total taxes (about 5600 yen per night in tax), we did not expect too many additional taxes. Yet there was another 6500 or so taxes per night in taxes we were assessed. Even after numerous attempts, the hotel never sent a final folio nor explained the charges which is all I asked. General Impressions: The hotel seems poorly managed with a ”choatic” vibe in which there is not only no personalized guests are vying for the attention for concierge staff who are stretched too thin with minimal English skills. While I understand this is a busy time for the hotel, the hotel should not be having any difficulty meeting basic demands of elite members even when they are at capacity. The hotel felt more like a 3-4 star hotel than a St. Regis. Among St. Regis hotels, this one was a major disappointment.

Although I was not staying at the W, the MIXup cafe is a fun spot in the middle of Osaka to have a tea or coffee and their amazing dessert(s). I was looking to try their seasonal dessert, the strawberry mille feuille, although it was already sold out when I arrived. This gives me another reason to return soon! The staff was so friendly and helpful. Upon arrival, I was swiftly shown to my table that I reserved ahead of time (thanks, Marriott Bonvoy), and was walked through the menu and how their orders work. Many teas to choose from, and the cake I chose was plated so beautifully. The chantilly cream with the berries - out of this world! The entire experience was smooth, and I was delighted with the level of service provided. In a way, this is ”normal” and expected for Japan, but I want to highlight that I really enjoyed this visit and look forward to going back.

Stayed 2 nights at the Ritz Carlton earlier in the week during my first business trip to Japan after Covid. Must confess that was really impressed. Excellent service, great staff and in general hotel very well equipped. Room was spacious, clean, with a great bed allowing for very good night sleep, very good performing wifi, great bathroom very well equipped including a very nice set of salt for the bath. Definitely hotel gives a lot of attention to detail and you can see it during your stay. There was an air purifier in my room, which was a bit noisy, so I had to unplug it during the night. This didn't bother me at all, but maybe something to check by the hotel management. All in all, perfect stay. Will definitely return on my next trip to Osaka.