Osaka Hotel Reviews
Took JTB Sunrise one day tour to Kyoto. You have to get into the hotel nearest Osaka Station, which is the Granvia. Probably easier to take the airport limousine bus to Shin-Osaka station (only about 440 yen.)
We stayed at this hotel on completion of a cruise that ended in Osaka. The cruise line provided transfers only to Kansia International Airport (KIX) and not to Itami (ITM) so we took a cab. It costs approximately US$70 (7,000 yen) and took about 35 minutes from the pier. You can also get there by train, but we had too much luggage to use that option. The airport opens at 6am and we were told to be there at that time in order to check-in for our 8 am flight. In practice there were only short lines and we could have waited at least until 6.30 am.
Visited Osaka Castle, the Osaka Aquarium (fantastic), Kyoto (about 25 minutes by train), went to Gion district and saw a Geisha show, tea ceremony, there are over 1,500 temples to see in Kyoto. The cherry blossoms in April are something you should not miss. Nara is a remarkable city, bring food to feed the deer that walk around free. Plenty of museums, shopping. Wear your walking shoes as you do plenty of walking. In Kyoto, get an all day bus pass so you can get on and off the bus at different locations for one price. Trains and subways are pretty easy to learn. Food is great almost everywhere. Don''t miss the shopping underneath the Hanshin Dept store. The pastries made each day are beautiful. Fun to see all the different food.
Ate at the Kintetsu food floor. Similar to other department store food floors. Seattle''s Best Coffee located adjacent to hotel. Took the subway one stop from Ue-Hommachi stop (hotel) to Nipponbashi (Den-Den Town electronics area). The large Kuromon food market is also in the area.
Reaching the destination from Kyoto with the Japan Rail West pass was a little adventure! But being there we discovered that the city bus to Itami gave good connection with JR, so our wives could fly from Itami, while we (the boys) needed just two hours to catch our plain at Kansai, seeing each other again after safe flying in Amsterdam!
Osaka''s sights are well-documented but one attraction relatively close to the airport is worth noting (especially if you have a lazy day to spend watching planes). Skyland Harada is a park where you get great views of planes landing at Itami Airport, great place to people-watch or enjoy a practice game of softball.
Best way to get to the centre of Osaka is by the airport express bus from the airport.
Osaka is a lively city - but it''s edginess might wear you down a bit after a while. At night, wander around the overhead bridges or train stations and listen to passionate Japanese musicians performing ''live''. From Osaka, take day trips to beautiful Kobe (try Kobe beef - it ain''t that expensive if you scout around - about $10,000 Yen for truly scrumptious teppanyaki steak meal at "SteakLand"). Or venture out to Kyoto, just 30 minutes away - in Spring and Summer, you can easily spot geishas and maikos trotting about the lovely streets of Gion.
Some travel directions is needed for this hotel. I was tired, this being my last night for the 3 week vacation I had (solo). I jumped into a cab and he was unable to find it, so asked another driver then went into a Police Station for advice. If you at the Osaka JR station walk north or south (unsure) when you come out, go left pass the tourist info centre and a Burberry Shop, you see an overbridge for the pedestrian walk - walk on it (there are escalators and staircase), once on top go left. You would walk straight and walk past the other rail station (not JR) and maybe some homeless selling wares on the pavement, you would also walk past KFC fast food restaurant.<br> <br> A half minute or less walk, you come to a corner at the traffic lights. Across the road there is a mall and in front of that, an adult shop with color posters on its walls etc .. walk towards that, then turn left and walk straight keeping an eye on the left side which is an enclosed mall with restaurants, pachinko parlors, etc etc. The hotel is in there if unable to get map. Get the map from info tourist centre and there is a KFC centre south east of the JR station, then follow the instructions above - makes following my directions a lot easier. Hope this helps. Reason I wrote so much is the info here on this site was insufficient and hence I went to those troubles with the cab driver et al..
Tennoji is an older part of Osaka. There isn''t a whole lot to do in the immediate vicinity (although Tennoji park is supposed to be quite nice). However, it is a very easy train ride to Nara or Kyoto from the Kintetsu station directly under the hotel. Great site seeing at both (I prefer Nara, but Kyoto is the more popular choice). And only two subway stops away (at Shinsaibashi) are the bright lights and youth culture of Osaka. Again, the subway is located just below the hotel. Get directions from the staff. The Miyako staff can also make excellent recommendations for food. You have to eat okonomiyaki when in Osaka. There is an up-scale okonomiyaki restaurnant underneath the hotel in restaurant row that is excellent. Also some good "dives" in the nearby neighborhood. If you are a bit more adventurous, get takoyaki, another famous Osaka dish. Access to the airport was easy via "limousine", which is really just a charter bus. The stop is directly outside the hoel.
Osaka is a nice city, very quick to go to Kyoto by using SHINKANSEN express trains.
I mostly used a taxi to get around as I was on business, but both the train lines and subway lines are within a 7 minute walk of the hotel. There are several restaurants in the area and if you walk across the street, you can visit a big shopping mall that has stores such as GAP, Disney, Starbucks, etc. There is an English friendly bar called ''Bar Isn''t it'' within 3 minutes walk of the hotel. And walking through this district at night (9:00 PM - 3:00 AM) is very entertaining. You will be approached by several girls and guys solicitating you to come into their club (if you are a male).
I did not enjoy Osaka very much. We went to the main tourist attractions and I was sorely disappointed with the art museum beside the aquarium. It was basically only an exhibit of one artist, which I found fairly boring. Since my daughter had spent the last year teaching english in Japan, she felt fairly comfortable taking the various trains which completely confused me. The were not exactly tourist-friendly.<BR> <BR> We went to Kyoto and saw some beautiful temples and gardens, but I was underwhelmed by Kyoto. The train ride to Kyoto from Osaka was not a pleasing view of the local terrain. We did not take guided tours because my daughter felt we could explore on our own. I think we wasted too much time trying to find places by doing it on our own as we only had four days in Japan.<BR> <BR> I do not have any memorable meals to relate, but I do recommend going to the department store next to the hotel and peruse the variety of tasty snacks and quick meals offered. It was also interesting to see how very expensive fruit is--a small melon was enshrined in a very fancy box and offered up at an outrageous price. I am from Toronto, Canada and simply cannot relate to these prices. Anyway, it was fun to look at how the Japanese package and present food so beautifully.<BR> <BR> P.S. - I did not have one bad cup of coffee at the hotel or elsewhere while in Japan. Careful, check the price of a cup of coffee before you order because it could be eight dollars! I paid that in a cafe in Kyoto.
Stekiya, the steak restaurant in Dotonbori, gets you the best teppanyaki steak in Japan.
I did a myriad of things while in Osaka and staying at Hotel Kinki. It''s located right in what seems the heart of Osaka, so everywhere you look, something fun abounds especially small restaurants (DO check these places out, they may be small and family owned, but by god, the food is incredible!). I''m one for electronics, games and gadgets, so Yodobashi Umeda should be a stop that anyone with similar interests should make. A HUGE shopping mall of technology and gadgetry, much much fun! Also, not too far from Hotel Kinki is the Umeda Sky Building, I would have to say there isn''t much in the world more romantic than blue fog, slow music and the complete view of Osaka at night lit up by buildings and the moon seen from the top of that building. If you take a significant other to Japan, you owe it to yourself to witness this marvel.<BR> <BR> Also, Kyoto isn''t too far by train, So I would HIGHLY recommend a trip to Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto. Very beautiful! I would force anyone I take to Japan to visit there. Lastly I would have to say Himeji Castle is a great place to visit if you want to see someting truly impressive. Kind of far compared to the other places I went to, but very worth the trip. Truly remarkable!
The better access to this hotel is subway higashi umeda. From this location you can easily visit nara with kintetsu line, kyoto and kobe with hankyu line. Very peaceful place in Kansai.
When in Osaka visit the aquarium and Floating Garden Observatory. For night amusement I recomend Club Quattro. Also, for dining check out Italian restaurant Pomadro. It''s below the hotel, very cheap prices, and lots of food. Try the eggplant spaghetti. Oh, and before you leave get a massage.
The first thing you''ll notice about Osaka is how helpful the local people are. We had only just arrived at the train station and two strangers asked if we required help. This happened several times throughout our stay in Osaka. We only stayed a couple of nights, but I can recommend visiting Osaka Castle. I think it''s the most visited place by tourists in Japan. It''s a cheap day out explaining some of Japan''s history. Well worth a visit.
If you enjoy Japan and know what to expect there generally, Osaka is a nice place. Fun to walk around the gigantic shopping arcades of Shinsaibashi and take in the frentic commercial overkill that epitomizes modern Japan. The proximity to Kyoto is great too.