My initial plan was to stay a few days in Osaka to allow some friends who've never been to Japan to see the sights. When they were not able to make it, I expanded my time in Osaka to five days spending the bulk of my vacation time in Osaka. I was looking forward to grabbing some karaage at Haneda Airport in the ANA lounge !I flew the local regional airline from Haneda to Itami Osaka Airport using Mileageplus points. There are two airports serving Osaka and Itami is the regional airport. After looking around Google maps, I felt it was easier to navigate through subway to Itami. It also helped that the St. Regis Osaka sits on top of a station stop!
Lodging
Due to the extension of my time in Osaka, I had opted to split my time at two hotels on this trip. Since I had multiple award certificates, I used all of them to stay at Marriot and Hilton properties. Since I only had one 1-night Marriott certificate, I redeemed it at the St. Regis Osaka before transitioning to the Conrad Osaka.
At the St. Regis, the assigned butler was super nice. The hotel had reached out before my arrival so I had shared that I was celebrating my birthday in Osaka. Upon arrival, the butler had given me an assortment of beauty products (mostly masks and what not) plus a birthday dessert. For an urban hotel, there was a quiet elegance in the air.
After my lovely one-night stay at the St. Regis Osaka, I moved to the Conrad Osaka. For the longest time, I have always rated the Conrad Tokyo as one of my favorite Conrad locations until I stayed in Osaka. Upon arrival, I was introduced to the general manager, Valentino Sebic. He was very present throughout the main areas of the hotel and even offered use of the hotel car, a Maserati SUV, to get around town. The hospitality and the kindness of the staff was unparalleled in my opinion.
As an example, I had taken the train to the local Costco and left my purse behind on the seat. I realized as soon as the doors closed and the train took off for the next stop. In my pursuit of finding my traveling purse, I was trying to communicate with the train agent. Fortunately, I still had my phone on me, and I thought maybe if I communicated through the Hilton app to contact the hotel, they could assist me navigate the lost and found process. Long story short, the concierge went above and beyond in reaching out to the train customer service and following up with me throughout the day via email and chat to make sure I was able to get to the regional office. Also, I am freaking amazed that my traveling purse was routed to the regional office for pick up and nothing was taken from the purse. It was a very panicked day but it ended beautifully.
I'm pretty sure the entire staff knew who I was at the end of the day as they were definitely pulling all the stops to help make my time in Osaka memorable. From the helpful tips navigating the city, car service to the local baseball stadium and even transport to the airport, I definitely enjoyed my time at the Conrad. Oh, and the bar lounge has fantastic drinks!
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| Conrad Osaka Junior Suite |
Activities
Universal Studios Japan - Donkey Kong Country had opened at Universal Osaka and I wanted to check out the ride. Unfortunately, I was not able to get on the latest ride as I was not willing to pay the lightening pass OR wait 3 hours. I made do with walking around the world and checking out Super Nintendo World before heading out. Since my time in Japan was limited, I did not opt to spend the day inside the theme park. To be honest, outside of Nintendo World the rest of Universal was not compelling enough and it was hot enough that I wanted to do other things instead. In retrospect, I would have spent less time at the World Expo if I really was thinking about it.
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| Universal Studios Japan Donkey Kong Ride |
World Expo Osaka - I had heard about the World Expos and it happened to be occurring at the same time as my trip to Osaka. I did buy a ticket to see what the expo was all about. I did find elements of the expo interesting but I don't know if I would ever try to go to another Expo. The 2030 expo is going to be in Riyadh.
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| World Expo Osaka Pavilion |
Osaka Castle - A large park with a historical castle. It is a very large and scenic park. I did find it peaceful and interesting to see the history of this castle.
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| Osaka Castle |
Hanshin Tigers - were playing in town and so I had purchased tickets to visit the oldest active ballpark in Japan,
Hanshin Koshien Stadium. I wanted to see the local fans and see how baseball is seen. The stadium has a gate for "tourists/foreigners" and I thought it was very nice. All the staff spoke english well and explained how the stadium was laid and what to expect. I was also given token souvenirs which was so cool. Overall, I found the whole environment engaging. If it wasn't super-hot and humid, I would have stayed for the whole game but I couldn't last beyond the 6th inning. The public transit to the stadium is super easy too. Even with the stadium emptying it was easy and quick to board.
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| Hanshin Koshien Stadium |
G-Lion Museum - Car culture is huge in Japan and I wanted to check out the local car museum. I was able to find this particular car museum and spent the afternoon looking at classic cars. I especially enjoyed seeing the predecessor of the Honda s2000.
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| G-Lion Museum Honda s600 |
Costco - I wanted to see the Japanese items in Japan Costcos and I wasn't disappointed. I did find it funny to see they had Skelly and I wonder how in the world does it fit in Japanese homes as they don't have any space!
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| Costco Osaka Sushi selection |
Shopping - Downtown Osaka is known for its shopping and eating. I wandered the streets a little looking for Osaka only items in the Shinsaibashi area. Osaka is well known for its cutlery, I bought one knife to bring home but I should have done more research to find more brands. In addition to cutlery, there is also a very strong secondary market on luxury goods like purses or shoes. I am not one for such things but I did find it interesting that there are so many stores dedicated to the reselling of luxury goods. It makes sense since I see so many Japanese tourists buying Stateside. I also visited the Dotonburi area to see more of the nightlife and have a Waygu beef dinner.
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| Dotonburi |
Dining
Every morning is a breakfast buffet. The St. Regis breakfast options were excellent and much more intimate feeling. I definitely enjoyed the French influence in the menu with the creme caramel as an option (unpictured). I am not a fan of runny eggs, but the omelette was done well. You do get the sense that not a lot of folks get breakfast which is a shame as the meal is very lovely. It also isn't advertised so I think the restaurant space is open to only those who opt to have breakfast included in their room rate or a loyalty member. I really enjoyed the croissants!
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| St. Regis Osaka |
The Conrad Osaka breakfast option for Diamonds is either the lounge or Atmos Restaurant. I generally find the hotel restaurants have a robust buffet menu option than the lounge. At the Conrad Osaka, there is a 'special Japanse sushi set' on Fridays in the lounge. So I always opt to eat at Atmos and migrate to the lounge if the restaurant gets too busy and I have already gotten the favorite dishes out of the way. I know the gluttony! The food was delicious and I'm glad I had stayed at the St. Regis first so that I could be further impressed by the Conrad. :)
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| Conrad Osaka Atmos Restaurant |
SEN lounge inside the
Doubletree Osaka Castle - The general manager at Conrad Osaka suggested that I check out the lounge/bar inside the Doubletree as they have direct views of the Osaka castle. After running around the park all day, we stopped into the lounge for an afternoon drink. Overall, I really enjoyed the ambiance and food. For the Hilton folks, you can earn Hilton points and discounts without staying at the hotel when dining.
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| Sen Lounge |
Yoshinoya - I've often heard that the Yoshinoya in Japan is far better than the ones in the US. So I wanted to see if that was true. I would say the menu is certainly different but I don't know if the quality is really that superior to the US.
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