Originally Posted by abmj-jr

That late arrival is a problem for Kyoto. Your last chance train to Kyoto is the 10:16 pm Haruka, arriving at Kyoto Station at 11:32 pm. You MIGHT be able to make that train if the flight is on time and all the entry hassles go quickly. Even for experienced Japan hands, 46 minutes is a tight connection. I'd be leery of it and I am pretty familiar with KIX. There are a couple of buses that depart after that but they arrive at Kyoto Station well after midnight.

It looks like the closest main Osaka station to the St. Regis would be Namba. There are several Nankai Line trains bound for Namba that depart after 10:30 pm that would get you to Namba between 11:10 pm and 11:40 pm. You would need a cab for the rest of the trip to the hotel. That is assuming the St. Regis could not arrange some sort of pick-up for you, either at KIX or Nama Station.

Frankly, in that position, I'd be very tempted to just stay at the Hotel Nikko, inside the KIX airport, right across the pedestrian crossing from the Arrivals Hall. No hassles and no delay. Then, in the morning, I'd take the JR Haruka to Kyoto for a quick visit to some of the major sites before returning to KIX for departure. The train station is only a few steps outside the hotel's front door. Being an airport hotel, they might even have a process to hold your luggage a few hours for you after you check out. The Nikko is not the St. Regis but it is pretty nice and arriving that late you wouldn't really be using many of the amenities anyway.