jpdx

I can't imagine any scenario which would cause me to advise a family of four to transfer between the Hyatts in Kyoto and Osaka for a single night. I've done my fair share of Osaka/Kyoto hotel hopping, but generally from/to more conveniently located hotels, and traveling solo and with light luggage. For three nights, I'd strongly advise to stay put in one location -- the transfer to Hyatt Osaka will take a couple of hours at a minimum, eat up part of a day and cause a fair bit of aggravation to your wife and kids -- and you'll end up in a poorly located, run-down hotel. It is MUCH more convenient to stay put in Kyoto -- even if you decide to spend a day in Osaka (not a must on a three-day itinerary), you can get to central Osaka from Kyoto in almost the same amount of time as it would take from Hyatt Osaka.

cruisingmickey

I agree with Jpdx. I did the hopping from HR Kyoto to HR Osaka and it was a big pain in the neck. If I were you, I'd choose one and stay put for the 3 nights, especially with luggage + wife + kids. You will waste a lot of time traveling between the two and you will lose a day where you can spend sight seeing instead. I did 4 nights at HR Kyoto and 2 at HR Osaka. I wish I stayed in one place and just took the train between the two. I did not like the location for HR Osaka. I felt I wasted a lot of time waiting for the shuttle/traveling to get to/from the hotel. If you plan to visit Universal Japan, this hotel will be good since they offer a shuttle. I visited Universal so that's why we had to switch hotels so we would be closer. HR Kyoto is nicer, but you will need to take a bus to/from Kyoto Station if you want the JR trains. Otherwise, it is too far to walk. There is a closer train station, but it's not JR and you won't be able to use your JR Pass. So both properties have their pros and cons.

Also, since you are there for 3 nights, I'm not sure I'd advise a day trip to Nara. Just my personal opinion, there was/is so much to see and do in Kyoto. I was there for 4 nights and wish I had more time. I think 1.5 days or max 2 days in Osaka will suffice. You definitely need more time in Kyoto though.

Hope this helps!

armagebedar

To be honest, if you have luggage I would just as soon take the bus from ITM. Most of the airport buses arrive at either the Maru Building or Herbis Osaka; the Hilton is right across the street from the Maru Building stop. (If you arrive at the Herbis Osaka building, take the elevator to B2 and proceed through the underground passage.) From the Hilton you can take the underground passage from the Hilton (exit C-18), walk towards the Sakurabashi exit of JR Osaka station, exit via exits 5-2 or C-1, and the shuttle buses will be on the east side of the underpass in front of the "Eki Marche". The Hyatt shuttle bus departs from around the middle stop, but if you ask one of the guards standing around they should be able to direct you to the right location.

Here's a map of the underground passages in the vicinity.

Another option is to take the Osaka Monorail to Senri-Chuo, change to the Midosuji Line, ride until Honmachi station, then change to the Chuo Line for Cosmo Square station. From there you can take a taxi. However, this is more expensive, slower, and requires too many transfers for my liking.

OsakaWino

I can think of 2 reasons for splitting HR Kyoto and HR Osaka: need for a stay credit and cost (assuming you get a P+C rate at Osaka. Transfer between the 2 takes at least 90 minutes, but not more than 2 hours unless you get a bit lost.

Getting to KIX by train from Kyoto is much more comfortable and easily planned than getting there by the less frequent bus from HR Osaka.

At HR Kyoto if you are comfortable with 2 full size beds, you might consider a Balcony Twin (with the massive wooden tub) or Deluxe Corner Twin (laid out like a suite, but the 2 beds are very close together). When we get one of these rooms we only use one of the beds and find them almost comparable to our queen bed at home. If you want to do that, you'll have to contact the hotel, since they are not bookable for 2 adults/2 children online, but I'm almost positive they would accommodate you. Two standard rooms will give you 2 bathrooms, which can be very timesaving, but there are no connecting rooms.

If you go to HR Osaka, I would not recommend trying to put 2 adults/2 children in a Deluxe room. The Twin beds are really twins; in the Club Deluxe the twin beds are about semi-double size, a bit snug for 2 adults. The suite is plenty spacious for 2 rollaway beds.

If you're interested in Nara, absolutely do not let anyone discourage you from going. Certainly there is "enough to see" in Kyoto, but Nara is also very special, and very different, and also a lot less crowded.

sam_goh

Thank you all for the well-balanced viewpoints. Primarily I was thinking about doing the 2 Kyoto 1 Osaka for the unique stay as well as thinking that Osaka was closer to KIX for transfer. Given that there doesn't appear to be much close to the hotel and OsakaWino's comment about the shuttle bus, I'm wavering on just going for the unique stay credit.

Having caught up on both hotel threads it appears that the Kyoto property seems to be more heavily favored. The difference in price though is substantial even with the family plan. Guess I will do more research but appreciate all the input.

@OsakaWino - My children really like animals, so the deer feeding at Nara was a must plan trip. They also hate their father who loves to stop to read every sign and therefore dread museums or galleries, so it's all the art of compromise

RTW1

It all depends on the timing of your flight.... if your flight is in the (early) morning I would prefer just having breakfast and then taking the bus to the airport, you would hardly need to carry your luggage that way. But if the timing for the bus doesn't work or if your flight is for later in the day I would very much prefer to stay in Kyoto for another night.

OsakaWino

Check the airport bus schedule from HR Osaka and if the timing is right, then I'm sure it would be fine, but with the availability of direct trains running from JR Kyoto Station to KIX, I don't think that HR Osaka being geographically closer to KIX should be a major factor in choosing to stay at HR Osaka.

However, as you mention, there is a significant difference in cost between 2 rooms at HR Kyoto and a suite at HR Osaka on a P+C rate with a DSU (assuming you have a DSU that you're willing to use for one night), especially since the evening cocktail hour could easily be a meal (the lobby lounge is very kid friendly).

The HR Osaka is not as run-down as we sometimes make it seem. It is mostly the softgoods that are worn - curtains, carpets, and fabric upholstery. The bathrooms are very nice, the public areas are even mostly quite luxurious. Many rooms have a really nice view. There is lots of room for the kids to roam around.

The problem with the HR Osaka's location is that it does not have easy access to anyplace else, and for most people there is not enough in the immediate area to occupy a full day.

However, there are some things to do. There is a pool with a whirlpool, and a bath. It is not a natural onsen, but essentially it is the same as an onsen at a modern hotel, not that dissimilar from that at HR Hakone. Adjacent to the hotel the prefectural building (formerly the WTC) is one of the tallest buildings in Japan and the observation deck has a nice view. A walk along the waterfront is quite pleasant. On the weekends the adjacent convention center often has trade fairs focusing on such things as manga and anime. On the weekend the shopping center across the street is crowded with families and a great place to get feel for what life in Japan is really like, as opposed to Kyoto, where half of all the people you see are foreign tourists (at Kinkakuji it is more like 90%).

I'm not trying to persuade you to split your time between HR Kyoto and HR Osaka, just trying to give you a better picture so you can decide what meets your needs.

The_Wrath_of_Khan

Are there any decent public transportation options from ITM? I see the talk upthread, but in searching all I see is that it will take 2 train transfers and over an hour to get there from the airport.

OsakaWino

Obviously some prefer the monorail changing to Hankyu or Midosuji, but I would take the airport bus to Umeda and the hotel shuttle from JR Osaka.

Definitely takes longer than 1 hour no matter how you do it. I try to avoid ITM, but I have spent almost 1 hour on the bus from ITM to Namba in the evening, the Hyatt shuttle takes about 30 minutes and only runs at 30-min intervals, so if you just miss it there is a 30-min wait. Add it all up and it could take as long as 2 hr to get from ITM to HR Osaka.

serfty

Today I undertook the monorail/train/bus. I'll post more later (with photos).

All is well signposted with english subtext.

It took 5 minutes from disembarkation off JAL domestic to the monorail.

The monorail took about 4 minutes - get off first stop.

From the monorail to the Hankyu line is about 5 minutes, then between 14 and 20 minutes to Umeda (some trains are express).

JR Osaka is well signed from from Umeda but once there you need to avoid the station entrances and keep going. Ignore the North entrance (down to the left) and continue along the elevated concourse. Go through until you reach the central entrance and then go down. Move along until you get near the other side (don't do any turnstiles). When you come out the other side turn right to the south exit.

The bus stop is as indicated upthread.

No time for more, I'll flesh it out later.

One final thing - if you are used to JR at Tokyo / Shinjuku, JR Osaka is a smaller version but with the same perils.

365RoadWarrior

Thank you for what you've already posted. I look forward to more. I'm visiting April 5th.

OsakaWino

It still seems to me that the bus would be easier, and most likely faster, especially with any type of luggage, even just a rollaboard, but admittedly not by much.

sam_goh

Thank you all for the input. Seems that my plans may be changing slightly, a flight a day earlier to KIX -> MLE opened up so I might do that pending my wife's approval of change fees. In that case we will just do 2 days in Kyoto and avoid any moving around. One more day in Kyoto or in Maldives, I think I know what I would pick

serfty

For me a rollaboard was fine - then again I am experienced.

Agree that much more than that and a 'Limousine' bus would be the go. However, I was concerned about traffic and did it easily.

As for timing, I was lucky, off JL flight 15:35, on Monorail 7 minutes later (it was there when I reached the platform with the doors about to close) and had 1 minute wait for an express at 15:51. I was off the train 16:05 and it took me 12 minutes to get to the bus stop at a brisk pace where I had ¼ hour or so to scope the area.

Total cost was ¥420 ...

The_Wrath_of_Khan

Here's a really short review, the hotel is great. While the rooms were slightly dated, they were not as bad as some have said. The suites in particular are great and huge, especially for Japan. Each morning at breakfast I was greeted by name and often had my preferred breakfast drinks served without asking. The breakfast is great as is the evening canapés; especially when compared with the HR Fukuoka or Tokyo. HR Kyoto and Hakone are different subjects altogether.

I'd gladly stay here again with the caveat that this property was really in the middle of nowhere. It is a huge pain to get almost anywhere, but the bus system works for everything but late night drinking.