jpdx

serfty

I believe the category 2 reward rating has a direct correlation to it's location; so I feel that's the price paid to add 30+ minutes each way with the shuttle bus.


A couple of years ago I was booked on the 6:30pm shuttle from the hotel. At 6:20pm I left my room but every lift down was packed - I was unable to get in. It turned out there was a wedding at 6:30pm with many guests staying at the hotel. (Typical Japanese punctuality.) I ended up taking a lift up then down, only to arrive one minute late and the shuttle departed! (Typical Japanese punctuality.)


The concierge was extremely apologetic and noting my status, the concierge offered to pay the fare for me to go into town by taxi.

murphyUA

So you guys have convinced me to indeed split the 4 night stay at HR Osaka to 2 nights there, and 2 nights in proper Osaka. Give it a few more days and I'll probably axe the HR altogether

365RoadWarrior

So what is the story on the Lounge? Now open, according to the website.

Regency Club guests are able to enjoy the breakfast, tea and evening cocktail service at the Regency Club Lounge.

The Lounge section of the website also indicates...

Staying with us, guests can experience local Osaka menu items such as mixed juice, oshizushi (squeezed sushi) as well as other global food fair menus at each restaurant, providing various countries’ unique recipes. We will offer you exclusive dining experiences connecting Osaka and the world.


I'm not sure what "experience...global food fair menus at each restaurant..." would refer to in the context of the Lounge. Previous stays, I did find the restaurant breakfast fine for my needs and preferences. Feeling less certain about the new set-up. Not many nearby breakfast alternatives. Any intel appreciated.

365RoadWarrior

To answer my own inquiry, the Regency Club is open on the 28th (top) floor. No restrictions on elevator access, but one or two people at the "front door" checking names and room numbers. Breakfast was a step.down from the old restaurant setting in terms of offerings for strict vegetarians (sorry, that's the only perspective I can claim. I don't, however, believe that the world needs to cater to people on diets of their own choice. So no demerits here.) There was a cook preparing, I think, egg dishes. There were lots of sweet rolls, smoked salmon, salads, yogurts, a little bit of fruit, a dumpling (pork?), machine-produced coffee drinks, though decaf only on special request. Evening foods, three hot dishes, sushi, a couple of dim sum items, salads, crudites, hummus, several breads, cheeses and three desserts (pancakes with whipped cream (?), torte-like thing, cheesecake (?)). Aside from the breakfast fruits, evening crudites and breads, all fine, I can't comment on quality. Staff was effective in clearing tables and such; did not notice any guest interactions.

skywalkerLAX

This is the worst Hyatt property in all of Japan. Not even talking about the horrible location or the rocked down building but the staff couldn't pi** a hole in the snow. Terrible!

Go with the Hilton or St Regis or IC in Osaka and you won't regret it!

OsakaWino

The physical space of the new lounge is by far the nicest of any Hyatt in Japan and probably among the nicest in the world. The only one I've seen to rival it is GH Hong Kong.

Aventine

I would nominate Hyatt Regency Fukuoka for this spot.

HR Osaka's lobby lounge did a wonderful green tea afternoon tea buffet last month. Really enjoyed it.

The Club lounge here is spacious with more than decent offerings. They did a very nice job designing it.

hailstorm

I've only seen pictures, but they certainty didn't strike me as FAR nicer than GHT, or the HRs in Okinawa.

craigthemif

LOL. If somebody else is paying...

I happen to quite appreciate the existence of "pretty good" hotels at a rate that is a 1/3 of the other brands you mention. I enjoyed my sushi and dim sum happy hours last time, and look forward to doing it again from the 28th floor.

jpdx

You are so skilled at these sweeping, absolute statements. How often have you stayed here? Have you stayed here since the new lounge opened? Have you stayed at the other contenders for "worst in Japan" title?

Of course the IC and SR are nicer and much better located, but these days you'll probably be looking at 2-3x higher rates. I spend 20-30 nights in Osaka annually, and used to have great BRGs at SR (as low as 14-18k yen), and the IC was a great deal on points at 35-40k (and weekends on BOGO if you'd manage to catch a 22k yen rate on Friday and then get Saturday night for free). These days, even if you know and are willing to abuse the best corporate rates, you'll be hard pressed to get IC/SR anywhere near the rates of Hyatt.

About the new lounge, in the past few weeks, I had a short one-night (Sat-Sun) stay, plus a 5-night weekday stay. It's a great space, which I'd certainly classify as a very unexpected pleasant surprise (given the general downtrodden shape of the hotel), but perhaps not world-class. The breakfast offering is very good for a lounge -- a station with cooked-to-order eggs, noodle soup, pancakes, waffles, plus there's the usual limited selection of hot and cold items. It's definitely a step down from the full restaurant breakfast we used to get here, though. Notably, there's limited variation -- the same two kinds of fruit every day, the same pastries, etc. It also took forever to get omelets etc made -- I initially (Sunday am) thought this might be owed to the weekend crowds, but the chef was still slow on weekdays when the lounge wasn't busy at all. The food at cocktail hour also has seen somewhat of a downgrade compared to the lobby lounge. There are a couple of hot items, but awfully uninspired (beef stew and fish cakes), and some sushi, dim sum, salads, and cold cuts. I used to be a fan of the smoked/marinated fish options they had in the lobby lounge; sadly, these didn't make an appearance any of the nights I was there. Again, there was not nearly as much variation one would hope for, with the same stew and cold cut item (duck breast) showing up 3 nights out of 5. Overall, by Hyatt and Japan standards, it's a strong lounge, but with some room for improvement.

I've ranted about the location before, and that's certainly a valid criticism -- once again, I overheard a discussion on the shuttle bus of some guests who'd been out for dinner the prior night and missed the last bus/train ("the taxi cost more than the dinner"). Room-wise, I have a terrible history of non-upgrades here, but on these recent stays was given a corner room once, and an executive suite the next time. They're old and run-down, but lack of investment sadly isn't uncommon at Japanese hotels.

In closing, I do want to address Skywalker's slanderous statement about the staff. My experience with the lounge staff is that they're a friendly, outgoing bunch, who are fluent in English and happy to talk to foreigners. I was also approached by one of the doormen, who started talking to me while I was waiting for the shuttle bus (we ended up talking about baseball) -- highly uncommon in Japan, IME, and (to me) a very positive surprise.

Mark McCracken

jpdx - the smoked and marinated fish are still there, in the fridge on the far left, if you are lucky enough to be there on the night it is served. I had some during the first week of December.

On one particularly slow morning, they moved breakfast back to the first floor cafe. The 28th floor lounge was still open for coffee at 7am, which, for me, was enough, given the full stomach I still had from the Regency Club the night before.

hedoman

Spoken by someone sucking off an expense account. But you're missing my favorite Marriott.....Marriott Miyako..
Sad to see Hyatt is sold out for upcoming visit to area.. I enjoy the easy transport from KIX. Staff has been great and was looking forward to third annual stay.

Mark McCracken

Pallet of foie gras at Osaka's Regency Club tonight

skywalkerLAX

I pay every single one of my nights out of pocket so I suggest stop spewing BS.

Miyako is definitely nice and has decent rates. Upgrades aren't noteworthy though. Location wise nothing is worse than the HR so even Tennoji is alright (and offers decent connections all over town plus Nara/Kyoto).