Overnight Layover in Osaka - suggestions?
 

The wife and I have an overnight layover in KIX (PVG-KIX-LAX-JFK) -- in early July. We arrive in KIX at 9:30pm and then have to be back at the airport the following day for a 5:30pm flight.

Was looking at staying at the St. Regis in Osaka, but friends suggest trying to stay at the Ritz in Kyoto instead. Considering the short turnaround, any suggestions for best place to stay and must-things to do in that area? This is our first time in Japan.

Thanks!

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.

Yes, that's what I'd suggest, too.

KIX isn't really that close to Osaka anyway, and if there were a later Haruka, Kyoto would be the obvious preferred destination.

I agree.

Most of the major Osaka hotels have limited scheduled shuttle service between Osaka station and the hotel, but these get full late in the evening when people finish their dining and entertainment in the downtown areas. I can't think of a good hotel that's right at a station for transportation from the airport in downtown Osaka, although IIRC the Kyoto situation is better in this dimension but the last train is earlier.

there is a decent hotel in the airport building. i finally found a contact number, and had fluent japanese speaker call and reserve for me.

we took a $20 cab ride to an micheline 2* in the area. good food, very expensive wine.

Overnight in the hotel at KIX isn't a bad idea. Here's another one, especially if you have no baggage to carry around. Go to a hotel in Osaka Umeda area. Buses from the airport go to that area until past midnight. Figure the hotel is just a place to sleep and don't worry about the quality level. Next morning you'll be much closer to Kyoto (30-minute train ride) as compared to KIX. Spend the day in Kyoto and then head back to KIX straight from there.

Yes, the Hotel Nikko, which we have been discussing. There is no need to find a Japanese speaker. Just book on their website.

http://www.nikkokix.com/e/top.html

This is exactly what I would do. You're arriving pretty late and I presume you are just going to crash upon arrival. You'd be spending a lot of money just to spend 8-9 hours at St.Regis/Ritz. Nikko KIX is a good hotel. I'd get the rate that includes breakfast buffet. But you will have to head out on Haruka ~8am if you want to have at least 5hr or so in Kyoto the next day.


Swissotel Nanba is one. In fact, if the OP is okay to experience Osaka instead of Kyoto, then Swissotel would actually be a great choice. Lots of things around there.

We may have an overnight layover at KIX with 5 yo twins. Arriving around 6 pm, departing 10 am. I assume Nikko KIX is the most practical option?
If so what room should we book?
We'll grab smth to eat at the lounge and onboard so food is not a concern.

There are others not far away. I got this list from Booking.com

Hotels with an airport shuttle service near Kansai International Airport

4-star Star Gate Hotel Kansai Airport 5.9 km
3-star Bellevue Garden Hotel Kansai Airport 7.7 km
3-star Kansai Airport Spa Hotel Garden Palace 7.7 km
2-star Kanku Sun Plus Yutaka 7.9 km
1-star Guesthouse Kazenoie Bonita (Female Only) 8.4 km
3-star Best Western Hotel Kansai Airport 9.5 km
2-star Hotel Sunrise Inn 10.6 km

http://www.booking.com/airport/jp/ki...dcid=1;inac=0&

I think the Bellevue Garden used to be the Holiday Inn KIX over 10+ years ago. I stayed there in 2002 on one of my early visits to Japan. It was a comfortable property in a quiet neighborhood. My room overlooked the local temple garden. The quoted 15-minute shuttle ride is optimistic, they would have to hit every light just right. Figure 20+.

Nikko KIX is definitely the easiest option for you, with such layover timeframe and little kids in tow. However, one thing you have to keep in mind is that the bed config can be tricky with 2 adults and 2 little kids. There's no such thing as 1-king or 2-queen that you see in US, and rarely you will see the equivalent of 2-double bed rooms. In Jpn, rooms are double, twin or single (sometimes there's triple). Double room in Jpn is a room with a single bed that's 160-180cm in width. Twin room is a room with two beds that are usually 110cm or 120cm wide, sometimes 100cm and rarely up to 140cm. We have two little ones in similar age group as yours. We've managed with a single 180cm bed or two 120cm beds, but it's pretty tight even though my wife and I are both slim.

Solution? Hollywood twin - ie, sticking two beds together in a twin room. Two 110cm beds become a single 220cm bed and, all of a sudden, you've got a king++ size bed that's spacious for a family of four to share. There're some rooms that are already configured as Hollywood twin to begin with. There're other twin rooms where you could request the hotel to turn it into Hollywood twin. Not all hotels can do Hollywood twin. Looking at Nikko KIX website, it seems like the Superior and Premium Corner Twin rooms are the only rooms with Hollywood twin config (based on photos only, so I would confirm with the hotel). In addition, the website specifically states that they can't stick beds together in rooms where they're not together to begin with.

If those rooms are sold out at Nikko, then you may have to suck it up and stay in their double (180cm wide) or regular twin (2x 120cm wide) room. Or research nearby hotels to see if they do Hollywood twin. Or get two single rooms.

It looks like the Nikko-Kix has triple (3 beds) rooms. If your twins can share a twin sized bed, that might work. You might want to book well in advance. It looks like those rooms are sold out for September and October. They seem to have few in November but good availability for December, so 3 months in advance or so - more around busy times.

https://asp.hotel-story.ne.jp/ver3d/...SELECTCOD2=001

We used to do the PVG - KIX flight 6-10 times a year for a few years.

We found the PVG to KIX flight invariably was delayed (even cancelled a few times). We've missed the last airport limo too many times due to delays and so we refused to book flights to KIX if the flights were scheduled later than 8 pm.

Suggestions about staying in Osaka or at the airport hotel is a good idea.

i have the wrong airport. there is a second airport in osaka, ITM, i think. that was the one at which we stayed.