lcpteck

I love the minibar credit (cause I would never use a hotel minibar unless there's company). On the last night of my stay, for items that I couldn't finish each night, I just put it in a small bag and walk outside to the Shinsaibashi pedestrian shopping street in the middle of night and dropped it off to one of the old man sleeping in the cardboxes. I can't imagine if it was winter time...

This was my first stay at this property, from June 26th - July 1st.

miloworld

Any recent stay reviews?

vanabb

We are here Aug 25-28. No Platinum gift, no room upgrade. Hotel is nice though.

lcpteck

I thought you can choose breakfast, 500 points, or a local gift as Platinum Amenity? Which did you choose?

I stayed here once as a Gold. My preferred hotel is the Sheraton Miyako due to the location and it's also right above a subway station.

3rdworldresident

Looking to stay here over cherry blossom period. (I need 2 rooms so St.regis is out of my budget this time)

any recent stay reports as platinum?

ws8n

Any recent review? Hope the wifi situation is fixed.

Has anyone taken JR Loop to Tenoji and JR rapid Haruka to KIX in the morning?
Is it relatively easy to transfer with luggage?

3rdworldresident

Just had a 6-night stay during the cherry blossom blooming period. Ended up booking only 1 room with 3 adults.

Got upgrade from the standard room to an executive room on 29th floor (2nd highest floor).

Room was nicer than i expected. WIFI connection was still POOR, less than 1 MBits download speed and it was free to every guest (no premium internet option available for plat/gold member). Overall service was very good (usual japanese+westin standard). All staffs were nice and helpful.

They granted club access and breakfast buffet at the restaurant for all 3 of us without asking which was very nice gesture. However i found the breakfast buffet was pretty tasteless and boring. The club lounge offering in the evening was not good either (coming from BKK maybe a factor). My recommendation is you can skip it without feeling guilty and continue to explore/enjoy beautiful Osaka (or somewhere else) at night instead. To me, this hotel had vitually no club lounge.

IMO, The most drawback of this hotel is LOCATION though it has very efficient and useful shuttle bus service between hotel and JR Osaka. You still need a lot of walking anywhere, anyway. This hotel is not suitable for being a hub to explore Kansai as it is too far from the train station.

Didnt have a chance to use other facilities so no comment.

Overall it was a nice stay, better than i expected. Might give it another try if the rate permits.

P.S. Sorry for my poor English.

banzani

any experiences about kids in the room here ? website announcements do not state anything, so assume 2 adults and 2 kids below 16 will be OK in a twin room ?

vanabb

In August 2016 in Osaka, we were give the 500pts welcome plus choice of breakfast in the lounge or at the ground floor restaurant. They gave us a child's cot for no extra charge. For a family of three, it was no trouble no fuss.

In Tokyo at the Westin in 2014, we were upgraded to a suite, +500pts welcome, but breakfast at the restaurant was only for two. My wife and I alternated there each day with our son, while one of us had the lounge breakfast.

The Westin Awaji in August 2016 was just like a resort, interesting grounds to wander around. No lounge but breakfast for all three of us. No upgrade but room had a great view, child's cot no extra charge.

We really liked the Sheraton Grand Ocean Resort in Miyazaki in 2014. Child's breakfast was not included, but we were give a huge upper-floor suite. Onsen was no charge. Lots to do for a kid (zoo, beach, exploring). We were there 7 days. We would go again.

I still prefer the Kyoto Westin over these others, less 'Western' and more like a ryokan. A better experience. Great location to explore from. Staff at each hotel was really pleasant. Miyazaki would be 2nd.

X-ON

Stayed here in an executive room for two nights, rooms are fairly big in size for Japan... Executive lounge nice service, nice touch with a decent sparkling wine for the cocktail hour (Jacquart champagne) no hot dishes but nice good quality cold cuts ... Breakfast is quite disappointing (both lounge and restaurant) very limited number of cooked to order items and quite a pathetic selection of bread and cheese. If you want a good breakfast IMHO Courtyard by Marriott at Chin Osaka station beats the Westin any time...a newer hotel as well, however the rooms are smaller and you may not like the location, I dont mind it though...

banzani

answering my own question fyi, hotel has confirmed that kids under 17 stay free in existing bedding. Doubles are 135cm wide, not quite queen size but doable for a short stay.

chad75

Internet speed remains very poor. The below is the best it has been all week - basically have had to resort to using my data sim as a hotspot.

chad75

Recently spent a pleasant enough six nights here. Previously have only stayed at the St Regis in Osaka, which has its detractors but I've always been happy with, however it was originally sold out for my travel dates.

Slightly hesitant about the Westin but really wanted the night credits. Hotel was pretty much sold out so had to book a corner suite as it was the only room type available. Ended up being upgraded to an executive suite on the 28th floor - plenty of windows and really enjoyed the view. Room was massive but really didn't have much in the way of furnishings so felt overly empty. It is still rocking the Japanese Faux European late 1980s "bubble what bubble" design scheme. Doesn't look like any type of refurbishment had been done except for a couple of new tvs and the guest bathroom was a modern updated toto washlet. The room really showed its age but was well maintained and was comfortable.

Breakfast was provided in the Buffett restaurant and was ok - certainly plenty room for improvement. I was there around 7 each morning and the staff seemed quite rattled with half a dozen guests, not sure how things would have been later in the morning with some truly massive lines. The outlook of the garden was probably the highlight of breakfast. The 500 points did not have to be surrendered to have breakfast downstairs.

Also had a meal in the hotel's Chinese Restaurant which was very pleasant.

Lounge was a good size - had some afternoon tea which came with a nice plate of sweets. Only went to evening drinks once which consisted of a limited selection of cold items and the normal types of liquor. I'm not much of a drinker so didn't pay much attention but it appeared that Champagne/Sparkling Wine was available all day.

Staff throughout the hotel were quite helpful, perhaps slightly too formal. Staff in the lounge were excellent. Easy 5 to 10 minute walk to JR Station - but over a relatively long stay it did get a tad annoying. Did use the shuttle bus which was easy enough - note if looking for it - look for the hotel bus departure area and it leaves from in front of the Starbucks emergency entrance. Did quite a few day trips so being close to the station was a strong positive for the hotel.

Wifi was pretty much unusable.

Overall quite content with my stay. I thought I really overpaid for the quality of the hotel, but this was due to high demand/occupancy but I think the normal rates are quite fair for what is a solid, but dated, hotel. Certainly wouldn't be my first choice to stay in again but wouldn't completely rule it out.

bcx

Has anyone stayed at the Westin and the Courtyart Shin Osaka? Can you comment on the pros and cons of each?

shonanroger