Osaka Garden Palace — Hotel in Osaka

PREMISE:Good base for exploring Kansai (Kyoto, Namba, Kobe) Hotels in Osaka are generally cheaper than say Kyoto or Namba, so lots of people stay in Osaka and use it as a base for exploring Kansai, particularly if you're visiting a different city each day.

PRICE: Great value during off peak season. My family of 4 stayed here for 4 nights in June, which is the low season, and we got a great package deal at almost half the usual rate. I suspect part of the reason is the sheer number of rooms they have to fill if there's no event going on.

LOCATION/SURROUNDINGS: Quiet area. You won't spend much time here anyway. The district is a fairly quite residential district. It overlooks the railway, but the sound proofing is great and you can't hear the trains unless you actively listen for them. We stayed on the 11th floor and the view was unobstructed (personally I'm not one for city views, so can't say much). There's a convenience store and a couple of 24h noodle shops one block down, but to be frank you won't hang out around the district much. Most days you'll just catch the shuttle to the station.

TRANSPORT: Great base for exploring the region on a JR pass. The hotel is located away from the popular Namba/Shinsaibashi/Umeda districts and private (i.e. non-JR) train stations, so it's not perfect if you plan to return to the hotel throughout the day. Having said that, there is a very frequent shuttle bus (15 minute intervals) to the Shin-Osaka station, where you can catch the subway, JR trains and Shinkansen. So it's great if you're on a JR pass and plan on using this as a base to explore Kyoto/Kobe/etc. Do note the shuttle bus ends at 2305, so if you're on the late night flight in (which is a bad idea anyway, because the airport train is also ending), you'll have to walk with luggage and that takes at least 20 minutes. It's safe, but a long walk, and can be cold. Also the pickup point at the station can be hard to find, but that's more a fault of the subway station with its numerous exits. The hotel gives a good map, and the pickup point itself is clearly marked once you get there.

HOTEL FACILITIES: Functional and more than adequate The hotel seems set up as a wedding venue, so the lobby is huge, esp for a Japanese hotel. Almost as big as some of the ones I've seen in Vegas. A tour group of 30-40 Chinese was checking in with their luggage one day, and there was still plenty of space. There are two coin operated washing machines (4.5kg capacity, Y300, includes detergent) and dryers (Y100/30 min) for guests, and the usual bunch of vending machines selling every thing known to mankind (if you've been to Japan you'll know what I mean). I think each floor has a different machine (at least the floors I saw - I didn't check them all out!). There are also communal microwaves and ice machines (free). We didn't eat breakfast since it wasn't included, so I can't comment.

ROOM: Clean and well maintained. Room is big by Jap standards (meaning you have space to put a free standing table next to the bed, gasp!), and comes with a TV, small kettle and empty fridge. We had a queen bed and it was a little hard, but otherwise OK. Toilet is tiny though, but a nice feature is a deep tub for soaking. They refill the amenities (toothbrush, hair brush, shaver), 1 bottle of water, and even give a fresh bathrobe and bedroom slippers everyday. Wifi is free (and fast) and a LAN cable is provided.

SERVICE: Good We got in past midnight, and the night duty manager didn't speak much English, but was really helpful (we wanted two adjacent rooms). Day staff were equally...

The review rating of this hotel attracted me first and after checking various sites I found that the hotel site offered a good deal with breakfast and dinner combined, therefore I decided to stay here. I used the shuttle bus service from Shin Osaka station. The location of the bust stop was not easy to find, you have to walk and walk and walk. It is not easy if you have lots of baggage with you. But the ride was just 2-3 minutes so you may take taxi to reach there. The hotel is quite big and looked grand inside, not a business hotel. The hotel seems to cater various events, especially marriage party. The room was very clean and comfortable. I specially asked a quite room, therefore got one and I liked it. Other amenities are those of other business hotels offered. Breakfast was quite ok with variety of dishes, more than those of business hotels. But the dinner was not as I had expected. I thought I could have easily had a better dinner with this...

The review rating of this hotel attracted me first and after checking various sites I found that the hotel site offered a good deal with breakfast and dinner combined, therefore I decided to stay here. I used the shuttle bus service from Shin Osaka station. The location of the bust stop was not easy to find, you have to walk and walk and walk. It is not easy if you have lots of baggage with you. But the ride was just 2-3 minutes so you may take taxi to reach there. The hotel is quite big and looked grand inside, not a business hotel. The hotel seems to cater various events, especially marriage party. The room was very clean and comfortable. I specially asked a quite room, therefore got one and I liked it. Other amenities are those of other business hotels offered. Breakfast was quite ok with variety of dishes, more than those of business hotels. But the dinner was not as I had expected. I thought I could have easily had a better dinner with this...