I thought I had experienced peak Japanese hospitality before, but the Ritz Carlton Osaka blew my expectations away during a stay in October 2023.
We stayed 1 night at the property, since our cruise ship overnighted in Osaka. We wanted to maximize our time sight-seeing by staying land side.
Location
The Ritz-Carlton Osaka is a convenient 6-minute walk away from Osaka Station. From there, it's a 20 minute train ride to get to Dotonbori, where the iconic Glico sign is and nightlife thrives.
If you're coming from Tokyo Station, it's about a 2.5 hour shinkansen ride one-way. I've done this on my last trip to Japan and highly recommend it! Japanese bullet trains are a cool experience and let you see so much of the country in an efficient way (especially with the JR Rail Pass).
Booking experience
I booked my stay at the Ritz-Carlton Osaka through The American Express Fine Hotels+Resorts collection to use my $200 yearly credit from my Platinum card. By booking through Amex's Fine Hotels collection, I received the following perks for my stay:
- Early check-in (12pm, when available)
- Free breakfast for 2 guests
- $100 experience credit
- Guaranteed late checkout (4pm)
When I checked in, the desk agent provided a print out with all of these details. We also had fresh fruit and a handwritten thank-you note waiting in our room; a perk for booking through Fine Hotels+Resorts.
Ritz-Carlton is part of the Marriott family of hotels, so I earned Bonvoy points. This stay also counted towards my progress to Platinum status.
The hotel stay
The hotel itself is beautifully, classically appointed from the lobby to the rooms, which may surprise those who blindly book.
After checking in, the front desk agent offered to have someone bring our bags to our room, but we declined since we just had overnight bags. All employees we spoke to at the Ritz-Carlton Osaka spoke both Japanese and English with ease.
The rooms at the Ritz-Carlton Osaka are very spacious, at 64 square meters. This room is massive compared to business hotels in Japan. In our room's living space, we had a King-size bed, a desk with 2 chairs on either side, and an armchair. Not pictured is generous closet that had pajamas and slippers waiting for us. Everything felt so luxurious!
The bathroom was huge with its double sinks, water closet, shower, AND bathtub (I couldn't fit it in the picture!) A "bath salt menu" was also provided for guest use (the colorful jars above the left sink), which was a lovely touch. The menu card explained the 3 scent choices and benefits of each.
To use up our $100 experience credit, we ordered room service for dinner. We had just missed the cutoff for a larger selection of items, but we made do with an order of Japanese curry, a burger, and strawberry shortcake for dessert. It arrived piping hot after 30 minutes, which I was informed of when I initially ordered.
Exceptional service
Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling well when we arrived - I was worried I caught a cold or something worse. I asked my husband to pick up a Covid test so we could be sure. He went to the lobby to ask where the nearest pharmacy was, and one of the hotel employees was kind enough to walk him all the way to the pharmacy AND translate what he was looking for with the pharmacist. Thankfully, my test was negative, but my husband mentioned it would have been very difficult to find the pharmacy on his own with Google Maps since it was part of the same building of the hotel, but in the underground mall area.
In addition, the hotel employee who removed our room service asked where I was (I was taking a bath since I was feeling sick), and she was kind enough to return with tea, fresh lemon, candy to help my throat, and bubble bath soap.
I have never experienced hotel team members go above and beyond - I was absolutely floored by the amazing service at the Ritz-Carlton Osaka. I highly recommend staying here, even if it's just for one night!
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