Hotel in Osaka

[hmh]

Hi, We are thinking of taking a cruise next spring which begins in Osaka. We would like to come in a day early and do some sightseeing on our own.

 

Has anyone any info about a reasonably (is that a possibility??) priced hotel in Osaka? Are there shuttle/airporter busses from KIX to the city? Somewhere, on some board, I saw information about the possibility of taking a train to Kyoto? Anyone know about that? Will really appreciate any information anyone has. Thanks. hmh

[Marbella]

I've been watching your post with great interest. We are ending a cruise in May aboard the Statendam and plan to stay on in Osaka for a few days. I thought it would be a good idea to take the train for a couple of day trips as I dread the thought of "shleping" all the luggage you need to take on a 14 day cruise.

 

Hopefully someone who has done such a trip will share their invaluable tips!!

[hmh]

Lost my first post, hope this doesn't do a double! We are staying at a Comfort Inn in Osaka, in the Shinsibashi (??) area--supposedly not too far from Hotel Nikko where airport busses stop. It is probably a typical tourist hotel--does not look too bad in pictures, and it is for only one night. We plan to check out Osaka Castle and a few other locations before going to the ship. It is in port for one more day, so I'm investigating how to do the train to Kyoto--a must on my list.

We have traveled a lot in Europe; taken cruises in Greece, France, and HAL in Caribbean and PC, but this is our first foray into the Far East. Have picked up quite a bit of info here and on other BB, when putting in various place names.

You will be doing our cruise in reverse, I assume. Ciao! hmh :)

[jasl]

HMH . . . . It sounds like you may be on our cruise, but I'm just guessing and Marbella, you will be getting off the ship when we board.

Anyway, hmh you asked for details on travelling to Kyoto from Osaka. There are several trains to get there, but the simplest is the one which does not require a transfer. It takes about 27 minutes on the JR Kyoto Line, the one way fare is 690 Yen and if you like a reserved seat, that will cost an additional 820 Yen, I'll let you figure out the exchange.

You will be able to take either a train or bus from the airport into the city. I will check back again and will try and post some links for you, once you have acknowledged my post.

[hmh]

JASL: Thank you for offering to provide info links for Kyoto from Osaka. I will appreciate receiving them. I've found some ideas, but the more choices, the better. Ciao!hmh

[jasl]

Hi HMH, here is a link http://www.jnto.go.jp/ which contains quite a bit of info. I also figured out the fare in US $ for Osaka/Kyoto the 1510 Yen = $13.34. Will you be on the Statendam, May 1st ????? Happy planning . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[hmh]

Thanks for the link, JSAL. I have so many links under my ASIA Favorites category that I will be investigating them well in to next year. We have reservations on the April 3 Statendam sailing, but are doing a Mexican Riveria Cruise this Fall, so I am trying to wait to get in to the April one, until that one is over. Are you on the May 1 cruise? Ciao!! hmh:)

[Sandy R]

DH and I will also be doing a cruise in 2006 that will disembark in Osaka. We're planning on staying 2 days and doing a day trip to Kyoto on the 2nd day. I've gotten lots of info on fodors.com, on the Asia section, from someone called Kim, who lives in Japan. I actually started a few threads where he was kind enough to post answers. He suggested staying at the Hilton on their concierge level, that there is a station beneath the hotel that goes directly to Kyoto. He also said that the Osaka Castle was about a 12 minute walk and there were lots of shops and restaurants nearby. I just booked the concierge level of the Hilton... a bit pricy, but I figure I'll watch the site for specials and packages.

 

Sandy

[jasl]

HMH: Yes, we are on the May 1st sailing and like you we will be doing a cruise in November, so have not done much on the Japan research and just bookmarked the URL's I have found. Will post whenever I find something interesting.

 

SANDY R: Have a booking for the Hilton also and thanks for the info on the train station & Osaka Castle.

[Sandy R]

Jasi... just looked at my notes from Kim and I got the info a slight bit wrong. Sorry! The Osaka RR station is across the street from the Hilton and also across the street from the Ritz Hotel. Kim says that from the Osaka station, there are "any number of trains" that go to Kyoto without requiring a change of trains. Also, the Osaka Castle is about a 20 minute walk from the Hilton... knew there was a 2 in it somewhere. He says that there is a good map of the city in the desk drawer of the Hilton rooms.

 

As far as Kyoto goes, Kim says that Kyoto isn't hard to navigate, that he highly recommends the use of taxis between sites, that Kyoto is an enormous city. He goes on to say.. forget what you heard about Japan being the land of the $200 taxi ride, that a taxi between sites in Kyoto will cost on an average of 1000 yen = $9US... maybe a bit more for longer distances. He says that the bus & subway system work fine but isn't for those that want to see a lot in a short time.

 

Gotta love the internet and the travel boards. Without them I'd be lost... literally!

 

Sandy

[anniecat]

thanks for the tips, also. We'll be on the April 3, 2006 Statendam cruise and are planning to spend a couple of days in Tokyo/one in Kyoto before boarding and three in Hong Kong after. I'll just starting to research...any ideas for hotels? :confused:

[jasl]

Thanks so much for the info Sandy.... will be checking back every so often and post what I have been able to find out. Happy planning all. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[stingraynz]

We stayed at the New Hankyu hotel in Osaka when we ended our Beijing to Osaka cruise last April on Sapphire Princess.

 

This hotel was a big concrete box and not much to look at. But the location was fantastic. It was right beside from the Osaka train station.

 

the train station is a fantastic place to be as there are literally thousands of small restaurants and eateries that are well priced, since you are paying $$$$ for the hotel room.

 

We paid roughly $400USD for our little box room that had safe, 1 double bed, TV, kimonos and slippers. The price also included breakfast that was pretty decent.

 

We used this hotel as our base of operations in Japan and went to Kyoto and Nara then to Tokyo and back to Osaka. They were very good about keeping our luggage while we were gone with just our small bags. You cannot bring large bags on the shinkansen, there is just not enough room.

 

Other than the train station of course, cabs were easy to get and there is a shuttle bus to Kansai - I forget the price but a cab to the airport would be $$$$. Kansai is about 50 minutes. Kyoto and Nara are about 40 min by commuter train. There is a separate train station for the shinkansen (bullet train). It is about 1000 yen ($10) to get a cab there or you can take the train.

 

The other hotels I noticed in the area were the Hilton is right across the street about 1 to 2 streets down but all very close. Right incorporated with the train station is a hotel and I think it was the Hotel Nikko. Looked very nice.

 

Right on the corner toward the New Hankyu is a tourist information office where they can give you any info you need.

 

On the other side of the train station is the post office where you can use the talking ATMs - very easy. You will be visiting the ATM often as Visa didn't seem widely used and everything was so much more than expected.

 

The went to a great steak house serving Kobe Beef (when in Rome) at tappanaki tables. It was called RIO and we got the address from the tourist info office.

 

Any more questions feel free to email me at StingrayNZ(nospam)@aol.com

just remove the (nospam) from the email address.

 

hope this helps

[lovetosew]

Go to www.Asiarooms.com to find all sorts of very reasonable room rates. We intend to stay at the Dai ichi for a very reasonable price; with is right next door to the Hilton Osaka and down from the Ritz Carlton. Also go to gate 5 at the Kansai airport for a shuttle limo bus that goes directly to those hotels. Since the Dai ichi is right next door we can use that limo bus. Look under www.kate.co.jp for more info but I just went into www.kansai-airport.or.jp . Limo bus runs at about 1500yn. Hope this is useful to you.

[greatam]

Go to Expedia NOW. For some reason, the Hilton's in Tokyo and Osaka are booking at $2.00 per day, $3.00 for an executive room with breakfast. Probably won't last another two hours.

 

Here is my reservation for a business trip I am taking in January:

 

Traveler and cost summary Expedia Special Rate

Reserved for:

XXXXXXXX Hotel: 1 adult King Executive Room-Fully Flexible 1/25 - 1/26: $2.72 per night

 

Taxes & service fees $0.49 per night

Amount charged for hotel reservation $6.42

 

Room options / Additional requests

We will forward your requests to the property, but we cannot guarantee that your requests will be honored.

 

1 KING BED, Smoking

 

Hotel summary

 

Wed Jan-25-2006 (2 nights)

 

Hilton Tokyo

 

6 6 2 Nishi Shinjuku

Nishi Shinjuku Chome 160-0023

Japan

Check in: Wed Jan-25-2006

Check out: Fri Jan-27-2006