Introduction: B(r)oken on Cathay Pacific
Dragonair G16 Lounge Hong Kong Airport
Cathay Pacific A330 Business Class Hong Kong to Osaka
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin
InterContinental Osaka Two Bedroom Superior Residence
InterContinental Osaka Two Bedroom Deluxe Residence
Japan Airlines Sakura Lounge Osaka Airport
Lounge Pacific Osaka Airport
Cathay Pacific 777 Regional Business Class Osaka to Hong Kong
As part of our business class package with Cathay Pacific, we hit the InterContinental Osaka after a terrifyingly long immigration queue. The hotel is located in Umeda District, connected to Grand Front Osaka, of the biggest malls in the area.
InterContinental Osaka Entrance
There’s a little ground area, which took me a while to realise wasn’t the lobby. The decor was warm and inviting, as were the staff.
InterContinental Osaka Ground Floor
InterContinental Osaka Ground Floor Seating
It was incredibly modern and well designed, while being more “upscale”. It’s exponentially better designed than the InterContinental Hong Kong.
InterContinental Osaka Ground Floor Art
InterContinental Osaka Ground Floor Stairs
A friendly associate escorted us up to the lobby, and the same lady proceeded to greet us and help us with where we needed to go every morning. I have no idea how she remembered us…
InterContinental Osaka Ground Floor Lifts
InterContinental Osaka Ground Floor Art
We got up to the lobby on the 20th floor, which was cavernous yet managed to be inviting, warm, modern and not eerie at all. It also had a little Japanese flair (in the form of statues) that made it different from, I suppose, an IC in China.
InterContinental Osaka Lobby
InterContinental Osaka Lobby
InterContinental Osaka Lobby
InterContinental Osaka Lobby
The front desk negotiated some options of us being in a suite the entire stay, but realised the hotel was out of suites the second night, so we’d just move up there night three as planned. I didn’t know what was in store, but I was fine with that, given that a room with a desk and 2-3 comfortable beds is really all I need.
We were then led to our room on the 27th floor, greeted and bowed to by every associate, something we all, amazingly, find common in Japan.
InterContinental Osaka Lift Lobby
The hallways are subtly decorated and don’t feel cruise-shippy. They’re definitely one of the best I’ve seen in a pretty long time.
InterContinental Osaka Hallways
InterContinental Osaka Hallways
Our deluxe twin room was located not far from the lift lobby, and I just felt like the room signage was so well decorated.
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Room Entrance
The footprint of the hotel isn’t big by any means, but isn’t too small either, with 27 rooms on our floor.
InterContinental Osaka Floorplan
InterContinental Osaka
Check-in: Friday, March 25, 2016
Room Type: Deluxe Twin
Room Number: 2728
Stay duration: 2 nights
Check-out: Sunday, March 27, 2016
The room featured an entryway leading to a walk-in closet, while the bathroom entrance was on the right.
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Entryway
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Walk-in Closet
I was left rather speechless as I entered the room. I was expecting it to be a good size, but I didn’t expect the room to be so massive. The room featured two very comfortable beds, a desk facing away from the room, a flatscreen TV and a chaise longue.
This is their entry level room, so I can’t even start to imagine what their bigger rooms are like (I’ll cover the suites in the two later installments).
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin
By “comfortable”, I literally meant comfortable. Those beds are great.
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Bed
Everything was so harmoniously decorated, from the wooden finishes everywhere to the random touches of white stone.
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Desk
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Flatscreen TV
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Flatscreen TV
And, unlike other hotels, the chaise longue was comfortable.
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Chaise Longue
There were statues on display in the room, like this one:
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Display Statue
There were many touches to the room, including a tea party set, some fancy lamps, and electronic blackout curtains.
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Tea Party Set
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Swanky Lamp
The minibar featured what you’d expect – unfortunately, it wasn’t free.
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Minibar
There was also free wine.
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Free Wine
The room featured gorgeous, ever so slightly obstructed views of the Yodo River.
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin View
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin View
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin View
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin View by Night
The bathroom was separated from the room with glass panels, and thankfully there were shades, which actually makes the bathroom look more modern as natural light shines in without anyone seeing anyone else naked.
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Bathroom
It featured a sink, an enclosed toilet and a separate party shower/tub.
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Bathroom Sink
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Bathroom Toilet
The bathroom featured A380 cockpit-style buttons.
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Bathroom Toilet
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Bathroom Toilet Controls
The shower would fit an orgy of up to nine. I really couldn’t believe this was their entry room and not a junior suite.
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Bathroom Shower
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Bathroom Tub
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Bathroom Shower Area
For it to be so tastefully decorated was just stunning – the marble didn’t feel displaced, and even the cups matched the colour theme.
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Sinkside Amenities
The entire bathroom featured Agraria amenities, which were actually pretty good, even though I haven’t seen them before.
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Bathroom Agraria Amenities
In addition to those there were also various salts on top of the bathtub.
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Bathroom Agraria Amenities
Overall the room was very well appointed and deserved its place as the best hotel in Osaka. It was simply stunning, and I had no complaints. And the WiFi was quick as well, which was great.
The service vibe at the hotel was really warm. Not only were the staff themselves really warm, friendly, inviting and willing to help with everything, the actual service procedures were out of this world. For example, turn down service included a yukata…
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Yukata
…a bag of candies (which were never nice but at least different every day)…
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Candy
…and the most amazing setup on my rollaway that we needed for the two nights in this room. I’d never seen so much attention to detail.
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Rollaway
InterContinental Osaka Deluxe Twin Rollaway
Our package rate included breakfast, which was served at Restaurant InterContinental every morning, a well-appointed restaurant.
InterContinental Osaka Restaurant InterContinental
The breakfast spread was pretty amazing, both in terms of quantity and quality. It ranks as one of the better spreads I’ve ever had.
InterContinental Osaka Restaurant InterContinental Breakfast Spread
InterContinental Osaka Restaurant InterContinental Breakfast Spread
InterContinental Osaka Restaurant InterContinental Breakfast Spread
InterContinental Osaka Restaurant InterContinental Breakfast Spread
InterContinental Osaka Restaurant InterContinental Breakfast Spread
InterContinental Osaka Restaurant InterContinental Breakfast Spread
InterContinental Osaka Restaurant InterContinental Breakfast Spread
InterContinental Osaka Restaurant InterContinental Breakfast Spread
InterContinental Osaka Restaurant InterContinental Breakfast Spread
InterContinental Osaka Restaurant InterContinental Breakfast Spread
InterContinental Osaka Restaurant InterContinental Breakfast Spread
InterContinental Osaka Restaurant InterContinental Breakfast Spread
InterContinental Osaka Restaurant InterContinental Breakfast Spread
InterContinental Osaka Restaurant InterContinental Breakfast Spread
InterContinental Osaka Restaurant InterContinental Breakfast Spread
InterContinental Osaka Restaurant InterContinental Breakfast Spread
InterContinental Osaka Restaurant InterContinental Breakfast Spread
The restaurant operated rather funny in the sense that eggs (that I didn’t order during my two days having breakfast at the restaurant) were ordered at the table and waffles/pancakes were ordered outside at the pancake station. They were all delicious, especially the waffles.
InterContinental Osaka Restaurant InterContinental Breakfast Menu
InterContinental Osaka Restaurant InterContinental Breakfast Waffles
InterContinental Osaka Restaurant InterContinental Breakfast Waffles
InterContinental Osaka Restaurant InterContinental Breakfast Pancakes
The iced tea glassware was nice.
InterContinental Osaka Restaurant InterContinental Breakfast Iced Lemon Tea
Service at both the restaurant and the hotel were amazing. We were addressed with a bow and seemed to be recognised by most front counter staff members, who either asked us how the room was or how our day was at wherever we went to (we asked for directions every morning).
Bottom Line
For an entry level room in Osaka, the InterContinental is hard to beat. The rates aren’t sky high, the rooms are purely amazing and the food and service are great. The InterContinental highly deserves its place as the best hotel in Osaka on TripAdvisor (which I normally don’t take seriously) and I really wouldn’t hesitate to return especially under the package fare that I reserved.
Add that to two reverse herringbone business class flights and you have the perfect trip planned for you.
In terms of the hard product, the suites (or at least the first one) were a different story, though…