Umeda (JR Osaka Station)

Hotel Granvia Osaka

★★★★★

Hotel Granvia Osaka is the hotel you choose when transport matters more than anything else. Run by the JR West group, it is directly connected to JR Osaka Station, the hub of the whole Kansai region: from the central ticket gate you turn right and you are at the hotel entrance, with no streets to cross and no luggage to drag through the rain. Shin-Osaka, for Shinkansen bullet trains to Tokyo, Hiroshima and Kyushu, is one stop away; the Haruka airport express to Kansai International now also stops at the new underground platforms on the Umekita side of Osaka Station; JR trains run to Kyoto, Kobe and Nara; and the Hankyu, Hanshin and Midosuji subway lines are all within a few minutes underground. Universal Studios Japan is a short ride on the JR Yumesaki Line. The hotel occupies the upper floors of the station building complex, so rooms look out over the rail yards, Umeda's towers and the redeveloped Umekita district. Room types range from compact standard singles and doubles, popular with business travelers, to larger twins and the executive Granvia Floor on the upper levels with its own lounge. The breakfast buffet, with Western and Japanese dishes, is one of the hotel's most praised features, and there are several restaurants and bars in the building, while the station complex and its neighbors, Daimaru, Lucua, Grand Front Osaka and the Hankyu and Hanshin department stores, offer hundreds more places to eat. Check-in is from 3pm and check-out at noon, a generous time that suits travelers on afternoon trains.

Who it suits. Rail-pass travelers, anyone doing day trips to Kyoto, Kobe, Nara or Himeji, and visitors with an early train or flight will find nothing more convenient. It is also a good choice for a first visit if you want to see both Kita and Minami, since the Midosuji subway line reaches Shinsaibashi and Namba in under ten minutes. Families value the easy logistics, though standard rooms are on the compact side for four; book larger twins or connecting rooms.

The trade-offs. The station complex is huge and busy, and finding your way through its levels and passages takes a day to master; the hotel's own entrance is straightforward, but expect crowds around the gates at peak hours. Some standard rooms are dated compared with newer hotels in Umeda, and views vary from impressive to the side of a building, so ask for a higher floor. Rates are higher than business hotels a few blocks away, and you pay for the location; prices rise sharply in cherry-blossom season, autumn and around big events.

Practical notes. The address is Umeda in Kita Ward. Luggage forwarding is available, useful if you are moving on by Shinkansen and want to travel light. Osaka's accommodation tax is charged per person per night depending on the room rate. For dinner without leaving the station, the restaurant floors of the station buildings stay open into the evening.