Conrad Osaka

We stayed for 2 weekday nights during the first half of February 2022. We arrived by car and parked in the underground hotel parking lot for 3,700 yen per night. 

We checked in at the front desk on the 40th floor and were warmly welcomed. For some reason, we weren’t escorted to the Executive Lounge to check-in, but that wasn’t a problem since it got us more quickly to our room. As a Diamond member, I was provided with an upgrade from the standard Twin Deluxe Room (538 sq. ft/50 sq. m) that I booked to a Twin Executive Corner Room (710 sq. ft/66sq. m) on the 35th floor, a 3-category room upgrade.

The Executive Corner Room, though not a suite, is the next best thing with lots of room, curved floor-to-ceiling glass windows overlooking downtown Osaka, and a circular bath with a window view. The beds are supremely comfortable, and the reclining sofa with table is a great place to relax with a drink.

On the room desk was an attractive sake set with a small bottle of sake, perhaps in place of the standard Conrad chocolate that is often provided free to guests. After returning to our room from the Executive Lounge, I reclined on the sofa and turned down cup after cup of this very tasty sake while taking in the nighttime Osaka view. I was never charged for it, so I guess it was free. 

Executive Corner Room

Bathroom

Circular bath with window view

Free bottle of sake in room

View from room

The hotel staff that I had contact with were all friendly, welcoming, helpful, and outgoing and went out of their way to meet my needs and find out what other needs I had. The service was top-notch and made my stay far more comfortable and made me want to stay here again. 

A breakfast buffet is served in Atmos on the 40th floor. The view, of course, is incredible and the space is bright, comfortable, and a pleasant place to start your day. We were warmly welcomed at our table by Ms. Waraha, Director of Operations (who used to work at Conrad Tokyo) for the hotel, who chatted with us for a while and made us feel very much at home.

View at breakfast from Atmos

The buffet was not quite as large as I expected but the quality and quantity of food are more than sufficient. If I’d change anything, I’d have more and greater variety of fruit, which I thought was lacking for a Conrad breakfast buffet. In addition to the buffet, you can order an entrée item among egg dishes (including Eggs Benedict on two small okonomiyaki instead of English muffins) from the menu, as well as small, tasty udon in soup. There is a nice selection of bread, cooked vegetables, salad ingredients, roast beef, curry rice, cold cuts, yogurts, cereal, miso soup, natto, and juices, all high-quality and fresh.

The Conrad has three restaurants as well as the Sky Bar & Lounge but during our weekday stay, they were all closed except for Atmos, which was open only for breakfast, and the Sky Bar & Lounge. However, the other restaurants are open on other days of the week and the weekend, so closure is apparently a pandemic measure.

Atmos ceiling decor 

The lounge is on the 39th floor and has wonderful panoramic views from its numerous window-side tables. There are also comfortable sofas and chairs set around tables in the lounge’s interior with newspapers available and two wall-mounted TVs. The lounge was not crowded and perhaps less than half full during our two nights, so we could grab the best seats there. The lounge is open from 12:00 noon to 9:00 pm but opens at 11:00 am from Friday to Sunday. Afternoon tea is served from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm and cocktail time is from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

As I understand it, there was a buffet in the evening, but now you are served food on a plate that is brought to your table by lounge staff. Beverages (tea, coffee, Perrier, juices, soft drinks) including alcohol are all self-service. In a large ice bucket were Asahi, Sapporo, and Heineken beer, bottles of Chardonnay wine, and a bottle of sparkling white wine. The white and red wines were very flat and disappointing, but the sparkling wine was good. 

Hard liquor selection

Beer and wine selection

Appetizers

The food was good and attractively served. IIRC, we were each served two different plates of food after which followed desert. It was tasty and filling and I would not want to eat dinner in a restaurant after eating in the lounge.  

Executive Lounge view  

There is a good-sized heated pool on the 38th floor, about the same size as the pool at Conrad Tokyo. Next to it are several comfortable padded lounge chairs. We spent about an hour and a half using it on our first day with only one other person present. I like the layout of the pool, sauna, and bath with the locker room between the pool and sauna/bath area, which makes it easy to access all the facilities.

The bath is a large whirlpool that can accommodate at least 12 people comfortably and next to it is a dry sauna, a small cold bath, and about 5 showers stalls. Outside the bath and sauna area and next to the locker room are several seated grooming stations with small sinks and supplies for shaving and brushing teeth. There were only about two or three others using the sauna and bath while I was there, but I can imagine it crowded on weekends once the pandemic is over. Overall, it’s a comfortable space to wash up and relax.

Conrad Osaka is conveniently located on Nakanoshima, an island between two canals in central Osaka about a 10-minute walk from Osaka Station. Although we spent most of our time in the hotel, there are numerous restaurants and public transportation nearby. 

Built four years ago, Conrad Osaka is still in nearly pristine condition and provides all the necessities of a full-service hotel along with a spacious executive lounge in a luxurious environment. I really enjoyed it and would like to stay again. I’ve also stayed at St. Regis Osaka, another very nice hotel, but what sets the Conrad apart, IMO, is that it’s not a boutique hotel like St. Regis, but a full-service hotel with all the creature comforts such as pool, sauna, bath, spa, an executive lounge (the St. Regis has only a spa) and multiple restaurants, and I found its service to be at least comparable if not better overall. Added to that, is its central location, which will appeal to many travelers.