The “Cross Hotel”:http://www.crosshotel.com/eng_osaka/, Osaka was our home for two nights towards the end of our Japan tour. The check in at the circular desk was swift and smooth and we were pleased that our luggage, forwarded using Japan’s excellent transfer service, had arrived from Kyoto.
Our 5th floor room was relatively spacious, with trendy modern black and white décor. The website says each room has a “stylish” theme, with white as a base color and black or red as an accent color. It was well equipped with large TV, desk, fridge, tea and coffee making facilities, useful shelving and good lighting. Umbrellas were provided which was good as it was raining for most of day one. Whilst the king size bed looked comfortable, it turned out to be particularly hard with small pillows.
The bathroom had a large oval bath with a separate shower and loo (with all the buttons we’d come to expect from a Japanese loo). There was a hairdryer in a sensible place (i.e. next to a mirror), towels were plentiful and the toiletries were of good quality.
Each floor had an ice machine and vending machine supplying soft drinks and snacks. Free wi-fi was available all over the hotel.
The 3rd floor Bar Seagull, also accessible via an escalator from street level, had black and white décor and high stools and tables. The prices were as high as the furniture but nuts were plentiful. If the weather had been better, there was a lovely open air deck which mini conifer trees decked with white fairy lights.
Breakfast was one of the best we had on our trip, with a good selection of both Japanese and Western dishes. As well as juices, four fruit smoothies were available and strangely but deliciously, a large chilled cabinet full of desserts. It was all extremely well laid out so although it was busy, it was never chaotic. Unusually, the egg chef cooked eggs benedict which they brought to your table: the eggs were cooked to perfection with runny golden yolks. One dish that looked appetizing which we left untasted was a local specialty, octopus balls. We also avoided the ‘gristle curry’ thinking gristle must have a different meaning in Japan but not wanting to experiment so early in the day.
Although the hotel has a restaurant, Glamorous-X, we chose to eat out.
Whilst our itinerary described this as a three star hotel, we all felt it was deserving of perhaps one more.
