Want to take advantage of Hilton for Luxury benefits at no extra cost (when paying for your stay with cash), including a room upgrade, free breakfast, a hotel credit, and more? Contact Ford ([email protected]) for more details. He doesn’t charge booking fees, and may even be able to help if you already have a stay booked.
As someone who loves both Japan and luxury points hotels, here’s a newly opened hotel that I’m excited about…
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Basics of the new Waldorf Astoria Osaka
The Waldorf Astoria Osaka has opened as of early April 2025. The 252-room property is the Waldorf Astoria brand’s first hotel in Japan, and is located on the upper floors (levels 28 through 38) of the new Grand Front Osaka South Building, in the Umekita area of Osaka.
Rooms at the property are generously sized. The entry level king deluxe rooms start at 520 square feet (48 square meters), with king corner suites starting at 1,000 square feet (93 square meters). The largest accommodation is the presidential suite, which is a whopping 2,080 square feet (193 square meters).
The hotel has four dining venues, including:
- Jolie Brasserie, the all-day dining restaurant, described as a French brasserie
- Tsukimi, a Japanese restaurant serving both sushi and teppanyaki
- Peacock Alley, the signature all-day lobby bar that you’ll find at all Waldorf Astoria properties
- Canes & Tales, a jazz bar serving cocktails and more
Is that not the most beautiful Peacock Alley location you’ve ever seen at a Waldorf Astoria? What a view!
On top of that, there’s a wellness area and spa, a fitness center, and an indoor pool. This looks about as nice as city hotels get!
We’re currently seeing the Osaka hotel scene improve quite nicely, which is no surprise, given Expo 2025 Osaka is kicking off right now. We also recently saw the opening of the Four Seasons Osaka, with some cool modern ryokan rooms.
Osaka has quite a few good luxury points hotels, ranging from the Conrad, to the Ritz-Carlton, to the St. Regis. Until the Waldorf Astoria opened, the Conrad was considered by many to be the most luxurious points hotel in the city, given its modern design (the Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis aren’t the most modern).
The growth of the Waldorf Astoria brand continues to impress me, with some upcoming flagship openings in destinations ranging from London, to New York, to Sydney, to Tokyo.
Waldorf Astoria Osaka rates & points requirements
With the Waldorf Astoria Osaka now being open, what are rates like? When paying cash, rates seem to start at just under $1,000 per night, which is just about the top end of the market in Osaka, especially with the weak Japanese Yen.
If you’re booking a cash rate here, I’d recommend doing so through the Hilton for Luxury program, so you can take advantage of extra perks. Ford and his team are happy to help with these requests, and can be reached at [email protected].
For those looking to redeem Hilton Honors points, the property currently starts at 100,000 points per night for a standard room. I value Hilton Honors points at 0.5 cents each, so I’d consider redemptions here to be a very good deal. If you’re an elite member and are redeeming points, keep in mind that you can get a fifth night free, potentially bringing down the average nightly cost to 80,000 points.
Bottom line
The Waldorf Astoria Osaka has opened as of April 2025. It’s always nice to see new luxury points hotels, and this is a property that looks gorgeous, and which is a good deal on points. If you’re headed to Osaka and have Hilton Honors points, this is definitely a property to keep in mind.
What do you make of the new Waldorf Astoria Osaka?
If a Hilton redemption delivers a value of 1cpp, it means that it terms of Hyatt points the value the SAME redemption would be about 2cpp? That’s because while a CENT is a CENT, a POINT is not a POINT when different programs award different number of points for the same spend. The value in CENTS/POINT is, therefore, points currency-dependent and should not be interpreted literally. That’s been a tough to grasp by all by...
If a Hilton redemption delivers a value of 1cpp, it means that it terms of Hyatt points the value the SAME redemption would be about 2cpp? That’s because while a CENT is a CENT, a POINT is not a POINT when different programs award different number of points for the same spend. The value in CENTS/POINT is, therefore, points currency-dependent and should not be interpreted literally. That’s been a tough to grasp by all by it’s trivial. Cents have an absolute value, but cents PER point have a relative value because points currencies are program-dependent and thus RELATIVE!
Hotel looks nice. Hopefully it is not infested by loud American tourists.
May they all stay home forever and Make America Great Again!
Rooms look small compared to the Conrad. The Osaka Conrad is the only hotel in japan that has always upgraded me. Their rooms are massive by japanese standards. The WA standard rooms look tiny.
If you're headed to Osaka as a tourist it's hard to beat the Cross Hotel in Dotonbori. Location, location, location.
what's diamond benefit specifically at this property? How much is the access to Waldorf club lounge here?
FYI, this property is also designed by Andre Fu Studio.
I don't know who that is, all I know is that the rooms are done in a tiresome "international beige" style that plagues recent hotel developments. I hold grave fears for my beloved Park Hyatt Tokyo, which reopens in October. The website blurb says they're staying true to the original design ethic, and I sincerely hope this is true. The last thing the world needs is another bloody Palais Beige.
The hotel is located in Grand Green Osaka's South Park Tower, not Grand Front Osaka.
Have watched a few videos of the property during opening week. Personally (from the videos I have seen), my preference is still for the Conrad Osaka. I love the design of the Conrad, its stunning lobby and the modern rooms. Personally, I don't like the colors or design of the WA Osaka rooms. I'm keeping my 5-night stay in Osaka at the Conrad, was considering swapping it for the WA but I'll pass this time....
Have watched a few videos of the property during opening week. Personally (from the videos I have seen), my preference is still for the Conrad Osaka. I love the design of the Conrad, its stunning lobby and the modern rooms. Personally, I don't like the colors or design of the WA Osaka rooms. I'm keeping my 5-night stay in Osaka at the Conrad, was considering swapping it for the WA but I'll pass this time. Picking a Conrad over a WA is pretty damn unusual call but the WA does not woo me, the Conrad Osaka does. I'll go and visit the WA but won't stay this time.
Paul I was thinking the same. Colors aren’t for me and nothing appears Japanese. Definitely going to check out the WA bar though.
Personally I like all the blonde wood, but I agree that the public spaces and rooms don't feel Japanese. The chairs in the rooms are kind of like some of the room chairs in ryokans I've been to, but that's about where it ends. The bathroom especially is very western whereas the Conrad Osaka has the big round onsen-style tub combined with the shower in a wet-room area, and the sliding doors to open/close the...
Personally I like all the blonde wood, but I agree that the public spaces and rooms don't feel Japanese. The chairs in the rooms are kind of like some of the room chairs in ryokans I've been to, but that's about where it ends. The bathroom especially is very western whereas the Conrad Osaka has the big round onsen-style tub combined with the shower in a wet-room area, and the sliding doors to open/close the bath area. Which to be fair may not be for everyone, I was expecting something more akin to Conrad Tokyo, Andaz Tokyo when I stayed at Conrad Osaka with a friend, but my fiance and I definitely wouldn't mind it if we were to stay there.
I stayed there April 6-8. Beautiful property and great rooms. Service is still terrible though. Some of the staff seems barely trained and many barely speak english. If they can fix that it should be a great property.
100k points per night is not bad at a standard Hilton property.
Previously only certain SLH were offering 1 cpp redemptions. If you get the Amex 30% bonus, you can book this at about 38.6k Amex points per night, comparable to a high end Cat 7/8 property.
Genuinely a good sign if Hilton is moving in this direction with their points.
@Ben The Chancery Rosewood has opened up reservations from Sept, the hotel is housed in the old US embassy building, at the time of the sale Trump was very unhappy regarding the price.
A week here would easily get you a year in a capsule hotel.
The lobby bar is gorgeous. Looking down on it from the upper level gives me the same kind of feeling as looking out over the restaurant at the Conrad Osaka and the city in the background.
And the hotel is right across the street from Osaka station. Going to be some good train watching from the east and maybe the south-facing rooms.
I was able to do a tour of the property when I was there in October. It's beautiful and will be a great option. My main knock on it is that it's massive, and it feels massive. If you aren't using points, I do think the FS is a much better option, but it's really nice to have this for the opportunity to use points. Totally agree on your point about the WA brand and their recent/upcoming expansion.
Having stayed at the FS and the Waldorf I have to disagree there. The WA is a much nicer property.
FS in Japan for whatever reason just doesn't know what they are doing.
You are 100% right Omar. I don't like a single Four Seasons in Japan. The Four Seasons Osaka in particular is a huge disappointment. There isn't even a steam room and the pool is tiny. The Waldorf Astoria Osaka is far superior in terms of design alone, not to mention the facilities.
@Tim600. Why don't you like FS Otemachi? Stunning gym/pool views. Fantastic bar...
Don't get me started. I hate this hotel so much. There are 2-3 hotels designed by Denniston that I don't find absolutely hideous, the FS Otemachi is not one of them. I find the pool in particular atrocious, I generally don't like stainless steel pools. To me, it looks absolutely cheap and doesn't fit into a Four Seasons.
The Janu Tokyo also has a stainless steel pool, but at least all the other facilities are...
Don't get me started. I hate this hotel so much. There are 2-3 hotels designed by Denniston that I don't find absolutely hideous, the FS Otemachi is not one of them. I find the pool in particular atrocious, I generally don't like stainless steel pools. To me, it looks absolutely cheap and doesn't fit into a Four Seasons.
The Janu Tokyo also has a stainless steel pool, but at least all the other facilities are absolutely top class. This is one of the few Denniston hotels that I like. 100 times nicer, for my taste, than the FS Otemachi.
The Intercontinental Osaka is also a modern, stunning hotel with a great location near Osaka Station. Having stayed at both Intercon and Conrad Osaka, I’d say they’re equal in their quality.
Hi Lucky, any reason you’ve stoped trip reviews?
Slightly nicer than the HI Namba I booked for 19K IHG points/night 2 years ago ;)
Already booked it.... :)