When it came to booking hotels for our next trip, St. Regis Osaka was the first one on our list and this time we were upgraded to a Grand Deluxe Room. So how did it compare to their flagship Fuji Suite?!?!
Grand Deluxe Room - Double Bed w/ Duffy from Tokyo Disney
Grand Deluxe Room - Double Bed
Grand Deluxe Room - Shower - yes, we did need all four water jets
Grand Deluxe Room - Turn down service
Grand Deluxe Room - King Bed Hallway
Grand Deluxe Room - King Bed
Grand Deluxe Room - Bathtub with TV
View from St. Regis Osaka
St Regis Osaka Lobby - this is where the butlers 'hang out'
St Regis Osaka Vallet Parking - the Ferrari parked kerbside lets you know this is where the who's who of Osaka come to play.
The Grand Deluxe bedroom, shower and bath tub were exactly the same as the Fuji Suite.
One of the reasons why I love St. Regis is butler service. Whether you book a standard room or a suite, butler service is available to all guests in the hotel. From a cappuccino and newspaper waiting for you in your room when you roll out of bed, through to pot of tea before bed and everything in between (think shoe shining, packing / unpacking bags or pressing clothes etc...), the butlers are there to meet your every need (well, almost every need) .
The same selection of tea and coffee are available from Room Service, however you will be charged about $10 if you opt for this rather than calling your butler... Since the butler service is available 24/7, I can only wonder who would ever order this from room service?!?!
Osaka is famous for its food, and Okonomiyaki is always on the top of my list. Hana Marutei is about 2 minutes walk from St. Regis and one of the best restaurants for Okonomiyaki. Best of all, you even get to 'cook' your own - the chef will prepare 80% of it, including seasoning and sauce, then transfer the okonomiyaki in front of you to finish cooking. The same goes for the Yaki-Soba (Grilled Noodles)
Yakisoba & Okonomiyaki - I am so hungry...
Fried Beef
Fried Chicken Wings
When we were at the subway station, we saw ads for Art Kitty Parade. And no one... I mean no one in Japan does not LOVE Hello Kitty.... No one.... But what is Art Kitty Parade?!?! and Grand Thanks Festa?!?!
Grand Front Osaka with Hello Kitty?!?!
Grand Thanks Festa
Hello Kitty is in it so it must be awesome!!!
So we decided to go to Grand Front and find out. It turns out Grand Front Osaka was celebrating its 1st Year Anniversary and they were using Hello Kitty as their special guest!!!
Kitty 1 - what do you think you are doing :S
Kitty 2
Kitty 3
Massive Kitty
Kitty 4 - no, I wasn't shaking my camera
Kitty 5 - just a normal one
Kinky Kitty 6 - errrr... what happened to you....
Kitty is not the only one we saw..... Much Kitty, Very Cate, So Not Doge, WOW. Yep, 'Doge'
Bonus round - Softbank's Doge
Bonus round - Softbank's Doge
Bonus round - Softbank's Doge
Now, NO visit to Japan is complete without a visit to a Shrine. Even Justin Beiber managed to make it the Yasukuni war shrine (which honors 14 Class A war criminals) on his last trip to Japan in April (oops!). Not to be outdone, we had planned to visit the Kyoto Fushimi-inari. Our butler however recommended Ishikiri Shrine for a more authentic experience, which is very popular with the locals.
Ishikiri Shrine
Ishikiri Shrine
Ishikiri Shrine
Ishikiri Shrine
If you want to experience a local market and traditional Japanese food, Ishikiri Shrine Market would definitely be the place to go to. Unfortunately there are no English Menus at most of the stores.... I guess you can just point at what you want :P. Unlike the rest of Japan, I didn't find a single store here that accepts credit cards, so make sure you bring some cash with you.
Ishikiri Shrine - Market
Ishikiri Shrine - Market
Ishikiri Shrine - Market
Ishikiri Shrine Market - Baked Ricecake with Secret Sauce
Ishikiri Shrine Market - oden
Ishikiri Shrine Market - Oden
Ishikiri Shrine Market- Takoyaki
Ishikiri Shrine Market - Toy Store
Ishikiri Shrine Market - Knife Store
Stay tuned. We have more posts about Osaka coming including Westin and Sheraton Osaka, Kobe Beef, Shinsaibashi. And you can find other Osaka related posts here.
No comments:
Post a Comment