Cross Hotel, Osaka

Location

Hardworking Osaka lets its hair down in its Dotonbori playground. Its entertainment district – bisected by a pretty canal – is the bustling home to building-high neon signs, thundering pachinko pinball centres, all night karaoke bars and intimate restaurants. It’s ideal for sampling an ice-cold Asahi beer in a cosy bar. And, Cross Hotel is set just around the corner from Dotonbori’s centre – a few minutes’ walk from the central Namba Station. Find some respite in the green grounds of the city’s moated castle or in its shrines and temples.

Accommodation

Block colour schemes add more than a touch of the contemporary to comfortable rooms, themselves complete with oversized Simmons beds and en suite bathrooms. Here, you’ll find everything from pyjamas and bath salts to toiletries by Pola and Aroma Essence. Rooms even come with a Japanese tea set. Modern features are provided by 32” flatscreen televisions, a refrigerator and complimentary high speed WiFi. You’ll have the option to upgrade to a larger space or a 100 square metre suite, featuring table seating for eight, a bar counter, a large sofa area and a Jacuzzi bathroom.

Dining

The third floor Glamorous Cross restaurant serves Western classics and Japanese delicacies, each carefully presented in gourmet dishes. Start the day with a buffet breakfast – perhaps dining out in the morning sun on the terrace. All egg dishes are cooked to order in front of you at the open kitchen. For lunch, a salad buffet is put on along with freshly baked breads and seasonal vegetables while dinner sees an excellent dessert station added to proceedings. Colourful glass bites, cakes, chocolate fondues and ice creams are available while each Wednesday open kitchen made-to-order crepes are not to be missed.

Facilities

With lively Dotonbori on your doorstep, you’ll want to spend your evenings out soaking up the atmosphere. Perhaps wander down the ginkgo tree-lined Midousuji main street or along the canal and tuck into the local speciality, okonomiyaki. Literally translating as ‘everything grilled’, this Osakan favourite is a savoury pancake dressed in richly flavoured soy-based sauce and fried with anything from seafood to thinly sliced bacon. After, retire to the hotel’s Bar Seagull for a nightcap where gusts socialise at the counter seats or sip on everything from single malts to cocktails at private booths.