Osaka Marriott Miyako Hotel

The Osaka Marriott Miyako Hotel is a different kind of stay from the start — when the lobby is on the 38th floor, every walk out of the lift feels like floating above the city. Abeno Harukas stands 300 metres tall, the tallest building in Japan, and it opened in 2014. Booking.com rates the hotel 9.7/10 from real guests — it's not often a hotel lands a score that high.

Rooms and decor

Rooms start at 40 sqm, done in contemporary Japanese style — warm cream tones, light wood, and natural stone, with full-wall panoramic glass that gives you the city completely unobstructed. Marriott's Heavenly bed is well known, and reviews keep coming back to the same thing: waking up to the whole of Osaka in the morning light, and never forgetting it. The bathroom has a soaking tub, and some rooms come with a view bath. The south-facing rooms are the most popular — on a clear day they reach Osaka Bay and Universal Studios — while the north side looks out over Osaka Castle and the Umeda skyline.

Food and amenities

Sorashiro on the 38th floor runs the breakfast buffet, and reviews single out the range of Japanese and Western dishes — fresh sushi, miso soup, omelettes made to order, and bread baked on the spot — at around $24 to $27 per person. Hajime on the 57th floor is the crown jewel and needs booking ahead; it serves Modern French built around the seasons, with a full 360-degree panorama. There's a fitness center too, alongside the three restaurants.

Location and getting there

Tennoji Station connects straight into the tower, a 1-minute walk, and the Midosuji Line reaches Namba in 4 minutes and Umeda in 10 — a better location than it first looks, even though Tennoji can feel a little out of the centre. The area has Tennoji Zoo nearby and Shinsekai, Osaka's atmospheric old quarter, a 10-minute walk away.

Things to know before booking

Tennoji sits about 20 minutes by train from Dotonbori and Namba, so if you want to be steps from the nightlife this isn't it. Prices climb a lot in high season — the off-peak rate isn't what you'll pay at peak. And the lifts can mean long waits during the check-out rush, which is the trade-off for being so far up.

Our take

You don't book this place to be near Dotonbori — you book it for the height. Every room on the 38th floor or up, the 9.7 from Booking guests, and a lobby in the clouds add up to one of the most memorable views in Japan, with Tennoji Station one minute away to make up for the distance from the centre.