Japan is an interesting place for hotels. There are some incredible high end properties, some of the best in the world. A Holiday Inn Express is not a high end property, but this being Japan, the Osaka HIX is a great option for those wanting to save some money but still have a nice clean place to stay. I liked the Holiday Inn Express Osaka, but Osaka as a whole wasn’t my favorite destination.
While for the most part, the Holiday Inn Express Osaka was pretty generic, the rooms were clean yet small. One area that the hotel did shine was the breakfast buffet. I’m not a big hotel breakfast person, so we only went once, but the selection was fantastic for a mid-level generic hotel.
Bottom Line: I like the Holiday Inn Express Osaka, if I had to come to Osaka again, I’d be perfectly happy to stay again. With that said, I enjoy other parts of Japan more than Osaka.
Holiday Inn Express Osaka Location
The Holiday Inn Express Osaka is located right in the central district. For visitors, this is a great location but isn’t particularly interesting, lots of nondescript high rises and western shopping brands. The good news is that it’s not far from popular sites like Dotonbori. There’s also easy access to the subway and train stations so getting around Osaka is easy.
Don’t expect a grand entrance for the Holiday Inn Express. This sign is pretty much it. Once inside the door there’s an elevator that will take you to the front desk to check in.
Holiday Inn Express Osaka Lobby and Check-In
We took the elevator up to the lobby and checked in at the desk. I had reserved a queen room but they “upgraded” us to a high floor corner room.
The lobby was very nice with some trendy furniture but it never really had anyone using it. The lobby also had a little corner with self service wine and coffee, it wasn’t complementary though.
Holiday Inn Express Osaka Queen Room
The view walking into the queen room. The bathroom is behind a sliding door on the left and the bed area is ahead.
The queen room at the Holiday Inn Express Osaka is tight. Val and I travel light so we don’t need much space for bags, but with two people, there’s not a ton of space. Against the window there’s a small desk area.
Looking back at the room. The bed does take up the majority of the room. It’s also pushed into the corner and window so someone will be crawling over someone else getting into and out of bed.
Because of the room’s diminutive size, there are no bed side tables. To charge devices there’s outlets built into the headboard along with reading lamps.
Under the desk, a small fridge and safe are provided. We used the fridge to keep some drinks cold but I don’t think I’ve ever used a room safe.
Holiday Inn Express Osaka Bathroom
Again the small theme continued into the bathroom. The bathroom was very clean and of course had a fancy toilet.
To accompany the fancy Japanese toilet, there was a fancy Japanese shower. Of course I tried to use it, not sure I can say I’m a fan. The instructions were at least easy to follow.
Holiday Inn Express Osaka Room View
We had a corner room so we got two windows looking down onto the street. We also had a nice high floor and got a good view. This part of town is kinda boring though.
Holiday Inn Express Osaka Breakfast
Breakfast is served in a dedicated room on the floor above the lobby. Being a Holiday Inn Express, breakfast is included and was very busy on the day we came down. It’s a buffet service but a hostess showed us to a table and then buffet.
The buffet at the Holiday Inn Express was quite large and had a ton of options, both western and Japanese.
The selection of hot items was somewhat limited in comparison with the cold and pastry items.
I did find the fresh tofu interesting. Not exactly my normal preference, I like my tofu crispy, but they had a large selection of accompaniments for the tofu.
Tofu accompaniments.
Porridge was another popular option.
The selection of pastry items was nice, you also notice the whole buffet was very clean and well stocked, even though the breakfast area was extremely busy.
I’ll fully admit I’m kinda boring and had a bowl of cereal. I love a good breakfast, just I’m never that thrilled with hotel buffets so stick to boring stuff as to not fill up on junk.
Val liked the selection of juices. I liked the Hokkaido milk on the end, also fun as we just came from Sapporo.
Holiday Inn Express Osaka Final Thoughts
The Holiday Inn Express Osaka is a very solid hotel. There’s just nothing flashy or fancy about it, just clean and comfortable rooms that are a little on the small side. The location in central Osaka is nice for visitors who want to have fast access to the subway and places like Dotonbori.
I’m not a huge fan of hotel breakfast, but the buffet at at HIX Osaka is nicer than I was expecting, not at the level of the Holiday Inn Express Clarke Quay in Singapore(Full Review Here), but very good.
If I was in Osaka again, I’d have no problem stay here at the Holiday Inn Express. With that said, I think I want to visit other parts of Japan before heading back to Osaka.
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