Morning Comes to W Osaka!
Good morning, Osaka
The room has spectacular floor-to-ceiling glass, but the blinds and curtains block the light so well that I didn’t wake up with the sunrise. If you open all the blinds and curtains, though, the summer sun is so intense that the room heats up instantly lol.
Maybe that’s why the blinds and curtains automatically close every time I leave the room. I wonder if there’s some kind of motion sensor.
And every time I come back, they open automatically!
Going to the Pool First Thing in the Morning: WET
One of the best things about a W Hotel is the pool. It’s called WET. A pool with its own name is just the best, isn’t it?
If the pool has its own special name, you can already guess it’s not just an ordinary hotel pool.
Take Hong Kong, for example. A space like that unfolding up in the sky—very W Hotel.
And this is what the pool looks like…!
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The neon glows…!
It’s a shame that it’s indoors, but during adults-only hours the pool is lit in blue neon.
Yes, this is unmistakably W atmosphere.
Some might call it
And so,
that’s what it is.
At last—the “sexy pool” has arrived in Japan!
It’s already been four years since I started calling it the “sexy pool,” and now it’s finally made its way to Japan… I’m emotional.
With changing rooms plus a spa and sauna, W Osaka’s WET really is an excellent facility where you can properly refresh yourself.
The water they gave us came in a paper carton. Less plastic!
I was touching the tiled surfaces and curved design, thinking how unusual they were, when I was told it was inspired by Japanese sento bathhouse culture—and yes, it really does have that sento feel!
This time I ended up coming in the morning because the pool closes fairly early at night, but all the sofas were full, so it seems pretty popular. Being indoors is nice because you can enjoy it even in winter. I want to come back!!!
There’s a bar next to the pool. It’s open-air, and the plants are incredible. (That green wall is the kind of thing Tadao Ando likes, but I wonder if that was part of his supervision here too.)
On the same floor as the pool there’s also a fitness area called FIT, and it’s spacious and well-equipped too. (No bench press station, though.)
If I’d been staying two nights, I would’ve liked to use the fitness area too, but this time I was only there for one night, so I just looked around and left lol.
Breakfast at Oh.lala…
Finally! Breakfast Buffet Starts (Weekends and Holidays Only)
After refreshing myself at WET, I headed to Oh,lala… for breakfast. If you add breakfast by the day before, you get 1000 yen off, so it comes to 3500 yen.
And on weekends and holidays, it switches to a breakfast buffet.
It was full, so I waited about five minutes. The empty LIVING ROOM looked even more vivid in the sunlight than it had at night—really stunning. Next time I want to come for afternoon tea too.
Then inside the restaurant I went. The extraordinary seating alone got me excited!!
The egg dishes and drinks are ordered from the menu. Honestly, I wish every decently priced hotel buffet did this. At the very least, they should do made-to-order coffee and tea!!
I thought there was a bottle of perfume on the table, but it turned out to be alcohol spray. SPREAD LOVE—great name!
For my egg dish, I ordered the eggs Benedict topped with avocado. Very nice.
The green smoothie being served in such a weird container feels extremely W!!!!
Even the way the yogurt was set out felt very W. I am at a W!!!
My usual pastry check-in. There was a staff member explaining the different kinds of bread and talking to me, so I couldn’t take that many photos lol. (This was maybe about half of the full lineup.)
The lemon doughnut, the Danish filled with salted caramel cream… everything was delicious…
At this hotel, even if you’re just sitting at your table, people keep coming over to talk to you lol.
Even in Japan, they’ve kept that signature W Hotels style of service, and they seem very conscious about creating a friendly atmosphere. I’m fine with chatting, so it didn’t bother me, but I can see how it wouldn’t be for everyone.
I had a delicious meal—thanks for breakfast!
Final Thoughts: Is W Osaka Really That Wild?
I love it, but it’s definitely a hotel that won’t be for everyone—because it’s W
Until last year, W Hotels was a luxury hotel brand you could only find overseas.
Just knowing about W Hotels, or staying at one, was enough to let you show off a little lol. That was the kind of hotel it was.
And now you can stay at one in Japan too—at a time like this, when overseas travel has become difficult…
Given that background, I suspect that once interest catches fire, its popularity could explode among a certain crowd. (Just my guess.)
I say “a certain crowd” on purpose because this is still very much a W Hotel, and I think people’s tastes will split on the bold interiors and the oddly (?) friendly service from the staff. (The rooms also have things like very open bathrooms.)
But if it had been too Japanized and turned into an ordinary hotel, then it wouldn’t really be W anymore.
I wonder if the amount of interaction with the staff—who are called “talents” at W—also has something to do with Osaka’s local atmosphere.
In that sense, maybe Osaka really was the perfect place for Japan’s first W.
…And with that, I’ll wrap up this stay report in a smug, know-it-all tone—even though I’ve only stayed at Ws in Asia and actually know nothing lol.
Just as I expected, W Osaka is wild too.
If you’re curious, go for it.
And now—when are we getting W Tokyo and W Yokohama?
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