Review: Courtyard Osaka Honmachi

During a trip to Japan, I spent two nights in Osaka to get to know a new part of the country. I was looking for a hotel that had a nice balance between cost and facilities, and came across the Courtyard Osaka Honmachi as one of the options.

I’m quite familiar with the hit-and-miss Courtyards of North America and Europe, but this became my first time with the brand in Asia. Many members of the Prince of Travel team and the Miles & Points community have spoken highly of Courtyards in Asia, and I was keen to check one out for myself.

Courtyard Osaka Honmachi – Booking

I was fortunate to score an industry rate at this hotel, which was one of several options available in the area.

Regular cash rates at the property start at around ¥15,000 ($150 CAD) and rise up to ¥40,000 ($400 CAD) during peak periods. If you’re booking at least a few months in advance, expect to pay ¥15,000 ($150 CAD), which is indeed an attractive price.

If you plan on redeeming Marriott Bonvoy points, expect to part with 35,000–45,000 points per night, with most dates falling somewhere close to 40,000 points.

There isn’t a very compelling reason to redeem points here, especially if you can book rates for around 15,000 ($150 CAD) per night. You’re likely to get much less than our target valuation of 0.9 cents per point, and you’re likely better off saving your points for a more valuable redemption.

If you have a spare Free Night Award kicking around, you can still get decent value out of it, especially if the cash rates run a bit higher than the norm.

Of course, be sure to try out any corporate codes that you are entitled to, as it may bring down the nightly cost even further.

Courtyard Osaka Honmachi – Location

The Courtyard Osaka Honmachi is conveniently located in Central Osaka, close to many of the city’s attractions, transit hubs, and business areas.

The hotel is noticeably adjacent to a main thoroughfare, Chuo-dori Avenue. Despite the hefty level of traffic, I didn’t notice any noise from inside the hotel.

Osaka Castle is a leisurely half-hour stroll from the hotel, or alternatively, about a 10-minute drive. It’s a great spot for a run from the hotel, if you’re into that kind of thing.

To get to the bustling Dotonbori district, it takes around 10 minutes by car, 15 minutes by transit, or 25 minutes by foot. There are plenty of restaurants and bars along the way, should you get hungry at some point along the journey.

Heading northward, you’ll arrive at Nakanoshima, a three-kilometre long sandbank where many government buildings, commercial offices, and museums are located, in around five minutes by car or transit, or around 15 minutes by foot.

Shin-Osaka Station is around 15 minutes by car or 20 minutes by transit from the hotel. 

Kansai International Airport is around an hour by transit or half an hour by car from the hotel, and Itami Airport is around an hour by transit or 25 minutes by car from the Courtyard Osaka Honmachi.

Courtyard Osaka Honmachi – Check-In

I arrived at the hotel from Shin-Osaka Station by way of the Midosuji Line. Navigating my way from the train station to Honmachi was easy, which was a bit of a relief after an oddly delayed Shinkansen ride from Tokyo. 

The hotel’s exterior blends in to many of the surrounding buildings, and I almost walked right past the entrance.

Upon entering, I noted that the hotel appeared to be quite modern, and walked through a hallway with green-leaf artwork and a divider with Japanese writing.

The lobby lounge has a few seating areas for guests, but it isn’t a particularly vast or inviting space to check out. 

I headed over to one of three check-in desks, and was warmly greeted by the associate. I arrived in the early evening, and there weren’t too many people in the area.

My Platinum Elite status was acknowledged, and I was informed of all of the hotel’s facilities and amenities that I’d have access to. There wasn’t really much of a point of “suite-talking” here, since most of the rooms are very similar.

I thanked the associate for the thorough explanation of what to expect, and then headed up to my room on the eighth floor of the hotel.

Courtyard Osaka Honmachi – King Comfort Guest Room

I wasn’t expecting my room to be quite as fancy as what I’d experienced at the Mesm Tokyo the night before. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find a modern room with everything I’d need for a stay that was a mix of both work and leisure.

Upon entering the room, there’s a short hallway that leads past the bathroom and into the bedroom.

In the hallway, there’s an open closet with a place to hang your jacket, a shoe tray, some drawers, and some Japanese pajamas.

Everything in the bedroom is fairly compact, but it had enough space to move around comfortably. The bed takes up the majority of the room, and I found it to be quite comfortable and great for a solid night’s rest, as I was still battling jet lag.

There are side tables on either side of the bed, with lamps, outlets, an alarm clock, and lighting controls.

Mounted on the wall opposite from the bed is the room’s flat-screen TV, which is placed optimally for viewing from the bed.

Between the bed and the window is a small table with a chair. I spent some time working here during my stay, and found it to be comfortable for short stints of work, but not so much for longer periods of time.

Against the window is a padded bench, which I suppose might make for a nice spot to read a book.

The view from the room wasn’t special by any means, as it just looked out onto the neighbouring building and the busy road nearby.

In the corner of the room is a closet, which is where you can hang more garments. There’s also an ironing board inside.

On the other side of the bench is a small pantry, with a tea kettle on top and a mini-fridge tucked underneath. Instead of a coffee maker, there were nifty single-use drip coffee packets, which I hadn’t encountered before.

The bathroom is tucked into the corner of the room between the bed and the door. Inside, you’ll find a single LED-backlit vanity, a Japanese toilet, and a walk-in shower with a bench inside. 

It’s worth noting that there’s a window from the shower to the bedroom, but you can pull down a blind if you’d like a bit of privacy. The rain shower had excellent water pressure.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the room. While it wasn’t the most luxurious room I’ve stayed in, it was modern, clean, functional, and comfortable.

If you’re in Osaka for work or as a tourist, you’ll have everything you need in your room; however, for families, it might be a bit cramped.

Courtyard Osaka Honmachi – Breakfast

Breakfast is served in STITCH, the hotel’s main dining venue, from 7–10am daily. I enjoyed complimentary breakfast as part of my Platinum Elite benefits, but it otherwise costs ¥3,800 ($38 CAD) per person.

There is an exterior entrance to the restaurant, as it’s also open for lunch from 11:30am–3pm, and for dinner from 5:30–11pm. It’s worth noting that you’ll get a 10–20% discount on lunch and dinner, depending on your status.

STITCH is quite small compared to your standard hotel restaurant, with a number of tables set up across two rooms on the second floor of the hotel. The best seats are by the windows, but there isn’t really much of a view to soak in.

I was very pleased with the buffet spread at the Courtyard Osaka Honmachi, which was indeed much better than many North American buffets at higher-end hotels. 

The vast majority of the options available in the buffet were Japanese cuisine, which I certainly didn’t mind at all. For hot items, there was an udon noodle station, dumplings, grilled fish, dumplings, Western- and Japanese-style eggs, karaage, minestrone soup, hot dogs, and fresh tofu.

For cold items, there was a selection of baked goods, yogurts, smoked salmon, cold cuts, cereals, a full salad bar, and fresh fruits.

Better yet, there was an entire table at the rear of the buffet area dedicated to local and seasonal specialties, including takoyaki, kushi katsu, and much more.

On the southward-facing side of the restaurant is the beverage area. There was a nice selection of juices, smoothies, teas, and coffee available.

I thoroughly enjoyed the breakfast each morning, and wound up treating two friends from Edmonton who happened to be in Osaka at the same time. They remarked that the breakfast served at the Courtyard Osaka Honmachi put the one at the Moxy Osaka Honmachi to shame.

Courtyard Osaka Honmachi – Other Facilities

On the train into Osaka, I was reading up on the hotel and its facilities. One item that particularly caught my eye was the open-air public bath, which I hoped just a long way of saying that there’s an onsen (Japanese hot spring) on-site.

Fortunately, my suspicions were correct, and there are separate male and female onsens located on the second floor of the hotel, just down the hall from STITCH. 

As you may recall from previous reviews and articles, I’m very much a bathing enthusiast, and I wound up spending quite a bit of time in the onsen. It’s open daily from 5–10am, and then again from 2pm–1am. 

Bath and face towels are available at the entrance, and you won’t really need to bring anything else aside from slippers. You’re expected to be nude while using the facilities, as is typical in onsens in Japan.

Once inside, you’ll have the option of bathing indoors or outside. On one morning, it was raining outside, and I found it to be particularly refreshing to soak in the hot pool while cool raindrops splashed around.

There are also shower booths nearby for washing up after you’ve had a soak, as well as hair dryers and amenities in the change room.

One hotel benefit that I’ve never encountered before, but hope to again, is complimentary bedtime ramen (I’m not kidding).

As long as you are a Marriott Bonvoy member, you can pop by STITCH from 10:10–10:50pm for a free bowl of ramen, which is supposed to help you sleep well. There’s a limited supply of ramen available, and when I showed up at 10:05pm, I was promptly turned away and asked to return five minutes later.

Inside, you’ll find the toppings, bowls of noodles, water for boiling noodles, and ramen broth set up along the breakfast buffet counter.

The ramen was quite tasty, and I enjoyed the experience of sitting in a quiet room listening to a chorus of slurps while I enjoyed my bowl. I can’t say if I slept so well that night because of jet lag or the ramen, but I think it’s safe to say that both worked well in my favour.

In the lobby, there’s a separate seating area which functions as a business café to the back, known as M18. It’s reserved for guests with Platinum Elite status or higher or who pay an extra fee (¥1,000 ($10 CAD)) per hour.

I tried to get some work done here one day, but found it to be quite noisy, and the complimentary coffee, tea, and soft drinks weren’t enough of a draw to keep me down there.

From 5:30–9pm, it’s supposed to function as a bar; however, this has been closed indefinitely.

The fitness centre is located on the basement floor of the hotel. It’s open around the clock, but you’ll need to make a reservation with the front desk and get a separate access key.

The area is quite small, and has a limited but sufficient range of equipment for use. Inside, you’ll find a couple of treadmills, an elliptical machine, some free weights, and a strength-training tower.

I popped in a couple of times during my stay to stretch after a run or do a bodyweight workout. Aside from having some issues with the access card, I found it to be fine for my purposes.

Just down the hall from the fitness centre is a 24/7 self-serve laundry facility, which is a fantastic amenity for long-term guests. You’ll need to have some ¥100 coins handy, which you can exchange at the front desk.

A wash cycle costs ¥300 ($3 CAD), and each 15 minutes of drying costs ¥100 ($1 CAD), which is an entirely reasonable cost to pay at a hotel.

Conclusion

For my two-night stay in Osaka, the Courtyard Osaka Honmachi was a great spot to use as a base for work and checking out some of the city’s main sights. With its central location and convenient access to transit, it’s a great spot if you’re looking for a comfortable place to stay for business or leisure.

While the rooms aren’t extremely spacious, they have everything you need, and the hotel is nice and quiet. The rest of the hotel is quite modern, and the staff with whom I interacted were all courteous and professional.

The Courtyard Osaka Honmachi also has an excellent breakfast, as well as some delightful surprises with its onsen, laundry facilities, and complimentary bedtime ramen.

When paired with a very reasonable price point when booked in advance, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it as a great option if indulging in luxury isn’t your top priority.