11-04-2025
Osaka Expo-bound? Take your pick of the city's new luxury hotels.
The 2025 World Expo held in Osaka officially kicks off on April 13, with 158 countries and seven international organizations slated to participate. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimates the event will attract some 28 million visitors over its six-month duration, and Osaka has seen a rush of new hotel development over the last few years to meet that demand.
Osaka Prefecture reported 255 new lodging facilities opened between 2020 and 2024, to which this spring is adding a flurry of new openings in line with the Expo commencement. Most of the new options are clustered in Kita and Chuo wards, providing smooth access to the city's business districts and most popular tourist attractions.
The biggest boom has been in the luxury sector. Until recently, only a handful of five-star hotels served the city despite the fact that it attracted millions of tourists each year. Last September, Hilton introduced its boutique Canopy brand, Canopy by Hilton Osaka Umeda; on April 3, it launched Waldorf Astoria Osaka, Japan's first Waldorf Astoria hotel. The Osaka Station Hotel, part of Marriot's Autograph Collection, and Four Seasons Hotel Osaka opened in 2024, while Thai luxury chain Centara unveiled the Centara Grand Hotel Osaka in 2023. Next month, Singapore's Capella Group will add Patina Osaka to the mix, marking the youthful, food-forward brand's first appearance in Japan.
The Osaka Station Hotel is part of Marriott's premium Autograph Collection. |
OSAKA STATION HOTEL
These properties alone add nearly 1,900 hotel rooms to the city's capacity.
More homegrown brands can be found in the midrange market. Early 2025 saw the grand opening of Hotel Hankyu Gran Respire Osaka, part of Umeda's Grand Green Osaka development. In 2022, Hoshino Resorts opened Omo7, an experiential brand popular with young travelers, as well as the family-focused bayside resort Risonare Osaka. The latter is located inside Seibu Prince's The Grand Prince Hotel, with the Prince handling rooms and dining and Risonare providing a creative play area designed around the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education.
Opened in September 2024, the Canopy by Hilton Osaka Umeda hotel is the first of the boutique brand's properties in the city. |
© 2025 Hilton
Local brands face stiff competition for price-conscious travelers, with some international companies investing big in Osaka as Japan continues to blow past even pre-pandemic highs of inbound visitors. Marriott's Four Points Flex by Sheraton opened a whopping five new or renovated outlets around the city over the last year, which joined their preexisting, youth-focused Moxy and Aloft hotels from 2020 and 2021 respectively.
Meanwhile, IHG Hotels & Resorts has opened the first three Asian outlets of its wallet-friendly Garner brand all clustered in the central Honmachi neighborhood, adding to its first Voco hotel it opened in the city in 2023. Others have taken the opportunity to collaborate, with French hotel giant Accor opting to open its first-ever dual-branded hotel with the Mercure Tokyu Stay Osaka Namba in 2022.
In May, the Singapore-based Capella Group will open its Patina Osaka property. |
FAT TONY STUDIO
Even once all the Expo visitors have headed home when the event wraps up in October, hoteliers are betting demand will remain high in Osaka, as it will soon be home to Japan's first casino resort, set to open in 2030 next door to the Expo site.
For now, the increased capacity makes lodging a buyer's market, as intense competition keeps prices down and encourages hotels to differentiate themselves from the pack with interesting amenities and experiences. And that's something that should make every visitor smile.
