In the Shin-Umeda district, this property sits next to the architecturally striking Umeda Sky Building, 800 m northwest of Osaka Station. The hotel offers larger guest rooms than the similarly priced Hilton and a refreshing lack of pretense and clubby ostentation, the hallmarks of The Ritz-Carlton's business. This 30-story tower, conceived by Charles Besford and one of Asia's most respected hoteliers, melds Western amenities with refined, traditional Japanese elegance, backstopped with all the convenience technology can supply. By any standard, Besford has succeeded.
A golden reflecting pond greets arrivals at the entrance. Just inside is a relaxing lobby with blue and tan leather club chairs. A ceramic museum-quality mural depicts a historic scene of Western traders and Japanese merchants.
Tucked into a quiet corner is the elegant European-style bar. Beyond is the three-story atrium, home to an open-kitchen cafe with separate seating for nouvelle cuisine or macrobiotic (natural) foods, and overlooking the Japanese garden. The Mediterranean restaurant, Stella Maris, perched above the cafe, serves creative dishes from an open kitchen, and the plush Japanese restaurant Hanano on the third floor features separate areas for sushi, teppanyaki, tempura and sukiyaki, along with three private rooms. Also on the third level is a Chinese restaurant with gorgeous Ming ceramic accents. Room service operates around the clock.
A gym, 20-m indoor pool, sauna, jogging track and whirlpool keep guests fit for a fee, and the licensed daycare center keeps children entertained until 10 pm 
weekdays, 8 pm weekends. Meeting and wedding traffic arrives at a separate entrance, whence escalators whisk them to second-floor function space for 1,200. Shuttles depart the hotel every 20 minutes for the station and a few times each day for Kansai.
On floors 7-30, guest rooms are this hotel's pieces de resistance. The largest in Osaka after The Ritz-Carlton's, these quarters are classic European in style, with white duvet bedcovers and red accents. Double glazing, triple insulation and automatic drop panels at the thresholds of doors make these among the quietest rooms in town. All come with high ceilings, extra-large desks, dual-line phones, Internet access, TVs, minibars and trademark Heavenly beds (double size even in the single rooms). Marble baths have tall showers separated from big tubs, 
generous counter space, bidet toilets, hair dryers and large mirrors. Deluxe rooms add a second basin. The four corner units on each floor have L-shaped layouts that isolate sitting areas from sleeping areas, making them, in effect, studios. Premium rooms, on floors 26-30, enjoy access to concierge services and a lounge with complimentary cocktails and a breakfast buffet. Top-floor rooms also boast panoramic city views. Three floors (48 rooms) are for nonsmokers, and two rooms are for the handicapped.
Though the Westin has a more relaxed, playful atmosphere than other contenders in the area, its awkward location makes it a bit out of the way for those on the go.