Just got back from a 4 day Osaka/Kyoto trip. Stayed for the first 2 nights at The Westin Osaka and another night at New Hankyu. The Westin Osaka was wonderful. I stayed at the ladies' floor, and they provided EVERYTHING. Big room, separate powder room/ bathroom. Curling iron, lighted mirrors, pajamas.

Breakfast at Cafe Amadeus was nothing spectacular though. The location of the hotel was good if you want to stay at a quieter part of Umeda. Right beside the Umeda Sky Building.
I, unfortunately, made the mistake of going up the tower at night, when most of the guests were couples and attractions were for couples. Haha. Since I was solo, I just had a personalized lovelock made for my husband and I but I couldn't bear to leave it there so I ended up taking it home with me.
Day 2: Osaka Museum of Housing and Living (kimono dressing line tooooo long)
Tenjinbashi-Suji Shopping Street, Osaka Castle, Hankyu Umeda Department Store, kaiten sushi
Day 3: my solo Kyoto day trip! I got a private guide for my maiko adventure. The entire thing took around 2.5hrs with the makeup, dressing up, pictorial, etc. What an experience! It was tricky to walk around with that helmet of hair, heavy and tight kimono and super thick sandals. On the way back to Kyoto Station, I asked my guide to just drop me off at the Kyoto Tower. I took the Hikari Shinkansen from Kyoto Stn to Shin Osaka then just transferred to the JR line for Osaka Stn. I climbed up the Umeda Sky again to have my tower passport stamped.

Checked in at New Hankyu, small usual Japanese hotel room. Met up with my folks that night and had dinner at Noku, at Intercontinental. Went around Grand Front,
[textspeak!] Chayamachi and rode the HEP Five wheel.
Day 4: Up early to catch the airport bus right outside New Hankyu. Caught the 620am bus. Mind you, they fill up pretty fast and the lines can get long so be here early. Checked in at KIX and went around all floors before immigration to check out the shops n restos. After getting on the train to the gate, I made it in time to use the Sakura lounge, which was old and tired-looking in my opinion.
I had seat 1A (my fave seat nbr!) on the A340 and got the wonderful bento meal on Mabuhay Class.
Going back to Tokyo mid-Nov. Can't wait!