In January 2025 we stayed one night at the Oriental Hotel Universal City with our two daughters, aged 4 and 2 — three adults and two children in total. It was simply the night before our day at Universal Studios Japan.
But when we got home and asked the girls what the best thing they ate on the whole trip was, the answer came from this hotel. And that was on a trip where, the day before, we had eaten live snow crab.
Here’s the short version: every guest at this hotel gets free use of the lounge, and it’s the kind of lounge you’d normally only get on a club floor.
Price and room: what we paid
| Stay | 1 night (January 2025) |
| Guests | 3 adults + 2 children (aged 4 and 2) |
| Room | Deluxe Triple, non-smoking |
| Meals | Breakfast included |
| Price | About ¥35,000 for the night — roughly 233 US dollars |
About ¥35,000 for five of us, right in front of USJ. For the location, we thought that was good value.
The room was a Deluxe Triple, with the two children sharing beds with us. How hotels count young children varies, so confirm when you book. What we usually do in Japan: search for 3 adults and 1 child, then contact the hotel straight away to tell them we have two preschoolers sharing beds.
The building isn’t new. But it was spotless, and we were completely comfortable.
200m from USJ, with a convenience store downstairs
- About 200m to the USJ gate, right by Universal City Station
- A convenience store and a Matsumoto Kiyoshi drugstore in the building
- Forgotten items, children’s medicine, last-minute snacks — all sorted downstairs
With small kids at a theme park, you always end up needing something: drinks, snacks, plasters, cooling gel sheets for a fever. Having a convenience store and a drugstore in the building helped far more than we expected.
Being able to leave the bags in the room and simply walk into the park in the morning makes a big difference too. We did exactly that — here’s how our day at Universal Studios Japan with a 2- and 4-year-old went.
The real reason to stay here: a free lounge for every guest
They let us into our room before the official check-in time because it was ready. With small children, that alone is a gift.
But the thing that surprised us more than the room was the lounge. It had:
- Soft-serve ice cream
- A range of drinks
- Small snacks
- Even sweets for the kids
All of it is free for every guest. At most hotels this is a perk for elite members or club-floor rooms. Here, everyone gets it.
The girls were thrilled with the soft-serve, and then thrilled all over again when they were handed sweets.
In the evening, the lounge serves hot dogs
When we came back to the hotel at night, the lounge was serving hot dogs.
That evening we had gone out to Tsuruhashi, Osaka’s Koreatown, for yakiniku. Both girls fell asleep on the way, so only the adults ate dinner.
When the girls woke up back at the hotel, these hot dogs became their dinner. They completely saved us. That this is included for every guest is honestly impressive.
Breakfast is built around what kids love
Breakfast leaned heavily towards things children get excited about. First, the doughnuts. I didn’t eat any, but the girls lit up the moment they saw them.
There was fresh-squeezed orange juice, which the kids happily drank — and it was genuinely good for adults too.
There were also made-to-order burgers and eggs Benedict. Booking the breakfast-included rate was the right call.
The kids’ verdict: “the hotel ice cream”
Back home, we asked the girls what the most delicious thing on the trip was.
“The hotel ice cream.” Instantly.
On the first day of that trip we had eaten live snow crab. It lost to free soft-serve. That’s travelling with small children for you.
Where we ate: okonomiyaki at Osaka Station, yakiniku in Tsuruhashi
For lunch, after travelling down from Amanohashidate, we ate okonomiyaki in the Osaka Station building, at a branch of a Tsuruhashi restaurant.
It was our first time taking the kids to a place where you sit around a hot iron griddle. I was so busy making sure nobody got burned that I barely took any photos.
In the evening we went to Tsuruhashi for yakiniku. We couldn’t tell the restaurants apart online, so we walked into the first one we saw. It was a charcoal-brazier place, we didn’t quite master it, and we burned a fair bit of meat. The meat itself was tender and delicious.
The bibimbap was excellent. By then the kids were asleep, so it was an adults-only dinner.
A lesson we keep relearning: give the kids a tablet on the move and they won’t sleep. Don’t, and they fall asleep at exactly the wrong moment. Either way, it never goes to plan.
A small warning about souvenirs
We wandered the shops around the hotel and bought three cute things. They came to ¥5,600. Compared with ¥35,000 for the room, that’s quite a ratio. Cute is expensive.
In short
- Free lounge for every guest: soft-serve, drinks and snacks
- Evening hot dogs — dinner sorted when the kids slept through yours
- Kid-friendly breakfast: doughnuts, fresh orange juice, made-to-order burgers
- About 200m to USJ, by Universal City Station, with a convenience store and drugstore downstairs
- About ¥35,000 a night for 3 adults and 2 young children (January 2025)
- The house shampoo and body wash smelled lovely, and they let us check in early
- The only minus: the building isn’t new — but it’s very clean
If you’re staying overnight for Universal Studios Japan and don’t need an official park hotel, we’d recommend it without hesitation. Prices change by date, so check current rates for your stay.