Quite unexpectedly, it’s time for me to discover two new hotels in Taipei, a city I know nothing about.

As a reminder, here is the itinerary followed:

Booking

I booked this property the day before my arrival. For once, I didn’t book the entry-level room, but the highest available for booking at the time of purchase, namely a Premium room with king bed, for just over €200 a night. Not cheap, but Taiwan isn’t Bangkok and this will be my only Asian vacation for a long time.

Arrival

The day before my arrival, I carried out the online check-in formalities via the IHG app (which, incidentally, disconnects to a web page for these formalities), indicating a time of arrival after 10pm.

I arrive at Taipei airport and take a yellow cab to the hotel. Grab is not available in Taipei and no Uber was available.

The journey to the hotel will take a good 45 minutes, as the airport is around 50km from the city.

I arrive at the hotel shortly after 11pm. The welcome was excellent, and the valet helped the cab to make the payment with my credit card.

I’m then immediately taken care of by one of the receptionists, who proceeds with the check-in formalities.

These will be simple, a late check-out will be granted at 2pm (I don’t need anything more) and the credit card imprint will be made.

Having already booked the highest room category, no mention of an upgrade will be given.

I’ll choose breakfast as an IHG Diamond benefit, then the porter will escort me to my suite.

Suite

My suite was located on the 8th floor of the property.

This is a corner suite, so it’s quite spacious.

Strangely enough, the entrance to the suite leads directly into the bathroom, decorated with Parisian subway-style tiles. Original but not to everyone’s taste. Before the bathroom is a small entrance where a small bench is installed for putting on or taking off shoes.

The bathroom, all in white, is very spacious. A double washbasin is available, as is a separate Japanese toilet and a separate shower + onsen area.

Toiletries come in large-format containers from Atelier Bloen, a brand already seen in some american Kimptons.

Then there’s the lounge and night area, whose design I’m particularly fond of.

The lounge area is a real eye-catcher, and a welcome note was left for me on the coffee table. Opposite, a gilded cabinet holds the Nespresso machine. The minibar is integrated into the shelves on the left, and the safe in the drawers on the right of the suite.

The bed will be very comfortable, and the TV will be equipped with Chromecast functionality for displaying content.

Finally, a small recess, right next to the window, lets you set up your desk during your stay.

Unfortunately, the weather will be horrible during my stay, so the view will be limited to the neighborhood I’m in.

To finish, a video tour:

Hotel facilities

The hotel is equipped with a fitness room, located on the 2nd floor of the property. I’ll be using it on the morning of my stay for an elliptical session.

It’s very pleasant and a good size.

Catering

The property features The Tavernist restaurant on the 12th floor. In addition, a station for making your own cocktails has been set up in the lobby – I love the idea!

Breakfast service – The Tavernist

For breakfast service, due to the restaurant’s limited capacity, a slot must be reserved at check-in. I’ll choose the 8.10am-9am slot.

The welcome is very good. Breakfast is à la carte only, with a number of common items and one item to choose from the entire menu. I’ll choose the personalized plate with scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, cheese and an English Muffin.

The whole thing will be excellent and served with a rather full-bodied latte.

Service

The service in the hotel is very good, and the staff go out of their way to interact with guests, which I appreciate.

Nonetheless, you can feel the Asian rigidity of certain acts, with surgical precision in the limitations of certain benefits, for example.

Departure

Departure formalities are simple, but the receptionist forgets to e-mail me the bill. I had to call again during the day for my invoice to be sent.

Bottom line

An excellent stay with good service, and above all a design very much to my taste.

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