The Grand Hotel — Attraction in Taipei

We enjoyed this hotel because of:||1. Its cultural/ historical significance|There were Chinese symbolisms in almost every architectural detail. "Yuanshan West Secret Tunnel" guided tour, led by our knowledgeable tour guide, Mr Yin ("尹" in Mandarin or "Yoon" in Korean) helped us to appreciate and feel the heft of every meaningful detail - revealing the deep cultural roots of the people back then, their hopes and dreams, and definitely serving the purpose as an anchor, an icon, and even a beacon for the future generations.||2. Its room and view|Honestly - all praises about our room except one - their central air-conditioning was too cold. Some in-room facilities such as the Dyson hair-dryer, air filter/dehumidifier and rather delish capsule coffee flavours made us feel rather pampered during our stay. As for the room itself, we recommend booking the Horizon Suite facing the EAST, which we figured is the best room for us because it is the ONLY room on each floor that is right in the middle of the "breadth" side of this perfectly rectangular building. This side has the totally unblocked view of the Dajia Harbour along the Keelung River and you can see the magnificent Yangmingshan and enjoy the gorgeous sunrise in the distance. The other two rooms beside us were the corner suites so a little more privacy than rooms on the "length" side of this hotel... this matters because the balcony wraps around and is "shared" by the entire perimeter of each floor, separated only by an easily surmounted 1-meter wooden fence for each room. All three other sides of this hotel face the city. Level 5 was perfect for being low enough to enjoy the sights of the buildings and parks below.||3. Service|Service staff was excellent! The taxi concierge, the check-in staff, the guides - they all went above and beyond to help and enquire if we needed help whenever we were standing around looking a bit lost in the gigantic lobby, or offering help to take our photos when we were doing we-fies. Sure, there was a bit of a wait to get our room, but it's not a bother at all, we can occupy ourselves just fine checking out the grand decor, the numerous interesting corners of the lobby and the stores of intricacies on both ground and mezzanine floors. We felt like little kids exploring a grand and gigantic palace, just taking it all in like we're on an adventure.||4. Location|Being on a hill overlooking the city, of course this hotel's gotta feel a little bit further from town. But our cab rides to Shilin or Ningxia night markets and even the DEFINITELY-MUST-TRY Michelin-starred Golden Formosa Restaurant never exceeded 15 minutes. Besides, we enjoyed all our cab rides taking in the sights and sounds of the city, and it's always a joy to hear some fun local stories from the friendlier taxi drivers - they enhanced our knowledge and understanding of the city...

We attended the Secret Passage Tour at the Grand Hotel Taipei. Considering its prestige and known accommodation for foreign guests, we were met with average, even below average, service/hospitality. The tour was done in Chinese and the English guests were only given these digital devices you can listen to, and a laminated paper containing the guide on which button to press when you’re in the designated area. Firstly, the order of point of interests in the laminated guide was incorrect. Secondly, there was no one to check up on the English-speaking guests and provide more context on the tour. Unlike the guide using the local language, there were anecdotes and whatnot that probably made the tour more entertaining and interactive.

For an establishment that’s supposed to be a five star service and welcome foreign guests, it was definitely below expectations. Which is disappointing considering the beauty of the hotel’s architecture and its ties to the nation’s history.

If you are an ENGLISH-speaking native, I DO NOT recommend this tour. For the management, I would suggest creating proper schedules for English-friendly guided tours instead of putting all of us up in one group. Because in our scenario, a few guests including us definitely felt excluded and left behind. There’s also a lack of signage and information on where to check in for the tour because on call, the representative told me to go to the front desk (which was not the check-in for the tour).

There was also a misunderstanding regarding the free meal “coupon”. On call, I understood that we had to make a reservation for a meal and pay for the tour so I thought that it was mandatory. We spoke with one of the tour representatives and she had told us “we didn’t spend enough money”. Which was confusing to me because I didn’t understand what she meant. Apparently we had to be staying guests or had spent money on the property. The way it was said was definitely rude and did not sound welcoming at all. I was said one thing on the call by the hotel representative and then was told differently in a rude way by the staff at the hotel. Big miscommunication. Huge disappointment.

Nevertheless, the property itself was interesting. Thus, the 2 stars. Our...

Night time photos of (the view from) Chi Lin Building.

No ratings needed for a heritage building. Nice experience. Pleasure to stay here.

The corner 1-bedroom suite upgrade was a great surprise with windows all around which was at the main building with the direct view of Taipei 101 building and the airport. The balcony was also in the corner.

The Chi Lin building is at the back which has a family mart and near to the mountains. The air and the wind was really pleasant today at 22/72 c/f. The corridor at this building is not as grand as the main building.

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Took the path from the ground level near the train station. The stairs going up to the building wasn’t that bad. Perhaps about four flights of stairs which leads to the motorcycle lot. It’s not very tidy up which would be way way better if it did. It’s a bit smelly also. And it was not a nice experience. It’s like such a great building but on the side no one even cares for it. I’m pretty such it can be cleaned up in a day. For me, it’s just like making the building and front door looks great for the purpose of the face. The stairway should be cleaned up too from the ground level with all the overgrown leaves and branches. It’s just not a good sight and not welcoming.

Housekeeping is doing their best job they could. (Maybe pay extra attentions to the corners of the room will be great.) The building is a historical building so the furnishings are dated. So if there’s a problem w that, you can’t stay here. Air conditioning in all roooms are superb!!! I could never get that in all the hotels I have been staying in Taiwan.

I wish the Chinese restaurant serves better dishes. The ones I had wasn’t as good esp the desserts. But it’s worth to try tho so you know how they taste like. I love this...