Howard Beach Resort Kenting — Hotel in Hengchun

Tldr; This hotel room is not worth $250 a night! Don’t expect good food from the hotel. The amenities are better for families not for couples. They also hold school or company events here. Not relaxing! This hotel doesn’t know what kind of hotel it wants to be judging from all mixed amenities it has.

We stayed here for two nights. We came early around 12. They didnt allow early check in so we just left our luggage. There was an older man who just shrugged us off when we asked to leave our luggage. Thankfully, there was another helpful concierge person who helped us put our luggage in. He gave us helpful insight about the hotel scooters and the tours. The tours were affordable but required us to have a minimum of four people so werent able to do it. He pointed us to the next door mall and told us that the food court was open. It was not open. In no way, was it his fault because on the times on the sign outside said it was open.

The mall next door was deserted!! We tried the chicken and the shaved ice over there and they are not worth eating at. Save your money and go outside to eat!

We randomly found a deer farm in the hotel. It was $60NT to feed them.

Once it was time for check in, the front desk representative was about to not give us the complimentary afternoon tea until after we told them that it was included when we purchased one. They didn’t provide info about breakfast times or any other helpful info. They did give us a top floor room with a good view, I’ll give them that!

As for the room itself, it was ENORMOUS!! But it was outdated. We had two double beds in our room. It had the super basic amenities like towels, hotel slippers, beach slippers, a coffee machine, waters, some fruits, a complimentary cooler bag, but there was no mini bar. We did have a drink coupon but we had to go down to grab it, so we never claimed it.

For the afternoon tea, it was average. Their milk tea was overly sweet. The selection was basic savory sandwiches, cookies, madeleine, and fruits. The fruits weren’t good. I guess its good to have some snacks in the afternoon but don’t expect a super delicious afternoon tea.

As for the breakfast, the food quality is not good. I barely ate anything hot in there. They had some bread options but their toasting machine barely heated up the bread. Their coffee machine didn’t spit out anything good except for their latte. And it was only good if you got it from #2 machine. The others were too bitter. The decent items in the buffet are the dou hua (tofu with brown sugar), the beef soup (the only warm thing in there), and the freshly grilled eggs (they need to add salt).

My boyfriend went to a howard hotel in Taipei and LOVED their buffet! Thats why we went to this place in the first place and paid the crazy amount. But if you’re going for the food, STAY AWAY! Just eat outside!!

Speaking of outside food, they are next to the night market!! Great perk of this hotel!!! The Kenting Night Market had a good selection like their pizza and xiao long bao. Please look online for the recommended shops because some of the stalls aren’t good. Some had so much bugs on the stalls and on their food. If you go on a Sunday, go to Hengchun night market. It was AMAZING! Try their stinky tofu + century egg. But you just have to drive there or scooter there.

The hotel was also next to the beach and had an entrance so that you don’t have to cross the road. We didnt go because the water didnt look the most turquoise because of the rain. My boyfriend has been to the kenting’s beach and the sand had so much corals, it was awful to step in it. We researched and recommend driving/scootering to baishawan beach. Better fine sand but may be bigger waves. Theres a small swimming area you can go to tho.

The pool area was big but is meant for lap swimming not fun swimming. No slides. Lukewarm jacuzzi. They give towels but make sure to return or you get charged.

To go home, they offered a shuttle that takes you to Kaohsiung Station. They told us to wait in the lobby but we almost missed it cuz they didnt call...

5-star hotel? Maybe when Howard Kenting first opened for business. Me & my girlfriend’s experience during our stay was subpar at best 🙁

Check-in Experience: Me & my partner arrived at 12pm noon on our check-in day. I called ahead and was told that we could go to check in and ask for our afternoon-tea vouchers ahead of check-in since tea service started before the actual check-in time. Front desk did not take our information at all and insisted we come back during check-in time after 3pm. Breakfast times were not mentioned and afternoon-tea vouchers were only provided to me until I asked even though it should’ve been included with my booking. We were also brushed off by an older-gentlemen with white hair when we tried to get our luggage at the concierge; we asked to get our luggage and he just said yes and walked away, meanwhile a younger employee stepped in to help us.

The underground mall & food court: Underground mall managed by Howard is sad and lots of shops didn’t even have employees at them, probably due to the low traffic that comes through there. Concierge told us that the food court would be open downstairs after 1pm; Sadly I have to report that the food court section was closed even during the weekend that we stayed during a busy summer month. The only sit-down Japanese restaurant in the mall seemed confused when me & my partner asked for a seat and told us about the long wait time. They suggested that we leave so that we wouldn’t miss the magic show which we never expressed interest in seeing in the first place. The fried chicken stall we ended up getting food at was great but stay away from the shaved ice!

Rooms: We got a top floor room which was nice and spacious with tired decor. Some furnishings looked old but overall cleanliness was good.

Hotel Facilities: Thankfully, one of the good things about Howard Kenting. Pool was clean and big 👍, the Taiwan deer area was great and good for kids. Can’t speak for the 小灣 beach since we went to other ones but it seemed to have easy access from the mall in the basement and wash-off areas. Overall great facilities excluding the underground mall.

Afternoon-tea & Breakfast buffet: Nothing to write home about the afternoon-tea, it was okay. Breakfast buffet was lackluster as multiple food items were cold even though of the high-volume of people coming through the restaurants. Foods were placed in food-warmers but none of them seemed to be on? The highlight of the buffet was the freshly-fried eggs and hotly-poured beef soup. Rice was undercooked and the meat sauce was cold for the Braised-pork rice (肉燥飯). Additionally, food quality wasn’t the best as I’m pretty sure I had some egg shell in one of the items I got from the steamed dim-sum section.

Check-out Experience: During checkout, we were told to wait for the Shuttle service to Kaohsiung Zuoying HSR station at the lobby and someone would notify us when the bus was ready to leave. We barely made the bus because I had enough sense to go outside the lobby and ask about it. They called my family member who helped us book our stay (even though the front desk specifically asked for MY updated phone number during check-in).

Value/Price CP值: Very poor value considering what we paid for a two-night stay $16,644TWD or $537USD.

I liked my stay at Howard in downtown Taipei so I decided to give Kenting a try but I was really disappointed with my experience during this stay. The only thing going for Howard Kenting is its Location in proximity to the Kenting Night Market, Big Spaces, and Venues for events. Do not come here expecting...

We hired a car from Kaohsiung and drove down to kenting to get to the resort. In hindsight it may have been better to take their shuttle bus, as we did not really need the car, and you could easily hire a electric moped in kenting town. which was a very short walk away from the hotel.

We stayed at the Howard Villas, which have a separate checkin/lobby area, it was not quite clear where that was so we ended up going to the main checkin, then being redirected to the villa lobby, a short walk away. There is also a seperate car park for the villa's

Having checked in, we where upgraded to a 2 bedroom suite. The rooms appear to have been renovated recently, and where in a very good condition. One thing to note is that the 'private' pool, while only available for use by the villa, as the villa is really the ground floor unit in a 3 story development, is overlooked by the hotel rooms above. The outdoor jacazzi / show however is totally private.

The package included breakfast, which while not a 5 star hotel quality is a respectable 4 star buffet. on the weekend it's either at the main hall, or one of the function rooms next to it. weekdays, the main hall is the only location and is a short walk from the room.

The pool was not full when we arrived, the staff did mention that if we wanted it filled up to ask, and when we requested it in the morning, it was full up in the afternoon when we got back. While not that deep or long (it's really a plunge pool), it's quite a nice way to relax on a hot day.

Things to do around the hotel The night food market - is very close to the hotel, and a great way to have dinner, lots of variety and great food, the stall holder very helpful and friendly. The package included free use of the bicycles at the hotel. We cycled up-to, and just past the lighthouse. A great way to see the area and get a bit of exercise. The bikes are reasonable, gears and brakes work, but are not new, and looked a bit rusty, could do with a regular replacement. On a sunday most of the bikes had been rented out by after lunch, so get there quite early. We drove around the county on the second day, and saw the remaining sights, which we could not make it to on the bike. The beach is connected to the hotel via a private tunnel, and is a nice sandy, quite shallow beach with swimming. No watersports really available, so it's good for kids and a relaxing time

Overall a great relaxing weekend, well...