THE LIN — Hotel in Taichung

Worst experience ever in any 5 star hotel I have ever been to. I wish I could give it zero stars.

Price : 6480 NTD ( I booked via phone because they were full , maybe does not reflect their usual price - usually around 4000 NTD )

Rooms: (5/10) it's acceptable on the look but a few notes Pillows are old and yellow Because the room is carpet but not cleaned properly - it has a slight moist and damp smell when you enter. The shampoos are penhaligons - very good. No slippers.

Food: (2/10) Room service: Beef noodles . On my menu it said they garauntee 20 minutes delivery ...it came after 40 mins- the noodles were no longer hot and the ice cream no longer cold. The quality is quite poor; beef is not broiled long enough , soup base uses a mix of real beef broth and instant broth mix , noodles are precooked then pour soup into the bowl , hence noodles are cold and too soft. The beef and tendon was not cooked evenly some were soft and some were hard but most importantly...it was extremely dry. They reccomended watermelon juice so I ordered and it was watered down. It came with haagen daaz ice cream but because it came with the noodles by the time I finished my noodles , the ice cream was completely melted. They should have had a container to keep the ice cream cold. Room service and beef noodles not reccomended. Also the price....the noodles + juice came together to 900 NTD. Not quality for money at all.

Breakfast overall - welcoming and food below with photos ( photos please check album) (2/10) A reminder that I came into this hotel expecting 5 star experience. It just didn't deliver at all.

Welcoming (3/10) They had 5 staff welcoming you in a line , it's like I'm in mainland China. They took me to my seat but I had to go through a tunnel which had two doors open and showed all the kitchen work inside with raw meat on the table , it was very unappetizing. When I asked that I want coffee....they told me I need to get it myself. Fair enough but not what I expect from a 5 star.

Food (1/10) This is the part where it made me write my review. Just terrible food and most of the food are empty. Eggs were a mess and attitude from the guy cooking eggs was just horrible. I asked for an omelet ...he just pointed to the plate that was cooked at left there....I was expecting them to cook it on the spot with preferred ingredients. Not mind also all the eggs that were just piling up on the plates. Food variety and quality was terrible also the plates and glass cups had a smell. Coffee was very watered down, they need new machines;at least illy. Food is always emtpy as seen in photos. Noone ever fills them and they're just presented like a mess.

What really put me off here was in the middle of all the food there were 2 chefs at 920am who pushed a trolley with 2 raw whole tunas from one end of the dining hall thorough all the cooked food into the kitchen whilst if was dripping water and with the fishy smell. There was no staff or kitchen lifts ( at least they didn't use it )

Amidst of all this chaos and mess...there is always 5 waiters/waitresses standing around not doing anything. They need new management.

I highly do not reccomend this place. There are definitely much better quality places and better value for money. I stayed in millenium hotel and Windsor hotel Taichung , they're both much better options.

I don't usually write reviews but this experience shocked me. Not...

Worst Hotel in Taiwan for Business Travelers June 2025 I only take time to share the best and the worst. I tried this hotel because of its proximity to our international branch office located in Taichung NTC (National Trade Center), which is right next to this hotel. Over the past twenty plus years of business travel to Taiwan, LIN is undoubtedly the worst hotel I have ever experienced. It is simply not a hotel for business travelers for the following reasons: No USB port to charge the iPhone. This hotel stays in the last century still. Even in the top-notch corner executive suite (#2124), the internet is unbearably slow, making it impossible to work. The executive lounge is important for business travelers to wind down after a long day of work. Unlike many popular loyalty programs such as Marriott Bonvoy and IHG One Rewards, the executive lounge at LINS is simply a joke: a. Who in the right mind would put happy hour from 3-5PM, purposely putting business travelers out of reach?! b. The executive lounge on the top floor is not open most of the time. Instead, the bar on the 1st floor is used. The bar is nowhere near the comfort of the executive lounge. Worst of all, the food is controlled by the bar attender. One has to literally beg for some lousy finger sandwiches and bowl of salad. The main course for happy hour is usually one cheap dish like fried noodle. It is important for business travelers to have the flexibility to change the schedule whenever needed. Over the past twenty plus years traveling in Taiwan, I have never had problem checking out earlier when business emergency calls for. However, I was not allowed to check out earlier w/o full payment, even when I gave plenty of advance notice. They simply ignore the difference between deposit and final payment and charge full payment upfront, thereby keeping guess hostage with money. Both my travel agent and Corporate travel director got involved, but in vain. We ended up checking out earlier with full payment, but blocking this hotel from our Corporate travel list going forward.

In general, this hotel is all about profit, without regard to international business practice and standard. The front desk staff are simply rude as they have to defend un-defendable frequently. The breakfast buffet is chaotic, just like hungry peasants fighting for large selections of cheap food. It is not a hotel of class where guess will be treated with decency. It is a total embarrassment to the city and great people of...

We have stayed at all of the "top" hotels in Taichung, but our family told us The Lin is the best. So we were really looking forward to our stay, to celebrate my dad's 80th birthday. Although The Lin is a beautiful hotel, there are many areas the hotel will need to improve in order to be at the same level as a 5-star hotel in Taipei.||I understand that due to Covid and the drought, the hotel has had to make some changes to its service. However, the hotel needs to be more clear on its website about limited/changed services so that guests are aware of these changes before they book. I booked 2 executive level rooms, and was very disappointed by the extremely limited benefits of executive level, that were not made clear on the website. As a guest of many 5-star hotels across the world with "club level" including Shangri-la, St. Regis, Ritz, etc., the expectation of executive/club level is that you get high-level beverage and food as part of the room rate, 7 days/week and all day (e.g. 7 a.m. to midnight+). So we were disappointed to find out upon our arrival at The Lin that hot food and alcoholic beverages are limited to just a few hours/day. The information we were provided at the hotel indicated that hot food was served at both lounges, when in fact hot food was only available at the 1F bar. The pool was closed during the drought. This should have been noted on the website instead of waiting to notify me about this after I booked. We needed a quiet place to conduct business calls but the business center was closed. We did not find this out until after we arrived. Most of the staff at the hotel were very friendly and tried to help. But when we indicated how big of a problem it was that there was no business center, someone should have found us a solution. We tried to order room service at 11 p.m. but when we called, they had run out of everything except one bowl of beef noodle soup! The hotel really should have offered discounts and other credits given the pool and business center were closed and the hours/services of the two executive lounges were severely limited.||On the positive side, I had several packages delivered to the hotel prior to my arrival. The staff handled this very well and were very communicative about the status of my packages. The location of the hotel is very nice, close to the river, the Opera House, and good food. The Lin probably is one of the nicest hotels in Taichung, but I think it can do a better job and needs to do...