The GAYA Hotel — Hotel in Taitung City

xMy husband and I stayed here for 2 nights during our honeymoon before we headed off to Green Island. It is a beautiful hotel, and the rooms are gorgeous-- but I wouldn't stay here again because it's not worth the money due to a few things.

The design of the hotel is beautiful and modern and the rooms are lovely. Beds are comfortable, bathroom is nice-- I wish there had been a tub, but the shower was very nice. All toiletries are provided, including robes and slippers. The coolest feature of the room is the switch next to the bed to open or close the curtains; very cool.

The staff was as helpful as they could be, but in my opinion there were only 2 people at the front desk who knew what was going on and could speak English. There was 1 female staff member in particular who was very professional and helpful and I really appreciated her attention to detail. They have bikes for rent which was great; we used them, and they are free for the first 2 hours, then 50 NT for each subsequent hour, which is quite reasonable.

The pool is beautiful. but not open very late (only til 8) and there was no hot tub, so it was too cold to swim in.

The restaurants were deeply disappointing. First of all, there are 2 restaurants, but only 1 is open during the week, and that one only offers a set menu. The set menu is fairly expensive and not that great for the price; portions are small and average at best. Since there was a lot of shellfish on the menu, and I have an allergy, they were willing to accommodate me, but it wasn't good. My husband's first course was scallops and I got... steamed cabbage. The ribs of the main course were good, but the veggies on the side were bland, steamed, with no sauce or spices. Really disappointing for an upscale, multiple course set-menu dinner.

We asked about ordering wine, which they had-- but while they have white wine on the menu, it wasn't chilled, so they asked us to wait for them to chill it first. If you offer white wine, one of the first things you should do when opening and setting up for the day is to chill it. We wanted to drink our wine while waiting for our food to come out, and eventually we waited so long that we just asked them to bring us the red wine instead (which oddly enough, was chilled).

The bikes: while a nice service, these bikes are not maintained at all. Our tires were flat and we had to stop at a shop to fill them up with air. The brakes were squeaky and they have no lights. There are no gears, so they're not the easiest to ride; at the very least for safety purposes, I hope they can maintain the air in the tires and the brakes.

I've mentioned the staff was helpful, but it was a rather mixed bag. In the information booklet in the hotel, it says they offer room service, but when we asked about, you'd have thought we asked what time the rocket launches to Mars because noone on the staff had a clue as to what we were talking about. If your hotel offers a service, all your staff should be trained and aware of that service; they began calling the restaurant and the chef and it turned into a whole ordeal of us eventually just deciding to eat out across the street.

The hotel bar: kind of a weird vibe there. I assumed it was inside the hotel but it's next door, so you have to leave the hotel and re-enter, and it just wasn't very nice or classy. It was a little more divey, though the drinks were good.

FINAL VERDICT I think because we had just stayed at The Lakeshore Hotel in Su-Ao, this hotel just couldn't hold up to that. The prices are similar, but the Lakeshore provides that amazing, all-around experience that you're happy to pay for. Gaya has a lot of potential, but they need to up their game and train their staff better, offer more amenities, for the prices they are charging. I would not...

Comfortable and clean hotel but the best part is the unparalleled and professional service you receive from the staff. We had some issues with our first room and they immediately offered to remedy the situation. The supervisor was great and also offered to help us plan our trip try to get to Green Island — none of us speak mandarin well enough to book tickets . Additionally, when we needed a cab the front staff would help us call one in which was great .

In terms of the other amenities — the pool was great and clean with beautiful views of the mountains . Was able to do laps though unsure if this is a true 25 yard pool. The pool is about 3ish feet deep. In the side opposite the pool you can make out the railway village and also green island on a clear day. Breakfast is on the 10th floor has the most amazing views of the ocean but sadly the food was just okay — not the most amazing but good enough. The latte from the coffee machine however is actually surprisingly pretty solid . Lastly room service was quick and amazing. You can also rent bicycles from the hotel — first 2 hours is free and after that it’s 50NT for every hour after. We tried the bikes and they were okay though a bit sketchy ( the brakes weren’t in the best condition) . In a pinch they are rideable .

In terms of location the Gaya hotel is within walking distance to some amazing places such as the railway village, a family mart , Starbucks, princeken coffee, asan shaved ice, tp tea, and 愛吃麵 (has classic Taiwanese food offering the best Ruo Zhao fan and beef noodle soup) . Just outside of the hotel you can find musicians bussing in the streets and Thursday-Sunday street vendors. The side where there is a McDonald’s, there is a small grocery store. None of us had an international drivers permit so we basically walked everywhere and it’s safe to say for the location alone this hotel is a great choice.

Just wanted to thank the staff and the supervisor again for making our stay comfortable and offering such great service for taking great lengths to fixing our room situation. Would 100% recommend to any one...

4-star hotels greet you at the lobby and take your luggage for you. This one not only fails to do so, but will also keep you waiting until you personally approach the counter and tell them that you need to check in. Since we arrived at around 2 pm, we were informed that our room wasn’t ready yet. Upon asking how long it will take to prepare our room, I was told that they didn’t know and could not inform me now but would call me as soon as they knew. Assuming the worst (that it wouldn’t be ready til’ 3), we decided to go out first, only to receive a phone call 3 minutes later that the room was ready -_-

The room is quite spacious, the decor is comfortable, and the bar downstairs is intriguing. However, don’t waste time trying to plug your HDMI into the outlet below the TV. It doesn’t work and you won’t find out until you call reception. And when you ask them “why is there an HDMI plug below the TV that doesn’t connect to the TV?” they won’t be able to give you any explanation. Don’t ask the reception about any restaurant recommendations nearby if the hotel restaurants’ are all booked either. They’ll simply point you to the yakiniku right outside the hotel window and stare back at you blankly. And don’t try pressing the “room service” button on your phone either: no one will pick up because they don’t have room service. Don’t bother asking why they don’t provide room service even though there are two eateries upstairs: they have no idea either.

Long story short: this is definitely not a 4-star hotel. It’s barely pushing 3 if you ask me. Maybe Gaya Hotel is still struggling from COVID restrictions as are many businesses. But plugs no longer functioning and buttons leading to dead-end service destinations should be eliminated. Most importantly, service and attitude are everything, and Gaya falls...