The Lalu Hotel — Hotel in undefined

Spent 2 glorious nights at the lalu hotel and my only wish is that we had more time here. We absolutely loved our stay here and plan to come back. ||1- location: wow, this has to be the best view of sun moon lake, it is breathtaking, the view from the rooms are unmatched, there is a deep sense of tranquility that is filled throughout the whole hotel being situated on this lake. We scootered around the lake and found that the hotel view is the best spot on the lake. ||2- staff: every staff member from reception, service, housekeeping, restaurant, spa and shop were helpful, friendly and went out of their way to assist us with every request. Always with a smile on their face, and I appreciated that everyone tried their best to help us in English even when it isn’t the native language. This hotel had the most foreigner friendly staff by far throughout our 3 week stay in Korea and Taiwan. Check in was a dream, when we arrived we were taken to the lobby bar to enjoy a welcome drink, smoked almonds with cool towels as the reception staff member took us through a map of the hotel and sun moon lake, it was lovely to check in whilst seated and relaxed. ||3- spa: we both did a spa package and it was the most relaxing experience ever. We booked a hot stone massage and foot massage and enjoyed a beautiful 3 hours together. Our spa therapists Sara and Mei were wonderful, the room was overlooking the lake and we had beautiful tea and biscuits before and after treatment as well as spa and sauna access. Highly recommend the spa if you are visiting. ||4- restaurants: we dined at the Japanese night 1, this was a set menu only and we didn’t know the menu before. Some of the dishes would not be our choosing as westerners but we ate everything, besides the eel, the chef let us substitute. I could taste the freshness in ingredients and the main server explained all the dishes to us as we were new to it all. Although some of the food was unusual to us, we enjoyed most of the 10 dishes. It was lovely and felt very authentic sitting in the Japanese low tables. |Night 2 we ate at the Chinese. This was alacarte so we could choose dishes. The food was nice, we wished we had gotten the earlier seating so we could see sunset with dinner as the restaurant has a beautiful view of the lake. |The breakfast is delicious with many choices. Eggs are made fresh. This selection was one of the best for our trip and definitely best in Taiwan. Very happy with all the food we ate.||5- the rooms: we loved the rooms, they are huge and love the decor. The wood and slate make you feel so cosy and the verandah with the day bed was divine for reading with a cup of tea. There is every amenity we could need and the person who took us to the room took the time to explain everything about the room, as well as a tour of the hotel. Honestly his dedication and service was unmatched and he was a pleasure to deal with. There are 6 bottles of water available free each day which was the most of any hotel so far, delicious biscuits left for turn down service. We asked for more pillows, an iron, more milk for tea and everything was brought promptly without hesitation. ||6 - overall facilities: the pool area is breathtaking, an infinity pool overlooking the lake can’t be beaten. Yes they have a strange swimming cap rule but that’s standard in Taiwan and also Korea (we just visited). All the local people had them and didn’t seem to mind, I put my feet in and read by the pool but they sell swimming caps at the shop. There is a beautiful tea house next to the pool where you can enjoy tea with koi fish wishing and relax with the view. The restaurants were all delicious, shop had beautiful treasures and I already mentioned how good the spa facilities are. My partner went back a 2nd time to pay for the sauna and honestly compared to Australian prices it’s not bad, considering there is sauna, steam room, cold plunge, pool ect. It’s comprehensive and worthwhile. ||Overall we absolutely loved our stay at Lalu, it was beautifu, relaxing and we feel very rested. We definitely plan to come back again and recommend anyone visiting sun moon lake...

My wife and I traveled to the Sun Moon lake Hotel for our 7th year anniversary, from Taipei. The lake view suite, its location, the hotel surrounding, and each staff members were delightful.

However, for the price we paid, we expected there be a bit more exclusivity in the 1) handling of our reservations, 2) arrangement of our arrival, 3) clarity on pre-arrival inquiries, and 4) internal communication from the front desk staff.

1. I was told my target date of arrival was unavailable and only the villa option was left. My wife and I consulted, and decided to select a few dates after the original date we had preferred. We called the hotel back, we went through each dates over the phone for rsvp. We started with a week past our original request date, and we went backward. All booked, but funny enough we arrived to the date that we original target Ted. Mind you, we went through 5 different Lalu reservation staff members. It blew my mind and I had asked, was there a cancellation where this just became available, and the lady who finally made my rsvp said, no, there are other rooms, but it is filling up. So in my mind, did the hotel tried to up sale me initially? Left a sour note.

2. We purchased a pickup transfer from the Taichung station to the hotel. We received a map from the hotel, upon arrival from Taipei, we immediately rushed to the location as the meet time was dwindling. We stood there 10 minutes past, and I called the hotel. I mentioned who I was, but was asked several time if I had a reservation, my name - again (I have the world’s easiest last name “Ho”), the date of my reservation, the room selection of my reservation, if I had dinner reservation and then placed on hold. Another person picked up, this time pleasantly, knew who I was, asked why I was calling - where is the driver? He replied that he will call the driver immediately, and then hanged up. We waited, the I saw a man in white shirt stumbling around the other side of the entrance, with a sign “Lalu”, so I asked him if he’s looking for me? He asked me if I was another person. I said no, I gave him the map, walked him back to our meeting location and once again, told him who we were and why we were waiting. He apologized, he didn’t receive a map and also the wrong name of the person to pick up. We were the only couple to be picked up at that time, as we rode alone. This was piss poor.

3. We called in advance, to inquire about the pool etiquette. We are not familiar with the requirements of wearing a swimming cap in a public pool, but we acknowledge it being so in most locations in Taiwan. So we called and asked. We were advised only bathing suit for female and swimming trunks for male were required. Upon the morning where we went for a walk, and ready for a swim, we were stopped by the attendant that imply we must have a swim cap. We obviously did not pack it with us. So we called the front desk from the pool. We must have talked to 3 different person, every time having to repeat our situation. We got fed up, and walked to the front desk to speak in person. In the end, we were told the GM will call us later. It was about 30+ minutes later, where we were advised that the attendant had prepare two caps for us. Thanks for taking action, but from the time we appeared at the pool to the time something was done, was about 1.5 hours in between and we have moved on.

4. This is the general theme, every time I have to speak to some one, it’s having to speak to 4-5 other people, having to repeat myself. Telling them who I am, what room number, if I have reservation, bla bla bla, extremely exhausting. I understand that I do not speak mandarin, but my approach is asking if I can helped in English first. It’s ok if staff didn’t understand, but not ok if they pretend to understand and just past me on to the next person.

It’s most likely I’ll be back to visit once more, only because of the location, but will explore other options.

Management team needs...

We spent one night in this fantastic location , the hotel presents very well in a rural but very elegant Taiwanese /asian style -wood and waterfalls everywhere. Checkin and out was efficient and friendly as was baggage handling and valet service. Our 3 room suite (1201) was very spacious with a large sitting area ,bedroom bathroom and balcony with a lovely view of the lake .the suite itself reflected the hotel with attractive Asian wood details . The suite was equipped as you would expect but lacked an espresso machine. Sleep quality was excellent in an emperor size bed .The bathroom was awash with marble and provided jack and Jill basins , a tub and an extremely powerful rain shower in a separate cubical, toiletries were pump action but very pleasant additional items were provided as is normal.Housekeeping maintained the suite in a sparklingly clean appearance towels and linen were bright white and crisply fresh plus there is an evening turn down service to replenish any used items. I gave this property three stars because of my experience in their Chinese restaurant in the evening , as a Jewish man I have strict religious dietary requirements (kosher ) I don’t expect any hotel to go out of their way to accommodate them ,that’s my responsibility consequently I am careful to order food items that are either vegan or vegetarian which I did last night from the English menu only to be served a vegetarian rice dish which had not only meat in it but pork when I queried this I was told it it is on the Chinese language menu which of course I can’t read I even confirmed prior to ordering that there was no meat or shellfish in any dish I ordered and was assured that they were all vegetarian in short I ate none of the rice dish. Or other dishes I had ordered as I did not trust the contents , to be fair the restaurant manager was apologetic and voided all the uneaten meal. That aside there is a breakfast option which is a combination of Ala carte for some egg dishes and mixed western and Asian buffet it’s adequate but that’s all .Externally there are all the facilities you could want gym sauna spa meeting rooms etc . Our overall opinion of the property was the location and service were superb but the whole experience was lacking by comparison with other properties we have stayed in. A tip for the management check your translations , dome people have allergies as well as religious requirements and make sure staff can answer basic...