Sheraton Hsinchu Hotel — Hotel in Zhubei City

I stayed here from 30 Dec - 3 Jan because I running out of options for stay in Taipei as most Marriott hotels were fully-booked or rates went crazy. I was concerned with the location as it can be confusing. First, it’s not located in Hsinchu City, but Zhubei City, BUT still part of Hsinchu County (go figure). Anyway, going to Taipei City is easy, you can go with the local train which would take around 90 mins or HSR which would take around 20 mins. The hotel itself seems had a glorious moment, now it looks old and has some wear and tear, thankfully it’s well-maintained. Here's my detailed review:||1) Location: As I have mentioned, not the best, but not the worst either. Good thing it's close to either Zhubei Station or Hsinchu HSR station. Starbucks and McDonalds nearby, decent amount for dining places also (although I don't recommend to go to the Carribean restaurant nearby). There's a cute Japanese coffee shop just a few block. Far Eastern Mall may just look like a regular indoor mall, but the dining places on the top floor it has a nice interior - definitely worth to check. ||2) Lobby/Reception: Lobby is spacious, but it lacks of character and seating place. The seating place is only available at their lobby lounge which will cost you money as you have to purchase something from the lounge. The LED stairs is kind of out of place, doesn't really match with the classic Sheraton signature style. Good thing they put a notice that elite platinum and above is checking in from the Club Lounge which located in the East side of the building. The Club Lounge is decent, the associates also very friendly. I'm actually impressed that they approved my Suite Night Awards especially when the hotel has high occupancy, so I really appreciate this surprise. ||3) Room: My room unfortunately located in the West building which requires me to transfer at certain floors because most of the facilities are in the East building such as Feast for breakfast, Club Lounge, and so on. However, not a deal breaker, the extra space in the suite is worth it. The suite itself is very spacious. It has extra perks such as a secondary guest toilet (which oddly it doesn't have hand towels?), walk-in closet, spacious living space, extra spacious bedroom, and main bathroom. The shower room is a bit dangerous, because they put a removeable tile to cover the drain which prone to break and hurt someone in the shower (which it did break in my case, but thankfully no one got hurt). Other issue is, connectivity issue, some streaming service - like Netflix just doesn't like the Sheraton WiFi for some reason. I think the device want you to login to the landing page but you actually don't need to. I hope their IT can fix this issue. Oh, high praise for the housekeeping team. Despite the high occupancy, their service is always on point and consistent. I wish the management give them a decent bonus for their great job. ||4) Club Lounge: While I understand the high occupancy so they have to divide into groups during happy hours, I don't know which fault is this: guests that not considerate to the other guests so they just taking a lot of food for themselves or the kitchen just not making enough food? Everything just gone, not much food left. Also the food quality is not really up to standard like other Marriott club lounge. Most foods are pork-based which I cannot eat. | |5) Feast Restaurant: Sadly there is no option to have breakfast at the Club Lounge to avoid the crowd. Luckily, I'm still able to have a seat. I think F&Bs from both Club Lounge and Feast are coming from the same kitchen, so the quality is not what I expected. There isn't much options either, same case with Club Lounge, mostly pork based. ||6) Other aspects: I went to the swimming pool, and it's actually nice. They have lifeguard on duty, the changing room also has cloth drier but I wish there's more than one. Luckily, there isn't many people at the pool when I was there. I also passed through the kids club (Bobo's Adventure), and oh my God I'm impressed. The associates in kids club still doing their job even at the late night. So if you're traveling with kids, then you're in a good spot! ||In general, I'm happy enough with my stay experience, well-maintained room, great associates, and consistent housekeeping. Although many things can be improved especially the finicky WiFi connection, club lounge, and Feast restaurant. I'd be happy to come for another visit and hopefully the management can improve those...

I want to complain about this hotel because the front desk staff told lies and lies. I checked in at about 6 pm on December 7th and asked for help to connect two rooms with a door in the middle. After checking the computer, the receptionist found that there were two connecting rooms, and then she asked the director-level lady at the back I asked for approval, but the lady refused and insisted that all connecting rooms were fully booked! We kept providing proof of disability and hoped to get connecting rooms so that we could take care of each other. We also explained that we could pay more to buy your connecting rooms or change room types, but they insisted that all rooms were full and could not do so. The two rooms are connected, so one room is in 804 and the other is in 802, still 80 meters apart.At around 9 pm on the 7th, I asked the counter again if someone would check out tomorrow on the 8th and there were connecting rooms available, could they help us change rooms? However, the male staff member also said that both today and tomorrow would be fully booked. Can be arranged.Around 12:30 noon the next day, December 8, I asked the counter staff (a new lady) to check if there were any connecting room vacancies and if she could help us transfer. She was very considerate of our family and she was willing to help us transfer to the 10th floor. of connecting rooms. I would like to commend the lady at the breakfast and lunch counter for being honest and friendly!What makes me very angry and makes me complain is: no one checked in the two connecting rooms on the 10th floor on December 7th, and they would rather leave them vacant than give them to guests! What is your mentality? This hotel must not be a barrier-free international hotel!On the first day we checked in, you insisted that the room was full and all the connecting rooms were occupied in the past few days, so we couldn't change them. On the first night, we learned that we couldn't connect and take care of each other. We were very disappointed and had no choice. Bar! But at noon the next day, they actually told us that they deliberately refused to give us connecting rooms. They would rather leave the rooms vacant than give them to us. I am really embarrassed. You are all lying! I will complain about your hotel's handling practices on various social media.Anjie is much more humane than you and takes good care of us. We often come to Hsinchu. We have relatives living in Zhubei and have business in Zhubei. We come to this city often. People in Zhubei are very friendly and enthusiastic, but the front desk clerk at your hotel is really incomprehensible and weird.What I like about it is that the room is comfortable, poorly maintained (there is a lot of dirt on the floor that cannot be removed) but clean; the water pressure in the bathroom shower is very strong, I am very satisfied.The housekeepers and breakfast waiters on the 8th and 10th floors are hard-working,...

I've been a regular guest at this hotel after my first stay a few years back, when I was blown away by the over-the-top quality of the club lounge. Back then, everything, from the space to the food to the staffs, was perfect.

However, the rate that the lounge worsens over the years just amazes me.

Cuts in food & beverage could be noticed on every visit. And on my most recent stay it really hit a new low.

First of all, the extensive happy hour buffet they used to offer no longer exists anymore. The only hot options left were fries and fried chicken. This is just shockingly sad for a hotel in Asia. I'd expect more even in North American club lounges.

The service have also gotten unbearably awful considering how great they used to be. I'll just list a few examples.

In the past, the staff would welcome me to the lounge, show me to an empty table, take my drink order, and then politely ask for my room number. Nowadays? That's the first thing they say to me when I step foot in the lounge. Not even a welcome of any sort before that. It goes without saying that I was left on my own after they took my room number.

I found myself a seat, noticed there weren't any tableware, and asked one of the staffs for a set. She just pointed me to a cabinet and had me get them myself.

Staffs were no longer as friendly and polished as before (with one exception, who appear to be a senior staff or manager of the lounge, but sadly I didn't have a chance to get her name). I noticed that most of them were fresh faces, and if these are new staffs, they really need some more serious training.

I'm writing this review because I've had wonderful stays at this hotel in the past, and had grew fond of it over the years. To see the lounge at its present stage is just heartbreaking.

I really hope the hotel management could think twice about what they are doing to the lounge and how it drives away...