I’ve seen this hotel while browsing non-Taipei Taiwan hotels and thought it looked really nice. Then I forgot about it and chanced upon it again when researching for Kaohsiung hotels for my 2017 family trip. So happy that it is also now a partner hotel of Accor – yays to earning status points while staying at a nice hotel!
Based on the pictures I saw on TA, the hotel seems like a superb choice for my 3nights’ stay and I booked the largest room available – a little splurge for 3 of us!
ADDRESS – No. 165, Linsen 1st Road, Xinxing District, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan 800. Tel: +886 7 272 2999. Website.
LOCATION – right smack in the middle of the city metro, at Farmosa Boulevard station (美丽岛站) which is the intersection of 2 main lines. It is 6 stops away from the Ziying (Kaohsiung) HSR station, and after that another 5mins walk to exit 6, the finally 1minute to reach the hotel after the exit. A fair walk when with luggage so take note! But definitely an easy choice for getting around the city. If you take a cab, just use the station’s name as a landmark and most drivers will know it.
PRICE – The biggest room in the hotel cost me TWD 26,700 (about SGD$1,200) for 3 nights booked at an unrestricted rate – I think $400 a night after taxes for 3pax with breakfast is not so bad a deal!
CHECK IN – due to a flight re-time issue, I arrived only at 10pm and check in was thankfully fuss-free. I was given 2keys for 3pax which I always found annoying – is it so hard to give one room key per pax?
ROOM – I booked their biggest room, the family suite, which stands at 92SqM. And boy did it give us space. 2 bedrooms each with attached bathrooms, a dining area, and a big living area. Super spacious and well equipped, but alot were wasted space to us as we probably underused it. Super recommend it for travelling groups of 4pax to get the max comfort. It was nice to not need to fight for one toilet!
Cleanliness was mostly not an issue but the living room sofa gave me itches. So I stayed away. Gah. The beds were ultra comfy though and bathroom size was more than adequate.
BREAKFAST – Located at the top floor of the hotel, breakfast was a nice affair with a large indoor and outdoor seatings, complete with quite an impressive spread of international choices. I liked that they have a whole honeycomb there – natural superfood max! I ate there for 3 mornins and was not bored at all.
SURROUNDINGS / THINGS TO DO – There is quite a bit to do if you are staying here. The hotel provides a free 2-way shuttle bus every hour and half hour to a new-ish kind of industrail dining / library / supermarket place, MLD (台鋁生活廣場). Its about 20mins ride and passes through a few stops along the way. There’s also a small local night market (南华夜市）right behind the hotel which carries local snacks and some random clothes stalls to buy from. And then about 10mins walk away, there’s the Xinjuejiang Shopping District (新崛江夜市) which is shopping galore but limited food options.
Tip: the hotel also has a lounge area on the ground level providing coffee and tea whole day for guests so you can bring bites and chill out there if you want too!]
SERVICE – Service was a mixed bag. While mostly okay, breakfast plates were left on the tables for quite a while. One night I brought my own beverage and asked the front desk for a straw, and they reply was they don’t have – so I had to make my way up to the top floor where they run a bar @ night to ask for one.
CHECK OUT – Fast and seamless. Asking for a big enough cab was also efficiently done.
Would definitely stay here again due to the sheer room size and super convenient location. Love the modern style of the hotel too.