Westin Taipei, Taiwan - December 2014

During my trip to Taipei, I stayed in the Westin Taipei as well, as the rates were lower compared to W Taipei.

Sometimes it is hard to leave the nice room to explore the city and this is one way I 'force' myself to vacate the room by switching hotels.

The Chinese name of the hotel is 六福皇宮 which roughly translates to "Imperial Palace of Six Blessings".

Why choose this hotel?

The hotel is located near the new Songshan metro line and now has much better access to the city.
Rates were rather fine despite the year end hike.

Service is rather good, but perhaps a little less warm than W Taipei being a business hotel.

The Management

Westin under Starwood.

Getting to the Hotel

One can choose to take the metro or the taxi which was rather affordable.

The Hotel

As it was Christmas season, the Christmas tree in the lobby was up and blocked the front desk.

The hotel is built with an atrium and the dominant colours are brown and yellow.
The colour scheme was consistent and easy on the eyes.

The Rooms

My room was a basic suite.
The room size was the usual for an Asian hotel and there was nothing bad about the room. However, I struggle to give a example of anything distinctive.

The furnishings were a little date, and I was particularly amused by the stopper of the bathtub.

The view from my room was not too great as it faced away from the iconic Taipei 101.

Minibar drinks

The Food and Drinks

We had lounge access and had our daily breakfast here.
The offerings were good, and probably one of the better ones outside Thailand.

Entrance to Lounge

Drinks were provided and the food was of high quality.

The only minor issue is perhaps the staff can be slow to replenish the food when the lounge is crowded and towards the end of breakfast.

There is quite a lot of seating but the number of guests in the lounge can be overwhelming.

Several computers are also available in the lounge if needed.
Most people are using phones and tablets nowadays and the computers are often free to use.

 

The Pool 

There is an indoor pool which I did not get to use.

The Gym

The gym is of a normal size, and was not crowded. I would like it to be a little bigger as the equipment seem a little cramped.

One could see Taipei 101 from the gym.

The Spa

The spa is located near the gym but didn't seem to be too inviting.

The Shops

The Westin products can be bought from the shops in the lobby and this is the first time I have seen Westin products on display like this.

The Service

The front desk was efficient and rather friendly.
Ms Tina attended to us and she kept apologizing for her 'slowness'.
I had arrived an hour before standard checkin time and she looked totally mortified when she was unable to find us a clean room and had to ask us to return later.

On entering the room, the hotel provided me with Taiwan beer, fruit and biscuits as the arrival gift.

As I do not take much alcohol, I returned the beer to the front desk as I left the room for the day and was asked what I like to drink.
On return in the evening, I found diet coke on my table.

Lounge staff were polite and efficient otherwise.

The best gesture was that I was checking out early on the last morning and Ms Laura suggested that she would book a taxi to the airport and pack a light Westin breakfast-to-go.
This proceeded without a hitch.

In Summary

I would definitely choose this hotel again as the new Songshan metro line has made it much more convenient and the service is really quite good.

Probably the only major drawback (or advantage for some) is that it is in a business district and tends to be quiet from evening onwards.

Happy Travels!
fred