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As other have mentioned, this hotel is relatively new (only a couple of years old) and as a result it still looks pristine. It’s located about a 40min drive from TT airport, and they have a hotel shuttle you can prebook that will pick you up from the arrivals lounge. It’s NT1200-1500 depending on which vehicle they use, but that’s on a par with what a taxi would cost, so is worth considering. The only quirk with the shuttle is that the driver collects you from the arrivals hall, takes you out to the kerbside and then disappears for about 10mins while he collects the car and drives round to pick you up again. If you’re using Songshan airport then you’re about a 10 min drive away.br/br/One benefit of having the hotel pickup was that all the check-in paperwork was waiting on the counter the second you walk in the door, so check-in was a fast and simple process. The lobby is a nice open well lit area than also leads to the dining/bar area and little café. The staff behind the desk could speak English sufficiently well to answer some basic questions about the reservations and make suggestions for where to get evening meals within 10-15mins walk – oddly, they didn’t mention their own restaurant. There is parking available under the hotel if you bring a vehicle. There is very little parking space on the hotel forecourt.br/br/The room was spotlessly clean and well laid out, with plenty of room on the desk, complimentary fruit bowl, water, tea & coffee. WiFi is also complimentary throughout the hotel with the username/password printed on your room card, but isn’t that fast or particularly stable once you get away from the lobby. Embedded into the wall was a large screen TV and DVD player, but no apparent instructions on how to operate so it took a few minutes of button pressing on the remote to work out how to get away from the hotel welcome screen and onto the TV channels, of which there are a reasonable number including some English speaking ones (CNN, National Geographic, Discovery etc).br/br/The bathroom was large in comparison to that found in most hotels, with a full sized bath and shower located next to it. Both are located in a wet-room enclosure within the bathroom so you are able to use the shower without having to stand in the bath. At first look the shower head is very low (about 4ft off the ground) and you wonder how on earth you’re going to wash your head, but recessed into the ceiling as a waterfall-type shower head, so once the handheld shower head is up to temperature you switch depress the button on the taps and the deluge from above begins. The water pressure is superb, so you can have a really invigorating shower if you want!br/br/The toilet is the usual wacky type you find all over asia, and aside form allowing you to do your ablutions will also wash, wipe, polish, deodorize, warm and flush as you press buttons on the remote control attached to the wall next to it. Alternatively, you can just press the flush button and be on your way. There’s the usual selection of toiletries and accompanying them are toothbrush, razors, ear buds, combs etc that other hotels would have you ring housekeeping for.br/br/The bed was really comfortable, and while there is a low level of traffic noise from the main roads at the front of the hotel the glazing and blinds do a reasonable job of keeping it out of the room. All the lights in to the room can be controlled from a bedside set of switches so there’s no need to stumble around in the dark at all.br/br/Breakfast is held just off the lobby and offers both Asian and Western foods spread over multiple stations but in comparison to other hotels, there isn’t too much on offer – more a case of style over substance. Don’t get me wrong, it’s all perfectly edible, but just isn’t as much variety as it would initially appear.br/br/I think the hotel is a bit confused about what it’s trying to be and who it’s targeting, it’s trying to be all things to everyone and doesn’t quite manage it for any of them. If you have business in the east of Taipei then it’s not a bad place to stay, but the poor in room WiFi and lack of a business centre is an inconvenience. If you’re exploring Taipei then somewhere more centrally located would be better but you can access other districts relatively easily if you need to, it’d just be a bit inconvenient. If you’re after a pamper-break, well it has a swimming pool and spa/steam room, but none of the massage/facial/pedi/manicure offerings you usually get at such places, which is, again ,a bit inconvenient.br/br/Having said all that, I’d stay here again as it suits my purpose, but it be one of a list of hotels that would suit rather than my go-to hotel on Taipei.
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