Originally Posted by JohnSIN

Arrival.

Couldn't wait to leave the office for my little treat to myself celebrating... well, celebrating Friday actually. So left the office and went with all the urgency of a husband taking his wife to the hospital for delivery.

Check-In

Arrived at the very stylish lobby and was greeted by the bell boy who took my suitcase after informing me that the Welcome desk was on the 10th floor. Of course I did not listen properly and went to the Strategy room on the 11th floor. These are very stylish and beautiful appointed meeting rooms. Took the stairs down to the 10th floor for my check-in. Very nice reception. Did not have a chance to admire the view as staff eagerly awaited to introduce themselves. Everybody is still very excited which did not help in calming my fraying nerves. Felt for a second slightly worried that I was the only guest in the hotel to be reserved such a welcome but no no I am told, they are running at 80% occupancy today. (Thanks Florian, Amy, Matti).

Hotel Tour
After completing my check-in, Matti suggested a little tour of the hotel, including the not yet released Suite. Obviously I took the camera and was all too happy to be shown the suites and facilities. Kitchen Table is a very nice restaurant on the 10th floor for breakfast lunch and dinner buffet. Quite a large spread and similar in style to what I have seen at the W Hong Kong.
The suites are currently not in the inventory as they are still fixing a few kinks with the audio-video. As we walked in one suite, one TV set in the bathroom which is fixed to a pole outside the bathtub, kept facing the wall. Following an attempt to move it back in a position that recalcitrant TV set moved back into position, facing the wall and of no use whatsoever to anyone. These are the little things that they need to fix before the Willing Wictims of W paid good money for the Suites. Platinums beware, there are 40 suites out of 405 rooms. Was told that at any point in time W Hong Kong has 90 platinum staying in the property.. So while they will upgrade, competition will be fierce. So be forewarned and if a suite is really important to you... then you should book it.

Yen on the 31st floor has a beautiful decorated bar overlooking Taipei 101. The restaurant serves Cantonese cuisine, dim sum. A stunning enclosed private room allow diners to survey what goes on in the kitchen. They play on the 'see and be seen' theme here. Private dining rooms are available (5 of them).

The suites are gorgeously W. I feel that these might be smaller than what i am used to at the W Hong Kong... maybe I am getting picky. Revert to my Spectacular room, facing 101. Electric blinds and sheers. Bose, LG Tv, all the trapping of luxury. Did spend a bit of time to switch all lights off at night. Also realised that if you try to visit the bathroom in the middle of the night without waking up your other half, you are more than likely to smash your toes in a wooden stools or on the towel rack which are on the path to the toilets. The toilets have Japanese seats. I was slightly surprised that I was not addressed by name by the Toilet seat. Apart from that, you can choose from the many options. the lid opens itself as you walk in and you have a control set that includes poetic mentions of "oscillation", "rear cleansing", "drying"... If your other half is not toilet trained, the toilet will flush itself anyway.

My profile lists the fact that I love to have plenty of bottle of water. With 3 large bottles of Perrier and 2 bottles of mineral water, that water requirement was well taken care of. Strawberries dipped in chocolate, cookies and haribos sweet were there for me to indulge in. An additional plate of tapas was provided including some dry ham with toast which was delicious and intriguing.
They have wonderful Revolution tea together with the coffee maker.

Morning papers included the IHT, FT and WSJ (all the one I have mentioned in my profile)!

Wet

The Away spa is not yet in operation but should be in April. When it becomes operational together with the gym, you will be able to go to the changing room, change, take a lift to the swimming pool on the 10th. The fabulous Woo Bar overlooks the pool. Despite the weather being absolutely dismal in Taipei this week (what have I done wrong?), the water is heated to 28C... so make for a fabulous swim irrespective of the coldness outside.

Yen Bar
The temptation to go back to the bar was too much. Being in a lazy mood, I asked the barman to either prepare a ginger martini or choose a cocktail for me. Ginger martini was not on the list but Mr. Barman found some ginger started crushing it, Tanqueray Gins and presto here is the cocktail.
The view is really impressive from up there. W Taipei is the place to be so the bar was absolutely jam packed. Same for the Woo bar.

Final Note
An fabulously enjoyable and too short stay. W in Asia continues to deliver superior level of service and keeps me WoWed. I find it difficult to be excited by any of the W in NYC but the staff here and the attitude is what makes it a special experience. The hotel is really beautifully designed. Thyetus posted the virtual tour of the hotel which plays in repeat in the internal channel. This explains why I remain a Willing Wictim of W!