Just had our first staycation at the GH Taipei last weekend. I wouldn't mind do it again in the future, but I'm not sure I will since I don't consider it great value. In this case I had an expiring cert which was not possibly going to be used anywhere else.

We live about a 5 minute walk from the hotel and I probably pass by it 1-3 times a week. Was having a big lunch meetup with some friends and family just past the hotel, so I decided to check in on the way to the lunch, around 12:45p. Had been upgraded to a 101 King View room (saw it in the app the previous morning) and the room was ready. All other suites and room types had already sold out the day before (I assume that's when they did the assignments and upgrades). Very efficient checkin. I forgot my physical credit card, and they told me no problem...if I want to charge something to my room I'll need to bring my card beforehand, but otherwise no issue not running my card first for incidentals. Proactively given a 4p checkout. They took my luggage up to my room and I went to lunch.

Room was nice enough, quite sure it's been renovated as it didn't feel so bad to call it aging or worn down. View of 101 was quite good although (probably true for all parts of the hotel) it wasn't designed properly to maximize the views (GH pre-dates 101 by a number of years) The lounge is a very nice environment with good service, although cocktail hour offerings are several tiers below the Asian standard bearers. Pool area is also quite enjoyable. The spa is really a standout imo, although it feels a little dungeon-y and can get overrun with people (much like the rest of the hotel)

Due to issues with the kids and grandparents and other things, I probably came and went from the hotel at least half a dozen times, so I must say that I really like the lobby lol. It's very grand.

Due to prior commitments we didn't have a lot of time for breakfast, but the restaurant breakfast seemed sufficient. Not the best in Asia but nothing I'd complain about. However we did go on the early side for a Sunday (around 8:15a) so maybe it wasn't the madhouse that it turns into later on (it was already extremely busy just not overly chaotic). Returned to the hotel at 1p with my kids, as they had a playdate with classmates who were also staycation-ing at the Hyatt due to an expiring cert lol. What are the chances. The 4pm checkout turned out to be very useful and we definitely enjoyed our time at the hotel.

All of that said, I look very forward to burning expiring certs in the future at either the HR Jinshan, Alila Yilan or the other properties in Taichung and Kaohsiung. The GH is a nice enough staycation but I'd rather a change of scenery that's farther than 500 meters

Yeah it feels steep as you might as well book yet another room. The base rooms all allow for one extra child, so the fee is really just for one small child. Not sure the justification. If you are by yourself (or just 2 adults in your room) I'd just tack on the extra child to your room even if they're actually going to stay in the other one.