Stayed here for two nights. This is the place to be. The trip up to Alishan park from the hotel showed me that there is definitely a captive audience effect in play in this region. Hotel Indigo didn’t need to do as good of a job as they did to be the best, and yet they still did.

I booked a corner room to guarantee a great view and it did not disappoint. I was so distracted by the view that I totally forgot to take pictures of the room. (The marketing photos on their website are a very accurate representation of what you’ll get.) The room was in great condition with a shower suite that included a separate bath that looked out onto the balcony. Our room’s arrangement meant that the balcony didn’t face the valley, but that was okay because our bed did, and that’s what was important for us. The main curtains were motorized, and weirdly we couldn’t figure out a way to leave the curtains partially open - it was all the way open or all the way closed. Tough when trying to just get a bit of natural light in to start the morning. The bed was not our favorite (firm mattress coupled with way too soft pillows), but requesting foam pillows made sleeping much more tolerable. Parking is complimentary and we didn’t have trouble finding a spot.


View from the room


The rooftop deck has a really nice hot tub and pool, as well as a bar that was serving delicious sakura-themed cocktails in honor of the season. We’re not IHG elites, but just for having an account we each received a free drink (wine/beer). The rooftop opens pre-sunrise for people to get their photos in. It’s absolutely worth waking up early, and the view here means there’s no need to go up to Alishan at 4:00 in the morning when you can just roll out of bed and go up to the roof. They serve hot chocolate, but it’s not good quality.


Rooftop sunrise

Speaking of the park, it’s an hour away from the hotel. The hotel offers a daily shuttle that also stops in Fenqihu (which is much closer). Their explanation on their website is a little confusing, but basically if you’re using their shuttle you need to decide for the day whether you’re going to go to Alishan or Fenqihu - there’s no option to e.g. have lunch in Fenqihu and then proceed up to the park, as you might hear guides recommend for those taking the forest train. If going to Alishan there’s one outbound and one return and the driver stops in Fenqihu along the way to drop off/pick up passengers. There’s a second shuttle that just goes to Fenqihu and back, so there’s more flexibility when visiting there. The shuttles do fill up, so reserve online in advance.

We spent our first day after arriving in Fenqihu - we rented a car to drive up to the hotel, and drove ourselves to Fenqihu after getting checked in, and then nearly tore our hair out looking for parking. It was like trying to find seating at a mall food court with people just camping out next to a car that looks like it might leave sometime soon, blocking anyone else from getting around them. But once parked, it was absolutely worth the trip - the millet donuts and bento boxes are as good as everyone says they are.

We learned from our parking experience and opted to take the shuttle to Alishan, and that went much better for us (plus I got to take pictures the whole way up instead of white-knuckling the steering wheel on the winding mountain road) - the shuttle gives you 4 hours in the park, which is definitely enough time to see the highlights. Pack your carsickness supplies if that’s something that affects you, because the driver is intimately familiar with the winding road in a way that your stomach is not. I’d only consider driving if I were going to spend the day doing some of the more aggressive hikes, but the Sister Ponds trail (the most popular one) only takes two hours at the most. Bring your own snacks/lunch or shop at the 7-11 in the park village and have them warm something up for you. We instead ate at a sit-down restaurant in the park village that came recommended as one of the best options, and I really can’t overstate how bad it was.

The food at the hotel, on the other hand, was quite good. While the village seems to take advantage of the captive audience by charging relatively normal prices but letting go of quality, the hotel buffet instead provides good quality but charges through the nose for it. I definitely prefer the latter. The walk-up rate for dinner is approximately US$105/person inclusive of the service charge. Beer and house wine is included in that price. Our room rate included both breakfast and dinner and so we ate at the hotel for both meals on both nights. Dinner was a hybrid model where you chose an entree that would come out about 45 minutes after seating, with the buffet open for you to start out at. The dinner menu had six choices of protein, with either supplements (like a lobster tail) or protein upgrades (dry-aged beef). We opted to stick with what was included in the rate, and enjoyed everything.

I will say that the chef seems to be doing the best he can with the resources he has. It does seem like he wishes he had more resources, but that might just be me projecting. The protein options did not change between nights, and the setting for the entrees seemed to be identical regardless of the protein selected (that is, all proteins came with the same sauce, a potato, some corn, etc.). So while it was great the first night, even though I selected a different entree the second night I felt like I was having the same meal. But everything was very well-cooked and prepared with care, and the buffet options were almost entirely different between nights. I would have paid for the buffet out-of-pocket for one night with the lack of other options being a heavy factor, but I wouldn’t have done it twice. Perhaps most guests just stay for a single night (which is what I would do if I were repeating this trip) so they don’t feel like more variety is necessary.


Dinner menu

Optional dry-aged steaks for a surcharge - if it’s not clear, they charge TWD $700 per 100g of upgraded protein, but they discount the whole entree TWD $1000 so you basically get your first ~140g “free.”


Pork neck

Ribeye

Breakfast was again a buffet, and by and large had excellent options both mornings. They had small Bloody Marys on offer as well as free-pour mimosas if that’s your kind of thing.

All said, Hotel Indigo really did a great job. Excellent service coupled with a very good hard product (though that’s not difficult when the view is doing as much work as it is). I wouldn’t hesitate to return. It’s pricey, but it’s easily the best option in the area. Don’t let the distance from the park dissuade you. Next time, though, I would just stay for one night - arrive, go to Fenqihu, dinner/overnight, then rooftop sunrise/breakfast/Alishan in the morning, going back down the mountain after the shuttle returns. Do a second night only if you want to really deeply explore the area/do a lot of hiking.