DISCUSSION for Hilton Honors Hotels in Taiwan {TWN}
I did stay in November last year when it was quite new and you could tell the staff were still figuring things out - but they appeared to be a good team.
For the price, I expected more, but hotel rates in Taipei are generally quite high - I still don't really understand why. I'd stay there again when I visit Taipei though and would be interested to see how things are going.
For my business travel, I'll have to go to a customer located at the Linkou Science Park, I was wondering how's this hotel as an option? From googlemap, I saw that a taxi ride will take approximately 30 mins - which I guess is based on normal traffic. Is this doable?
Cheers!
Arrival
I received a welcome email from the hotel four days prior to arrival. The email confirmed the room and rate. I arranged for a car from the hotel. I realized it was double a taxi but wanted to see how the hotel delivered. I also got a 10% discount. Not sure if that was due to Diamond status, didn’t ask
I was the second off the plane and the immigration hall was empty (complete opposite from earlier arrivals) so I surprised the greeter on exiting customs so quickly. He called for the car and was on my way within 5 minutes in a nice (Wi-Fi enabled) Benz.
My flight landed at 8:00pm, and I was a checking in by 9:00pm. The driver had called ahead so the staff all greeted me by name (nice touch). Check-in was fast and I was upgraded to a King Deluxe Suite. As this was a Points and Money stay I was not expecting much of a bump.The front desk also went through the Diamond welcome letter attached below.
Room
One the 23rd floor the room had a nice view and automated blackout blinds (nice for the jet lag). There was a separate sitting area, two large screen TV’s, mini bar and Nespresso. Bathroom was large with a full tub, dual sinks, separate shower with Rain head. The bath products were Crabtree & Evelyn, with shaving kit, comb, tooth brush, sewing kit, etc.
Executive Lounge
I chose to take my breakfast in the main restaurant, so I did not experience the Executive lounge spread. I did pop in for a coffee and its looked fine with its own dedicated chief. The lounge didn’t seem huge but there was a nice outdoor section. Was only one other person in the lounge when I was there at 9am.
Breakfast
As mentioned I took breakfast at the main restaurant Market Flavor and found it fine. There were meats, cheeses, Asian and Western dishes. Stations for cooked to order eggs, pancakes and noodles.
Common areas
Lobby was nicely decorated and the Chinese New year decorations were going up. There was a small lobby bar and a connected lounge area. Bartenders were great and friendly and the lounge had live music (at least on Friday’s)
Neighborhood
The hotel is about 5 minutes from Banqiao Station, which has Rail, HSR and a MRT line (Bannon Line). The Mega Mall was also next door which had a nice food court. There were also many small local restaurants.
In general, this was a great stay and the staff were exemplary.
Doubletree corner suite
Pool at the Hilton
Some of the hot dishes during happy hour, Hilton Taipei
I guess I would budget 1 hour in normal traffic (with a little jam) but... Not sure which Friday you mean but most of Taiwan is on holiday the week of 4 February for Chinese New Year.
Hilton Taipei Sinban
No. 88, Minquan Road New Taipeh City, TW 22050
Good location and friendly staff (11 Photos)
Hilton Taipei Sinban
Location
The hotel is located in New Taipeh City. Within 5-10 mins of the hotel, you have access to various transportation hub, the High Speed rail, Taiwan rail, local bus station, the intercity bus station and Taipeh metro. As for shopping there are the malls, local shops and about 15 mins walk from the hotel a night market. The night market is not very big, but more than enough to enjoy the food and different stalls selling different things. Besides that High Speed rail (where a transfer is neded from the airport to the station), there is a direct bus service from TPE to the Bus station (stops at the intercity station - and is about 10-15 mins walk to the hotel). It was relatively ok to walk from either of these to the hotel via the sidewalk. As for food, there are lots of food options around the hotel - local simple food to more high end.
Check In
I arrived in the morning, and even though I had requested for early check-in during the reservation process, the room was sadly not available. Upon arriving at the hotel, there was no one at the front desk and I was helped immediately. Since my room was not ready, I was invited to enjoy the lounge until my room was ready. I was already pre-informed that they will try their best to upgrade me to a suite especially due to my long stay period.
Room
After a quick bite at the lounge and leaving for my meeting, upon return to the hotel later in the afternoon, the room was ready and I was upgraded to a suite. The suite was well appointed with a nice living room which had a table for 2 to dine if desired, a small bar area and a separate bedroom which consisted of a sizeable work area. The suite was spacious with a modern touch.
There was a guest toilet close to the entrance. The main bathroom was large with a walk-in shower, separate toilet area and a bath tub. There was a dual wash basin. Toiletries were the standard Crabtree and Evelyn set. The shower was very good, with good temperature and pressure - to note, very well designed as there was no water leakage after a shower to the dry area. The bath tub had a good rack to place your book or tablet during usage - the tub filled up fast. Toilet was with the Japanese automated bidet/seat.
As expected, there were lots of USB and international plugs around the room. Wifi was stable and relatively fast. There was a TV in the living room and the bedroom. For the living room, the TV was attached to a Bose Sound Bar - which was very good. Furthermore both TV were mulitmedia TV - which had additional Apps such as YouTube, etc.
There was also 3 large wadrobe in the suite, 1 in the main room, and 2 in the bedroom.
Executive Lounge
The Executive lounge was large, divided into two separate rooms by the kitchen area and also a patio area. The lounge served mainly breakfast and the evening drinks. Outside of these hours, they had small bites and pastries.
Breakfast choices was quite good with a nice balance of spread between western and eastern options - including curries and naan. There was also a cook to make to-order eggs and noodles. For me the selection in the lounge was more than sufficient therefore I did not visit the main restaurant - which I assume would have more options.
As for the evening offerings, the selection was very good, with finger food, starters, 3-4 hot mains, 1 soup (normally chinese based soup) and desserts. The selection of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks were more than sufficient.
The lounge also had a good selection of reading materials. Although the hotel does indicate that the NY Times can be read when connected to the hotel network, I only managed to read up to the maximum of 3 articles before being required to subscribe. So not sure how this is supposed to work.
The lounge staff were very friendly and they can mainly do all tasks and requests as the main front desk.
Gym
The gym was located at the top floor (as the swimming pool). The gym was on the smaller side. There are lockers in the gym area (though I doubt it is used). There is no attendant and access is only by key card. On my arrival day, I had wanted to freshen up with a shower in the gym, but was not succsessful as there the hot water was not working. I had not idea what was wrong with it (I suspect this is also why the pool was cold).
For me the only small complain of the gym equipments is the exersize ball which was on the smaller side. It would have been nicer with a slightly larger one.
Pool
The pool area is located at the rooftop of the hotel with a view of the city. The pool area (and the building) is shared with the next door hotel, Caesar Park. However one of the most dissapointing point of the hotel and especially since it is located with a beautiful view, is that the pool temperature was cold - I believe it was maybe around 16 deg C. It was basically a white elephant.
Overall
All in all, a very well appointed hotel with very good service and friendly staff. For me, even though it is located in New Taipeh city, I still find it to be a good location for sightseeing activities due to the convenience of the different transportation options. Will certainly return to this property if I need to be in the area again.
That said, the DT seems a better location; the Hilton is a bit outside of downtown.
Booked a regular king and upgraded to a deluxe king suite a few days before arrival. Mixed stay, one night in an Amex certificate and the rest on $$.
Recently I had another short stay at this property. This time I was upgraded 'only' to a Junior Suite (I believe as I did not ask if it was a Junior or normal Suite). The reason I think it is a junior because the room much smaller compared to my previous stay.
Living room
Bathroom
100 anniversary celebration
Bathroom
Bar area
I stayed there in middle of September for (unfortunately) only one night. I booked my room using HH points too. It was standard King room but they upgraded me to King Deluxe Suite. I don't think that original reservation of standard twin room makes any difference as regards chances of upgrade. I guess that it's more important, what status do you have (I'm diamond).
Anyway, I must say that this is wonderful hotel with one of the best executive lounges I've been to in Hilton chain
However if you booked for whatever reason a Twin, but you are OK to have a King, upon check-in you can inform them about it and if you are lucky, you might get upgraded to a Suite.
Cheers!
However if you booked for whatever reason a Twin, but you are OK to have a King, upon check-in you can inform them about it and if you are lucky, you might get upgraded to a Suite.
Cheers!
edit: They responded to my email and mentioned they have several meeting groups staying at that time so there's no regular king available but they put the request in for me and if an upgrade is available on arrival I'll get it. It looks like the deluxe suite is a common upgrade (at least from what I've read in reviews) so I'll try to ask for that when I get there.
Last edited by sfgiants13; Oct 19, 2019 at 8:45 am