holtju2

This hotel was tired and in dire need of getting renovated. I don't, however, believe that they are going to spend a billion dollars to get it fixed.

npei

My bad. Renovation is US$100M not $1B.

hailstorm

Given that:

1. Gold is about $26,000 a pound
2. An cast iron bathtub weighs about 300 pounds
3. Gold is about three times heavier than iron

A billion dollars would be about enough to get you 42 solid gold bathtubs.

Certainly not enough to redo the entire hotel, but perhaps enough to outfit the suites.

enelym1978

That's an excellent new though! This GH definitely needs a renovation. The rooms are nice and of a good size but the overall feel is "old".

MW147

It has been about 5 years since I have visited Taiwan, and I do sometimes miss it.

I stayed at the Grand Hyatt from the time it opened. I cannot remember exactly what year that was, but I think it must have been around 1990. Does anyone know when it actually did open? Anyone else remember when that entire area was a Taiwan army base?

kevincrumbs

I believe it opened in 1990. FWIW, I was good friends with the daughter of the Israeli gentleman who was placed in Taiwan in some capacity to do with the hotel's opening. Funny enough, she used to bring me Hyatt related brochures and directories as gifts. Keep in mind that this was when I was in third or fourth grade!

I don't remember much about the area, although in my childhood mind, it seemed really, really far away.

anabolism

Not much detail on what they are going to do.

Will the size of the rooms change? The layout/configuration of them? (I assume carpets, fixtures, and furnishings will be replaced.) Will they change the pool at all?

It didn't seem so bad to me, maybe some rooms were worse than others?

flyboy_421

We just returned from a stay here. Had a wonderful trip and were treated like visiting royalty. Can't speak highly enough about the staff here.

We did have opportunity to chat with Frances the Hotel Manager who shed some light on the renovation project. It sounds like the renovation is going to be quite extensive. They are using the opportunity to redo a bunch of the infrastructure, cabling, A/C, Plumbing, etc as well as fully gutting the rooms.

I would stay here in a heart beat again prior to the renovation being done, the people are just terrific, and while the non-renovated room was somewhat dated, it was still very nice. I am looking forward to our next trip which will be after the renovation project is complete.

Scott

enelym1978

I always found their staff to be awesome! And their English is great at the Front Desk too!

When is the estimated date for the renovations to be over for that first half of the building?

flyboy_421

Oh the front desk staff is fantastic as well. My wife forgot her iPhone in a taxi on the trip, we discovered it missing roughy an hour later, and the front desk staff tracked it down with the taxi driver. Can't speak highly enough of the front desk staff, big kudos to Clarissa who tracked down the phone. Also big kudos to taxis in Taipei, the only place where I've had tips turned down in all my years of travel.

As for the renovations, I believe the first half is due to be completed in late spring/early summer of 2013. (I could be wrong on this, the discussion was after an evening of free flowing scotch so please double check with the hotel.)

Scott

mnredfox

Was here in Oct, another ^ for the staff, esp the club lounge staff.

TerryK

Was told May 2013 when first half of the renovated rooms will be open for use.

enelym1978

Thumbs up again for the GH Taipei.

After my last stay in November, I received the usual email with the short survey, which I took time to do and at the end, I just noted that their rooms were missing some plugs right next to the beds, which makes it easier for people like me who use their phones as alarm clock and I like to charge my phone during the night so that it's operational and fully charge in the morning.

They replied personally to my comment saying that this will be implemented in the renovated rooms, due to be finished by May 2013 (for the first half of the hotel that is).

And when I checked in last weekend into my room, surprise, they added a multi plug extension right next to my bed. It was plugged somehow below the night stand and they had to kind of pull out a wood panel but I found this to be a very good service, that my remarks had been added to my profile and that they actually do check it before my arrival.

And again, all the staff there, from doormen to front desk to club staff and spa attendants are all super professional and calling me by name most of the times. ^

Can't wait to see the renovated room soon! They needed it as the competition in that area is quite strong with the W and the Le Meridien. There's another building in construction next to the W and Mitukoshi department store. I wonder if it's another hotel or just an office building?

ps9a

Anyone stayed at both the W and the Grand Hyatt? Going to be in Taipei for a couple nights at the end of Mar. Grand Hyatt has club rooms available for 15k/night. W Taipei has Cool Corner room for 14,500 points/night. Any suggestions?

IncyWincy

Unless the GH has a renovated room for you the rooms are very very tired. The W is very new.