s0ssos

Thanks.
Is the MO worth paying a little extra for?

username

I checked out the Mandarin Oriental - did not stay there, just checked it out. The area is totally different - I guess it is more of a financial/insurance district and less of a shopping/entertainment district.

I don't know anything about the MO other than that it is expensive. It seems to be going for the small hotel feeling - no huge lobby. I suppose if you are a celebrity and want more privacy, the MO is the place to stay. I think Madonna stayed there, for example, and walked to her concert in the Taipei Arena.

The shopping arcade connected to it is half empty - not all stores were filled and no shoppers. I don't know how these people sustain business there. Hopefully the hotel is doing better with occupancy.

frudd38

That's a cool story, but OsakaWino is right

Hard to believe what you don't want to hear.

frudd38

I've stayed at both and the LM as Plat and Diamond and it really boils down to your style.

W
Plat Standard Upgrade = Marvelous suite which is quite large with an extra half bath. Breakfast in restaurant in lieu of welcome amenity points. Happy hour drinks at Woo Bar or the Bar upstairs. No lounge. Party hotel. Two sets of elevators to reach room. Linked with a mall and metro.

GH
Diamond Standard Upgrade = Club room. Breakfast in club lounge. Similar location. DSU upgrade is worth it to Grand Suite. Recent room renovations from a couple years ago puts this on par with W and LM IMO. If you score a room with a 101 view, it really is superb as you're right across from it.

Le Meridien
Plat Standard Upgrade = Junior suite. Breakfast in restaurant in addition to welcome amenity points. Lounge with happy hour. Very sleek hotel. As for best SPG in Taipei, this hotel is on par with the W, just comes down to your taste.

You can't go wrong with any of these really, they're all located next to each other and the location is PRIME.

fangtl

I've stayed at the Marvelous Suite @ the W and the Grand Executive View Suite @ the Hyatt. Both are nice but I personally prefer the W.

olouie

Just got back from a stay here and gotta say it was disappointing. Used a DSU to get a suite, which was nice but nothing too over the top. Check in at club level was nice. The biggest disappointment was breakfast in the club - it was small, lacked much variety and was really bad compared with most breakfasts in Asia. Line of the omelet, dim sum area was really long and very slow - dim sum only had 2 options and the cook would only give one of each per person.

Upon checkout I did give my feedback to the club level customer service agent and they were surprised that I didn't think the club lounge was very good. They said that I could always pay for breakfast downstairs if I wanted. That is a really nice thing to say to a Diamond member providing feedback.

The budget hotels I stayed at around Taiwan actually had much better breakfast spreads and other luxury hotels way better.

UAuhoh

I had a similar reaction from a club lounge supervisor who, when I suggested that they make an effort to control loud and out-of-control children, told me (politely) that I could take breakfast in the hotel restaurant (at my own expense). That was my last stay at the hotel.

olouie

Yeah - staff at club lounge was a letdown. I also asked if they could replace some missing / finished breakfast items (some sausages and bread) that had been empty for a while (maybe 10-15 minutes ish) and the staff member just said to wait (I would have expected them to at least check on it). Ended up coming out 5 minutes later. I totally get that it's a not the biggest deal but really a letdown in terms of service compared with the super attentive staff at most hotels in Asia. Having some food empty for 15-20 minutes with such a limited selection is a big negative.

We actually skipped breakfast most of our stay and just went out to get local food.

dmodemd

I am at the GH Taipei now for a 15 day stay on the Club level.
We did try and get access to the restaurant for breakfast but were politely declined. We also tried to press for a free suite upgrade and after 5 minutes of research and effort by the lounge desk staffer, she presented the upgrade price or a points option . At that point we gave up

The lounge has been busy but we have been able to get seating in the mornings and evenings. Selection for breakfast is limited but certainly enough to be satisfactory. We just miss the extraordinary selection we got used to at the GH Kuala Lumpur where access to the restaurant is provided as well.

We did notice that security to the lounge is very lax... although the elevators are capable of card reading, they don't have it enabled. Those who walk into the lounge are only challenged occasionally. In fact, we got a more strict challenge trying to take a peek at the pool!

We were able to enjoy the Christmas tree lighting ceremony that we saw in the paper the next day. We were almost in the photo that was published!

Room is good... I wish there was a solid wall dividing the toilet from the rest of the bathroom so that it could be used separately.

We did get a view of the 101 which is nicer than I expected, however the noise from the traffic cop whistles in the evening can be annoying. There is also a Christmas festival in front of the 101 with concerts on the weekend evenings but they do shut down before bed time.

RTW1

Both free breakfast in the restaurants and free suite upgrades are a very rare thing at most GH's. No exception here....

And frankly for a 15day stay totally unrealistic.

olouie

Until WOH takes over and its baked into the terms. But I expect hotels will just limit the standard suites even more and play games to prevent this. Or so many diamonds will be getting upgrades that they will run out very quickly.

RTW1

I think you are kidding yourself if you read the new T&C's that you will get an upgrade for the best room avaliable including suites.... that's not going to happen. A property is free to upgrade you now to any room they have. Most don't include suites and even then....

So unless you are a regular don't expect anything to change there.

olouie

Yeah I agree with that. Especially given that the terms pretty much leave it up to the hotel's discretion. This is part of the reason why I am not going to keep going with Hyatt. :-) but anyway a bit off topic.

In any case not sure I would want to do 15 consecutive nights at this property. It's fine but nothing special.

RTW1

I wouldn't stay for 15 days in Taipei unless I had too :-). But I do like the property. I'm fortunately that my corporate rate includes breakfast since the restaurant isn't bad either.... I just that the service didn't impress me.

dmodemd

It was the low points that was attractive here and one night is the Cat 4 certificate. We intend to tour around Taiwan but decided we could see what we wanted to through day trips and stay in one place as a base.

I know the suite was a stretch but the GH KL gave us restaurant access and most every Marriott and Hilton I go to does, so I am used to it.

I forgot to mention we got a complimentary bottle of wine (or 6-pack of beer) for our "long stay". I am not sure how long it needs to be to qualify for this undocumented perk (this is separate from the welcome amenity). Seemed a bit silly when there is all the free wine you want in the lounge down the hall, but if you want to be able to drink in the middle of the day...