RTW1

There's so much to see that isn't a daytrip from Taipei.... bad choice in my opinion.

dmodemd

So, we finished our 15 day stay and we still ran short of all that we planned to do in and around Taipei. We did get out of town to Jiufen, Shifen, Tamsui, Hualien and the Taroko Gorge.

I did lose 2 days due to food poisoning.... I blame Ice Monster but I can't be sure.. only other thing I ate that day was breakfast at the GH lounge!

Some tips for future guests:

There is a laundromat a couple blocks to the west in the little neighborhood back there. There is also a local market running in the mornings where you can get some great deals on local fruit. MUCH cheaper than the market in the basement of Taipei 101.

The walkway to Taipei 101 is not connected to the hotel. You have to go out the East side entrance, walk down the street towards the metro stop and walk up the stairs to the bridge. You can actually walk the covered walkway between several malls for several blocks. It can be a good way to work your way back if you get caught in the rain. It takes some figuring out though.

If you want to do the Gorge by yourself, take the bus from City Hall Bus Station to Luodong train station and then the train to Hualien (ask for the combo ticket to save $). Even though Hualien is technically past Taroko, there are many more trains stopping there and you have much more access to cabs you can hire for the day. There is also an amazing beach right next to the Air Force base. We saw a squadron of F-16s practicing formation flying. Don't buy the local coconuts, they are not very meaty...

Hopefully you get lucky with a trustworthy cabby who will take you around all the spots up the Gorge. Check the train schedule and you can save time if he drops you off at the Taroko station when a train does stop. There was one around 5p just when we needed it.

I found the GH Taipei to be a great home base with easy access to two different subway lines. There are great neighborhoods around to explore. Go due north to a little stretch of French cafes and check out the Eslite book store by the Songshan Cultural Creative Park. Elephant Mountain hike is a must do as well.

If you need a western food fix, try the buffet at the Pizza Hut! A wild variety of strange pizzas, always changing. Nice soup and salad bar too. It's not as fancy a menu as the China Pizza Huts, but it was still good.

pollyG

Does anyone have the GM's e-mail address? The front desk modified my online reservation (downgrade my room) without my knowledge. I happened to check my account and noticed the discrepancy. I e-mailed the front desk, but the explanation was not satisfactory.

TerryK

Why don't you just call Diamond line?

OsakaWino

Maybe because he/she is a Platinum

TerryK

Whoops! I saw Diamond in profile not realizing that it was for Hilton.

OK, so why didn't OP call Platinum line?

Kilian Zoll

Any post-WOH experiences at this property?

frudd38

^ditto

tom911

I was here in March and had a nice stay. Checked in early as I was relocating from a Marriott property. Had the impression if I had arrived later in the day I could have had a suite (and did meet another Diamond who did get a suite upgrade while I was there), but happy to accept an upgraded king (might have been a junior suite) which was available at that time of day and met my needs as a solo traveler just perfectly. Very happy with the lounge. Photos from my stay are HERE.



part of my room:

Aventine

Lounge seems to have pretty good breakfast and evening options!

tom911

Clearly one of the nicest Hyatt lounges I've ever visited, and always seemed to be plenty of space. I'm going to miss Hyatt now that I've moved onto Hilton for paid stays.

dsquared37

Had two stays in late May/early June and reservation info was labeled 'Glob' by the lounge desk.

First weekend we were upgraded to a room with weird angles and setup, not pleasant at all. I had inquired about a suite and was told it might be available for the final 2 nights (of three).

At the lounge that evening I said if it was still available we'd like to move the next day and was then told it would be available at 8PM that night.... done.

Second weekend we checked in having already been upgraded to a suite. It was a low floor but with the torrential rains there wasn't anything to see anyway.

Lounge staff is awesome. Evening spread was better than breakfast (more fruit in the evening was strange) but breakfast still good.

UAuhoh

I quit this hotel because of the lounge which, on 3 of 4 visits, was more like a children's daycare center. Complaints to the supervisor were met with suggestions that we visit another venue (eg, the lobby bar).

npei

We had large family vacation needing 2 rooms, both using points and upgraded to suites for first week with TSU. The staff was surprised I had used 300k points for entire stay as Glob I expect 30k refund with Hyatt cc.

The first few days were raining continuously (unusual monsoon season continued well past mid-May), so hung out mostly indoors while exploring local Taipei scenery, and over-indulged in the club for dinner and after-dinner desserts and wine-beer-champagne. I actually found breakfast spread to have more variety than dinner. There are Chinese and western buffet style choices for both dinner and breakfast, including made to order omelettes during breakfast. For those of you who like to have Chinese congee-porridge with lots of little side dishes, and soy milk & fried breadstick (豆漿油條), you have to ask for them because they're not on display on the kitchen serving counter, but rather tucked away inside the kitchen.

The selection of tasty croissants-muffins-desserts proved too tempting, even after big meal. The wait staff is very attentive and trained to take away your plates to clear the table clutter (sometimes half-finished, I needed to tell them still working on the food).

Used the 5th floor gym-sauna-swimming pool daily (free for hotel guests, except the various massage packages). They also had free daily classes varying from yoga, taichi, Zumba salsa, etc. The indoor parking garage (1 free car parking validation per room per day, for hotel guests) was also nice for visiting friends who drive to Hyatt. I just had the parking pass validated by staff, even when one time my friend parked 6 hours and we went to Taipei 101.

It cleared up on 3rd week of June, so we went off to explore Hualien and central Taiwan. We left most of our big luggages at Hyatt, and upon return to Hyatt in the weekend, the staff delivered our stored luggages to our rooms.

Kilian Zoll

Agree. Lounge can be a zoo at this property. There are plenty of better Hyatt lounges in Asia.

Lounge staff were great at GH Taipei though.