Sep 21, 2014, 11:03 am
Last edit by: ElevatorEnthusiast
Occupancy Policy
Due to fire safety and security concerns, only registered hotel guests are allowed in guest rooms from 10pm to 8am. From 8am to 10pm, the maximum occupancy—including visitors (non-registered guests) and registered guests—for each room is as follows:
Due to fire safety and security concerns, only registered hotel guests are allowed in guest rooms from 10pm to 8am. From 8am to 10pm, the maximum occupancy—including visitors (non-registered guests) and registered guests—for each room is as follows:
- Wonderful, Fabulous and Spectacular Rooms: 5 adults
- Cool Corner Room: 8 adults
- Marvelous and Fantastic Suites: 10 adults
- WOW Suite: 20 adults
- Extremely WOW Suite: 30 adults
- WOW Suite: 20 adults
- Marvelous and Fantastic Suites: 10 adults
- Cool Corner Room: 8 adults
W Hotel Taipei, Taiwan [Master Thread]
Oct 28, 2013, 11:31 pm
#166
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: LAX/TPE
Programs: United 1K, JAL Sapphire, SPG Lifetime Platinum, National Executive Elite, Hertz PC, Avis PC
Posts: 42,220
Oct 29, 2013, 12:31 am
#167
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Okinawa
Posts: 2,611
Our group booked three rooms. We had two golds and an plat75 in our party. The disappointment started with the Lifetime Plat/Plat75 not able to use his SNA and receiving no upgrade upon check-in. We all had the same room. Throughout the stay the majority of the staff was at best indifferent and at worst rude. There were a few exceptions for which I gave accolades to the manager, but I experienced staff completely ignoring me when I entered the hotel. I'll follow up more shortly. The hotel had pluses and minuses but compared to the service at the Grand Hyatt Taipei I was not even close to impressed.
Oct 29, 2013, 1:50 am
#169
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Okinawa
Posts: 2,611
Oct 29, 2013, 1:00 pm
#172
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: LAX/TPE
Programs: United 1K, JAL Sapphire, SPG Lifetime Platinum, National Executive Elite, Hertz PC, Avis PC
Posts: 42,220
Sure, I addressed them to the floor? manager on checkout. His response was two fold: the staff are new and please give us another chance next time you are in town. Not really acceptable at all.
Our group booked three rooms. We had two golds and an plat75 in our party. The disappointment started with the Lifetime Plat/Plat75 not able to use his SNA and receiving no upgrade upon check-in. We all had the same room. Throughout the stay the majority of the staff was at best indifferent and at worst rude. There were a few exceptions for which I gave accolades to the manager, but I experienced staff completely ignoring me when I entered the hotel. I'll follow up more shortly. The hotel had pluses and minuses but compared to the service at the Grand Hyatt Taipei I was not even close to impressed.
Our group booked three rooms. We had two golds and an plat75 in our party. The disappointment started with the Lifetime Plat/Plat75 not able to use his SNA and receiving no upgrade upon check-in. We all had the same room. Throughout the stay the majority of the staff was at best indifferent and at worst rude. There were a few exceptions for which I gave accolades to the manager, but I experienced staff completely ignoring me when I entered the hotel. I'll follow up more shortly. The hotel had pluses and minuses but compared to the service at the Grand Hyatt Taipei I was not even close to impressed.
Oct 29, 2013, 6:49 pm
#173
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Okinawa
Posts: 2,611
Hmm, this is another recent post that claims there was recent turnover and the staff are new. I'm in TPE for all of November and will stop by the hotel to see if I recognize anyone and get a feel for how the staff are. I would hate to think the one thing that made this hotel so spectacular has been replaced - and for what reason, I have no idea.
Pro's of the hotel are:
-Breakfast buffet for Plats
-Free pastries and espresso in the lobby in the morning for everyone. Apples and water throughout the day.
-Elite Happy Hour for 2 hours with all you can drink beer, wine and spirits on either the 10th? and 31st floors.
-Like most of Taipei there are plenty of extremely fluent English speakers here
Issues at this hotel:
-The biggest thing was a consistent theme of guests being a burden. I was very rarely welcomed, greeted or even acknowledged by the staff who spent most of their time milling about. The 1st floor staff especially would just stand around giggling at each other/looking at their smart phones. No interest in anyone coming in and out of the hotel. Totally unacceptable for the cost. If this place was $50 a night sure, but at ~$360 a night no thanks.
- Espresso machine was constantly out of water, staff would walk right by me, looking at the empty machine and me. They would not great me or fill the machine with water. I ended up filling it from the faucet in the bathroom. My only other experience at a W hotel was the W Koh Samui and frankly it blew my socks off. The service was amazing.
- Water jug was constantly empty in the lobby. Even when the lobby is teaming with staff who would offer no greetings
-When I check into a hotel at the top price-point of a market I expect a different kind of check-in experience. For example at the Park Hyatt Tokyo they escort you to your room and check you in there. No such luck here. I showed up, only 1 of 2 rooms was available, which was fine, it was before noon and I was just thankful for a place to drop my bags and had no expectation to check in until after lunch. We returned to the hotel, again at this price point I'd expect someone to have my key for the second room waiting and ready when I came up. Hopefully they would rush out and give it to me. At the W Taipei no such luck. I went to the Gold and Plat desk and was just sort of stared at, no "How can I help you" etc. I then initiated a conversation with the rep and asked for the key to the second room I booked. About 10 minutes later I finally got it.
-Our 75Plat left for a night and came back. When he checked back in his room still wasn't ready at 7PM.
-Upon checkout the rate had been changed for one of my rooms. When I asked why, the front desk said because I had received an upgrade. This wasn't the case. None of our party had received any upgrade, we were all in the base level room we had booked. I asked him why would I have to pay an extra 1000 TWD a night for a 'complimentary upgrade' again there was no upgrade. At this point it was at the end of our 4 day stay where our whole group had been pretty unsatisfied, no huge faux pas just a generally unimpressive stay, especially for the price. I told the front desk attendant to fix the bill and I'd be back down in 30 minutes. When I came back the manager approached me, told me the bill was fixed and then we had a nice conversation about what I felt the shortcomings of the hotel were. We all would have been happier at the 4 Points which is what I booked for my next stay in Taiwan.
-One night the lady came through for turn down?/leave gummy bears. We opened the door, without a word she just stuck them in my friends hand and moved on. The gummy bears are great, I realize they don't have to give them anyway, but I went and asked her for 2 more packs. These are $.15 packs of maybe 8-10 loose bears. She looked at me like I had just asked her for $250. She handed me one. I smiled, said thank you, but could I have 1 more. She then gave a frustrated moan and gave me far more than I asked for. I again thanked her. All this for less than a dollar worth of candy!
-Form over function, which I guess is standard for the W Brand, each time you use the sink in your room the faucet is too close to the edge and even being extremely careful water would spill everywhere. This is just unacceptable. I was constantly wiping water off of the floor and counter thanks to this sink. Really no way the staff could fix this, just an observation and this I expected at a W.
Oct 29, 2013, 8:35 pm
#174
Join Date: May 2012
Location: SIN
Programs: JL GC | Marriott LT Silver | Global Entry | SQ Silver
Posts: 6,819
I try to be extremely polite all of the time when dealing with service staff because that's how I want to be treated. I always give appropriate greetings of the day and do my best to smile.
Pro's of the hotel are:
-Breakfast buffet for Plats
-Free pastries and espresso in the lobby in the morning for everyone. Apples and water throughout the day.
-Elite Happy Hour for 2 hours with all you can drink beer, wine and spirits on either the 10th? and 31st floors.
-Like most of Taipei there are plenty of extremely fluent English speakers here
Issues at this hotel:
-The biggest thing was a consistent theme of guests being a burden. I was very rarely welcomed, greeted or even acknowledged by the staff who spent most of their time milling about. The 1st floor staff especially would just stand around giggling at each other/looking at their smart phones. No interest in anyone coming in and out of the hotel. Totally unacceptable for the cost. If this place was $50 a night sure, but at ~$360 a night no thanks.
- Espresso machine was constantly out of water, staff would walk right by me, looking at the empty machine and me. They would not great me or fill the machine with water. I ended up filling it from the faucet in the bathroom. My only other experience at a W hotel was the W Koh Samui and frankly it blew my socks off. The service was amazing.
- Water jug was constantly empty in the lobby. Even when the lobby is teaming with staff who would offer no greetings
-When I check into a hotel at the top price-point of a market I expect a different kind of check-in experience. For example at the Park Hyatt Tokyo they escort you to your room and check you in there. No such luck here. I showed up, only 1 of 2 rooms was available, which was fine, it was before noon and I was just thankful for a place to drop my bags and had no expectation to check in until after lunch. We returned to the hotel, again at this price point I'd expect someone to have my key for the second room waiting and ready when I came up. Hopefully they would rush out and give it to me. At the W Taipei no such luck. I went to the Gold and Plat desk and was just sort of stared at, no "How can I help you" etc. I then initiated a conversation with the rep and asked for the key to the second room I booked. About 10 minutes later I finally got it.
-Our 75Plat left for a night and came back. When he checked back in his room still wasn't ready at 7PM.
-Upon checkout the rate had been changed for one of my rooms. When I asked why, the front desk said because I had received an upgrade. This wasn't the case. None of our party had received any upgrade, we were all in the base level room we had booked. I asked him why would I have to pay an extra 1000 TWD a night for a 'complimentary upgrade' again there was no upgrade. At this point it was at the end of our 4 day stay where our whole group had been pretty unsatisfied, no huge faux pas just a generally unimpressive stay, especially for the price. I told the front desk attendant to fix the bill and I'd be back down in 30 minutes. When I came back the manager approached me, told me the bill was fixed and then we had a nice conversation about what I felt the shortcomings of the hotel were. We all would have been happier at the 4 Points which is what I booked for my next stay in Taiwan.
-One night the lady came through for turn down?/leave gummy bears. We opened the door, without a word she just stuck them in my friends hand and moved on. The gummy bears are great, I realize they don't have to give them anyway, but I went and asked her for 2 more packs. These are $.15 packs of maybe 8-10 loose bears. She looked at me like I had just asked her for $250. She handed me one. I smiled, said thank you, but could I have 1 more. She then gave a frustrated moan and gave me far more than I asked for. I again thanked her. All this for less than a dollar worth of candy!
-Form over function, which I guess is standard for the W Brand, each time you use the sink in your room the faucet is too close to the edge and even being extremely careful water would spill everywhere. This is just unacceptable. I was constantly wiping water off of the floor and counter thanks to this sink. Really no way the staff could fix this, just an observation and this I expected at a W.
Pro's of the hotel are:
-Breakfast buffet for Plats
-Free pastries and espresso in the lobby in the morning for everyone. Apples and water throughout the day.
-Elite Happy Hour for 2 hours with all you can drink beer, wine and spirits on either the 10th? and 31st floors.
-Like most of Taipei there are plenty of extremely fluent English speakers here
Issues at this hotel:
-The biggest thing was a consistent theme of guests being a burden. I was very rarely welcomed, greeted or even acknowledged by the staff who spent most of their time milling about. The 1st floor staff especially would just stand around giggling at each other/looking at their smart phones. No interest in anyone coming in and out of the hotel. Totally unacceptable for the cost. If this place was $50 a night sure, but at ~$360 a night no thanks.
- Espresso machine was constantly out of water, staff would walk right by me, looking at the empty machine and me. They would not great me or fill the machine with water. I ended up filling it from the faucet in the bathroom. My only other experience at a W hotel was the W Koh Samui and frankly it blew my socks off. The service was amazing.
- Water jug was constantly empty in the lobby. Even when the lobby is teaming with staff who would offer no greetings
-When I check into a hotel at the top price-point of a market I expect a different kind of check-in experience. For example at the Park Hyatt Tokyo they escort you to your room and check you in there. No such luck here. I showed up, only 1 of 2 rooms was available, which was fine, it was before noon and I was just thankful for a place to drop my bags and had no expectation to check in until after lunch. We returned to the hotel, again at this price point I'd expect someone to have my key for the second room waiting and ready when I came up. Hopefully they would rush out and give it to me. At the W Taipei no such luck. I went to the Gold and Plat desk and was just sort of stared at, no "How can I help you" etc. I then initiated a conversation with the rep and asked for the key to the second room I booked. About 10 minutes later I finally got it.
-Our 75Plat left for a night and came back. When he checked back in his room still wasn't ready at 7PM.
-Upon checkout the rate had been changed for one of my rooms. When I asked why, the front desk said because I had received an upgrade. This wasn't the case. None of our party had received any upgrade, we were all in the base level room we had booked. I asked him why would I have to pay an extra 1000 TWD a night for a 'complimentary upgrade' again there was no upgrade. At this point it was at the end of our 4 day stay where our whole group had been pretty unsatisfied, no huge faux pas just a generally unimpressive stay, especially for the price. I told the front desk attendant to fix the bill and I'd be back down in 30 minutes. When I came back the manager approached me, told me the bill was fixed and then we had a nice conversation about what I felt the shortcomings of the hotel were. We all would have been happier at the 4 Points which is what I booked for my next stay in Taiwan.
-One night the lady came through for turn down?/leave gummy bears. We opened the door, without a word she just stuck them in my friends hand and moved on. The gummy bears are great, I realize they don't have to give them anyway, but I went and asked her for 2 more packs. These are $.15 packs of maybe 8-10 loose bears. She looked at me like I had just asked her for $250. She handed me one. I smiled, said thank you, but could I have 1 more. She then gave a frustrated moan and gave me far more than I asked for. I again thanked her. All this for less than a dollar worth of candy!
-Form over function, which I guess is standard for the W Brand, each time you use the sink in your room the faucet is too close to the edge and even being extremely careful water would spill everywhere. This is just unacceptable. I was constantly wiping water off of the floor and counter thanks to this sink. Really no way the staff could fix this, just an observation and this I expected at a W.
^
Oct 29, 2013, 9:01 pm
#175
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 1,748
It's quite incredible how people can experience extremes... I wonder if they put "better" staff on different floors.
In 2012:
. I was upgraded to a Marv Suite after a bit of pushing via email
. the first floor staff do need some work - they opened the door, offered to carry our luggage, and to call cabs, or get the lift - which is good enough for me. But the problem is they weren't consistent. Some times they would be more interested in getting a mobile phone tan, or gossiping behind the counter. But most W staff are young esp in TPE, and well... it's a generation thing? :P
. I didn't notice all the freebie fruit/drinks - but in all the W's I've been the water does tend to run out quickly. I think it's partly because they always have some esoteric looking dispenser (read: small) and perhaps no one is officially assigned to refill it? Not an excuse; after all if you want to provide something it should be done properly
. housekeeping was a treasure - had the same lady for 3 out of 4 days
. one guest was sick - she cleaned up the upchuck from the carpet, she gave advice on what to eat/drink. she offered to get medication, and the next day inquired on his condition
. another day she asked where we were going to, and recommended places to eat. When we asked about a particular restaurant, she offered to help us make a booking because her friend was the head waitress there
. interestingly, she was probably the oldest W "talent" we saw there, aside from the mid-level managers
. she got a Plat TY card from me
. lobby bar waiters made light conversation even though it was obvious we were just there to wait for someone, after breakfast. Served water without asking...
Haven't been back this year ... worrisome reading more recent reports.
Oct 29, 2013, 10:46 pm
#176
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Okinawa
Posts: 2,611
Wow, this looks terrible. I hope to visit Taiwan again next year and will try to get a stay there. During my recent stay in Taipei on December/January, I tried 4Points, W, and Westin. I gotta say it was fantastic at all 4 properties. Wonder what happened with the staff at the W? Taiwanese in general are nice and friendly. I'm proud to say I'm half a product of Taiwan. ^
^
Oct 29, 2013, 11:21 pm
#177
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Shanghai, Singapore
Programs: SQ*G, SPG Platinum, FPC Premier
Posts: 339
I find kiernna's experience there to have been quite different from mine last month (which I posted about earlier in this thread).
Maybe we should all go back to see if things have really changed, and in the process unwittingly boost their revenues, which will in turn make management think nothing's wrong or need fixing.
Maybe we should all go back to see if things have really changed, and in the process unwittingly boost their revenues, which will in turn make management think nothing's wrong or need fixing.
Nov 4, 2013, 9:43 pm
#178
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: New York, NY USA
Programs: AA 8MM Exec,Life Plat, Marriott Amb,Life Titanium, ,Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist.
Posts: 495
All I can say is WOW.....My new favourite W
I had never been to Tapei so friends and I decided to stay at the W Taipei after much deliberation. We do enjoy a club lounge but were willing to forgo to try the W which has a great central location and is New-ish.
I am not great lover of the W's....I think they are often form with limited function and are great "flash" for peoples facebook pics with tiny rooms. I have stayed in San Fran....3 in NYc, HKG, Chicago, London, Istanbul and more I cannot remember. This W Taipei really was an exception to my current W Beliefs and I admit to have made a blanket judgement and was proved wrong!
Reservations were handled by me online. I am a plat member and received an email from their W insider (I don't give out names)....asked for my two rooms if I had any special requests. I then received an email prior to arrival asking if I needed any dining reservations as they noted we were staying over the weekend? Very good pre arrival service.
One room was upgraded to a suite using my SNA from Starwood, and I had a single room to myself, I gave the suite to my friends. My room was beautiful....large in size, perfectly organized. A cubby with a coffee and tea maker....beautiful bathroom and of course the Bliss spa amenities. The room felt spacious and very zen. I enjoyed just relaxing in my room, which is not my norm as I am in so many hotels. This room was just lovely.
The suite was big and funky with two bathrooms and nice views, though had a smoky smell which even with the air purifier they sent up never went away. Which is strange as it is a nonsmoking hotel? Could be ventilation? We chose not to move however the smell lingered for our 4 days no matter what they sprayed or did. In hindsight we should have switched rooms but alas.....we were lazy and liked being next to each other. I Loved the regular Fabulous room I had. I will also note the fabulous black out blinds which really blocked most of the light from the outside....for light sleepers....great! Internet speeds were also excellent.
The hotel styling is beautiful....wide hallways and funky elevators. The lobby always had music and the front desk was set up around the corner from the bar area. The staff at this hotel were wonderful. Friendly faces, eager to help out when needed. Luggage, restaurants, faxes, all taken care of. Wake-up calls were all on time and always with a weather report of the day which I appreciated.
Our breakfasts each morning at the Cafe were very nice. Many choices, Chinese, Japanese, standard American fare. Their dining room had soaring ceilings and a wide open feeling to it. Never too loud and cappuccino's appeared as if by magic. No request was too much. The Quality of the food was excellent. The Bacon tasted like bacon and not just fatty....the Ham didn't have the preservative flavours that I sometimes taste at hotel restaurants. They also had an ice cream bar for breakfast? A first for me....and many people seemed to be enjoying themselves. You also had an option to eat outside at the pool area under cover, but we enjoyed the brightness of eating inside.
Overall from the moment we arrived to the moment we left, the W Tapei left us feeling pampering and yes, I hate to say it....but Special. I would probably return to Taipei for two things.....1) The fantastic art museum and 2) To luxuriate at the W Tapei, which was a lovely destination unto itself.
Safe travels to all.
I am not great lover of the W's....I think they are often form with limited function and are great "flash" for peoples facebook pics with tiny rooms. I have stayed in San Fran....3 in NYc, HKG, Chicago, London, Istanbul and more I cannot remember. This W Taipei really was an exception to my current W Beliefs and I admit to have made a blanket judgement and was proved wrong!
Reservations were handled by me online. I am a plat member and received an email from their W insider (I don't give out names)....asked for my two rooms if I had any special requests. I then received an email prior to arrival asking if I needed any dining reservations as they noted we were staying over the weekend? Very good pre arrival service.
One room was upgraded to a suite using my SNA from Starwood, and I had a single room to myself, I gave the suite to my friends. My room was beautiful....large in size, perfectly organized. A cubby with a coffee and tea maker....beautiful bathroom and of course the Bliss spa amenities. The room felt spacious and very zen. I enjoyed just relaxing in my room, which is not my norm as I am in so many hotels. This room was just lovely.
The suite was big and funky with two bathrooms and nice views, though had a smoky smell which even with the air purifier they sent up never went away. Which is strange as it is a nonsmoking hotel? Could be ventilation? We chose not to move however the smell lingered for our 4 days no matter what they sprayed or did. In hindsight we should have switched rooms but alas.....we were lazy and liked being next to each other. I Loved the regular Fabulous room I had. I will also note the fabulous black out blinds which really blocked most of the light from the outside....for light sleepers....great! Internet speeds were also excellent.
The hotel styling is beautiful....wide hallways and funky elevators. The lobby always had music and the front desk was set up around the corner from the bar area. The staff at this hotel were wonderful. Friendly faces, eager to help out when needed. Luggage, restaurants, faxes, all taken care of. Wake-up calls were all on time and always with a weather report of the day which I appreciated.
Our breakfasts each morning at the Cafe were very nice. Many choices, Chinese, Japanese, standard American fare. Their dining room had soaring ceilings and a wide open feeling to it. Never too loud and cappuccino's appeared as if by magic. No request was too much. The Quality of the food was excellent. The Bacon tasted like bacon and not just fatty....the Ham didn't have the preservative flavours that I sometimes taste at hotel restaurants. They also had an ice cream bar for breakfast? A first for me....and many people seemed to be enjoying themselves. You also had an option to eat outside at the pool area under cover, but we enjoyed the brightness of eating inside.
Overall from the moment we arrived to the moment we left, the W Tapei left us feeling pampering and yes, I hate to say it....but Special. I would probably return to Taipei for two things.....1) The fantastic art museum and 2) To luxuriate at the W Tapei, which was a lovely destination unto itself.
Safe travels to all.
Nov 25, 2013, 2:20 pm
#179
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: LAX
Programs: UA (1MM); SPG Plat
Posts: 335
It was a limited time "promotion". I think there were a list of maybe 4 to 6 cocktails and a selection of beer or wine. When we were there back in May 2013, it was offered for the first few nights of our stay. The PM gets a glass for free during 6 to 7pm. Our friends got multiple drinks there instead of the 1.
Nov 25, 2013, 2:35 pm
#180
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: LAX
Programs: UA (1MM); SPG Plat
Posts: 335
In terms of the service issues with the welcome desk (on the first floor) and the front desk (10th floor) is the recent turn over. Even the front desk manager Mattie from australia left. I think it is Kevin now (and I may have a run in with him when he was at Kitchen table back when W taipei first opened). Luckily, most "talents" know us there so really no major issues from them. However, the rooms may not be "styled" to my liking or the room needs some fixing (yes, it has major wear and tear issues already) from time to time. And last time, I had issues with the operator screening our calls. However, most everything could be remedied. I told the on duty manager that we want our calls to come through directly without the confirmation of the last name (since some of our taiwanese friends may not know our last name).