Mileageruntime... Thought I'd go someplace new (and spend a day to do something.)

Questions:
(1) - Lodging. I either want Starwood or Hilton points. Apparently there is 1 convenient Sheraton, 1 Westin, and 1 Hilton. Which hotel/location is best and where have you received better "status" treatment?

(2) - What to do. I have no idea.

(3) - Airport transportation - convenience and cost options.

Thanks for your advice.

how many days? and do you speak mandarin?

2 nights ... no mandarin. English and spanish. And a nice smile and big blue eyes. But no mandarin.

I was in Taipei in '93, enjoyed the trip mainly because we lived in a house provided by our generous relatives. I haven't been back there for years, hope some day will re visit the city.
I am sorry that I have no hotel recommendations for you, but I heard the Hilton is pretty good there.
Hope you will have fun Eastbay!

[This message has been edited by afang (edited 09-22-2000).]

big blue eyes eh? hmmm... have u ever been to atlanta?

all my friends in taipei do not speak english or spanish, otherwise i could ask them to show you around...

anyway, if you still need help, please e-mail me, i may be able to point you some directions... ever consider Singapore?

The Lai Lai Sheraton is a great hotel, but it is the only one out of those three that I've stayed at personally. In general, my experience with the "major chain" hotels in Taipei has been overwhelmingly good. The service is excellent, and as a matter of fact, I feel that they treat you like a king whether or not you have any status in the frequent guest programs. That is something that I can't always say for their American/European counterparts, where the metal on your membership card makes you king or pauper... I don't remember where the locations were because I went everywhere by taxi anyway.

What to do depends on what you're into. There's all kinds of museums in and around Taipei; there are night markets which are open air markets that are my favorite memory of Taiwan... just throngs and throngs of people out for no better reason than to hang out with throngs and throngs of other people. There's all kinds of food, though I imagine most Americans would cringe at the sanitary standards of most of the "roadside" stands or places at the night market... but I've never had a problem. If you're into a hike and a climb, take a day trip down to Ali Shan. Mandarin is not absolutely necessary, although it would help a great deal if you had someone write vital comments down for you. If you stay at any of those hotels, the taxi drivers will know their English names.

I can't help you with airport transport because I either get picked up or someone arranges something for me so I don't have to deal with that. The airport is quite a ways from downtown Taipei, though, so I imagine the prices will reflect this.

As a SPG Platinum, I stayed twice each at the Lai-Lai Sheraton and the Westin in the past year or so. On every occasion, both properties upgraded me into better rooms. The Sheraton gave up a suite on both occasions, while the Westin gave me a Guest Ofice. But I do not see so much 'benefits' in terms of room amenities at the Westin, except for a personalized phone number and the Heavenly Bed (which I like a lot). Otherwise, the room was small at the Westin. As a gold member, the Sheraton also upgraded but the room I got was plain and simple.

I've stayed at the Hilton but I was then a non-elite. The room was not good at all.

For transportation, besides taking a cab, there are airport boses for major hotels in Taipei including the above three. You can just inquire after clearing the customs. It's toward the left once you get out of the customs area.

[This message has been edited by Chiangi (edited 09-22-2000).]

The Hilton is pretty unattractive compared to the Sheraton.

Additional notes.

The AirBus costs $3 between CKS and Taipei; the coaches are air conditioned, clean, and comfy enough. There are two routes, one going to the downtown hotels, the other to the ones to the east.

I'd say that your number one museum attraction in Asia is just outside Taipei - the National Palace Museum. Taxi ride costs maybe I dunno $15, and you can stay all day and then take one of the numerous city buses back (they leave from the main drag below the museum).

My wife is doing the same mileage run Nov 25-28. There is a discussion at:www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum81/HTML/000271.html
The gist of this discussion, was, that for her, wanting to be near things to walk to and do, etc the Sheraton was best. The Hyatt was rated equally high, although away form things a bit.
Right now I am searching for the best price. www.asiatravel.com has good prices for both peak and low season.Nov=peak, Dec=Low.
I emailed the hotel and they offered me 50% off the rack rate. I have a few additional things to try and will post my results by early next week

This is a link that responded to my wifes' specific situation: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/003347.html
[This message has been edited by Vulcan (edited 09-23-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Vulcan (edited 09-23-2000).]

Was in TPE last summer and talk about heat and humidity! As Violist wrote, there is a good bus service between the airport and the city. It's easy to find and you must buy your tickets at counter before hand. Service is regular. If you are in TPE for two days I strongly recommend you visit the Chiang Kai Shek memorial which you can get to by subway. The memorial is on a huge tract of land and a great example of Chinese architecture and space planning. I found the memorial very serene and tranquil. Another option is the Sun Yat Sen (founder of modern China) memorial which you can get to by bus. This is also impressive from a historical perspective. Both would take at least half a day to visit though I spent the entire day at the CKS memorial returning in the evening for a performance at the symphony hall. Your hotel concierge will be able to tell you which bus/subway to take.

The National Museum is also a good bet if that interests you. It bills itself as having the largest collection of Chinese art and artifacts in the world, so much so the mainland would like it back and they could change the main exhibits every week and still not be able to show everything in a year (or something to that effect). Well I was through there in 3 hours beating my previous record of doing the Louvre in 4 hours! Have a great time!

Although I was born in Taiwan I unfortunately do not know the place as well as I liked too. However, I do agree that picking a place that is close to the MRT (subway) is a good idea. Also, the National Palace musuem is the best one-day trip location. When the nationalists retreated to Taiwan, they also took the best art pieces with them.

Also for Startwood points there are 2 Westin hotels in Taipei area. The one in the city, is in the business district, brand new, open air lobby, one block from the MRT (Mucha Line station), with New York deli (over priced !), Taiwanese restaurants. Hilton has a central location, but very old hotel (but kept up, but still other hotels such as Westin, Hyatt are much better !).
Also we have a travel and English club, get the member list for local insights (pick a name and email) and travel tips, and meet some locals (they want to practice thier English !).
site: http://homestead.deja.com/user.johor/index.html
email:[email protected]

I stayed at the Westin, received a nice SPG Platinum upgraded suite, and liked the hotel, except for its location. (Not awful, but not great either. Cabs, however, are plentiful and cheap). Rest of the trip was not so good... maybe a trip report coming.

Eastbay1K:
Please do a trip report, bad and good. It will help Sondra on her mileage run in Nobvember.
Thanks