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W Hotel Taipei
Add: 10 Zhongxiao East Road Sec. 5, Taipei, Taiwan 台北市信義區忠孝東路五段10號
Tel: (02) 7703 8888
Website: www.wtaipei.com
Visited: Jun 2016
Please note that this was a complimentary stay arranged by the hotel.
From Taipei Songshan Airport, it was an easy 20 minutes on the taxi to W Taipei. The stylish vibe was immediately contagious, and I couldn’t help but get a little excited about checking-in – despite the fact that I’ve been here for drinks on previous visits to Taipei, I had never stayed at the hotel…until this time around.
Designed by G.A. Design International of London with the theme of “Nature Electrified”, W Taipei features a meticulously curated collection of contemporary art throughout the hotel, starting at the first floor reception area. Hanging from the ceiling is “Reflective Cloud” by Hirotoshi Sawada, an installation of mirrored plastic and bamboo, with blue dots on the floor as “raindrops”, inspired by the rainy weather in Taipei.
On the wall is “To Light You Fade”, an interactive installation created by rAndom International, lighting up according to your movements in front of it.
En route to the 11th floor for check-in there is a another installation art “Purple Target”, completely composed of thumbtacks.
After a quick check-in, I was led to my room. There are 8 room types at W Taipei, ranging from the 43 sqm Wonderful Room to the 365 sqm Extreme Wow Suite (this is where Lady Gaga stayed when she came to Taipei, fyi). I chose a Spectacular Room with view of Taipei 101, the price is around 10k TWD/night without breakfast.
It’s not my first time seeing Taipei 101, but to have it in plain view from my own room was still quite stunning.
For Starwood Preferred Guests, room doors can be opened with the app – no need for keys.
Tri-fold mirror, like.
“Surprise Me”.
Oooh, snacks.
There’s a little cocktail lab in every W Hotel room…party time?
The bathroom has a fully open design (with sliding doors if you wish some privacy) in bright orange color scheme.
The coral-looking thing is for jewelries, cute and thoughtful.
Bliss toiletries.
Taipei poured a lot during my visit, a perfect excuse to stay in with a cup of tea, read some books by the window, and watch Taipei 101 disappear / reappear among the fog.
Small details.
On another note, if you stay in the Fantastic Suite, you can enjoy Taipei 101 while you are in the shower.
The WET pool, looks like the perfect pool party spot.
Another installation art, “Water Droplet” right by the poolside…notice how you can see yourself in every bubble?
W Taipei, after dark. On another note, at the time of snapping this photo I was waiting for a taxi to go to dinner, and I happened to run into the front desk staff who helped me check in the day earlier. Seeing that I was having trouble getting a taxi due to heavy rain, she offered to drive me to my dinner venue since she was getting off work at the same time. How sweet is that!?
WOOBAR was quite empty at 7pm when these photos were taken, but by 11pm when I came back it was packed with people. A friend once commented that W Hotel feels like a huge night club…well, she’s actually right.
Back in the room, view of Xinyi District from above.
Good night, Taipei.
The signature W Bed is ultra comfortable, and the curtain blocks out the sun so completely that I was genuinely confused when my alarm rang in the morning…is it really time to get up? Good morning, Taipei.
Breakfast (not automatically included in the room rate) is served at The Kitchen Table on the 11th floor. They’ve got a lot on offer, but personally I’d prefer to look for breakfast out on the streets of Taipei – whether you are going for western style brunches or shaobing youtiao type of things, there are tons of options.
Those who are not afraid of the heat can also sit outside by the pool…(not I, not I).
I was hoping to try YEN Chinese restaurant on this visit but alas my Taipei eating itinerary was already completely packed. The space is beautiful in shades of purple and black, with intricate bird cage design that sections the restaurant into various areas. YEN is the first Chinese restaurant in the entire W Worldwide, and I heard that they recently hired Chef Wu from Osaka’s Ritz-Carlton 1 Michelin star Chinese restaurant to helm the kitchen – something to try if you are in Taipei.
On the other side is a bar, also in tones of purple, with eyes on the wall that blink (yes, slightly creepy).
View of Taipei 101.
I was planning to burn some calories at SWEAT (no really, I actually brought my gym clothes and shoes), but unfortunately I had too much eating planned during the day and couldn’t spare the time (lame excuse, because SWEAT is open 24 hours for hotel guests.)
It was a lovely experience staying at W Taipei. Other than the convenient location and comfortable rooms, I was actually most impressed by the service – I somehow was slightly worried that service at such a stylish hotel might be a bit standoff-ish, but to my pleasant surprise, it was the complete opposite. If you are visiting Taipei in the near future, why not give the W a try?
On a related note, W Shanghai is scheduled to open in 2017…(!)
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