Grand Hyatt Taipei Review

1. Introduction: A Quick Trip to Taipei
2. EVA Air Business Class Review (Royal Laurel Class) LAX-TPE
3. Grand Hyatt Taipei Review
4. JAL Business Class Lounge Review TPE
5. JAL Regional Business Class Review TPE-NRT
6. JAL First Class Lounge NRT Review (Sakura Lounge)
7. JAL First Class (Sky Suite) Review NRT-LAX

TPE airport is relatively far away from downtown Taipei where all the action is. Having landed at around 10pm after a 14 hour flight, a cab was definitely the best option for me to get to the Grand Hyatt Taipei. I got in the taxi line and secured a cab to the hotel, which cost about $40. That’s more than I like to pay for getting to my hotel, but I dealt with it.

I think now’s a good time to point out that this hotel is supposed to be haunted. It’s such a well-known fact that when you type in “Grand Hyatt Taipei” in to Google, the first recommended search is “Grand Hyatt Taipei haunted.” I know people that claim to have experienced some unusual happenings at this hotel, but nothing along the lines of seeing a ghost. So, as any normal human being would be, I was excited and curious to see what I’d find!

I arrived at the hotel after a long 45 minute drive and found it to be very, very big. The lobby was extremely spacious with water fountains (that were being repaired), seating areas, a couple of restaurants, and shops. It’s one of the larger hotel lobbies that come to mind.

I headed straight for the front desk to get my keys, which took more time than usual. I was “only” a Hyatt Platinum member at the time of this stay so I wasn’t expecting much in the way of an upgrade. My real hope was to get one of the newly renovated rooms which I heard are very nice. Lucky enough, I got one on the 17th floor.

It was very apparent that this room was recently renovated. It was clean, the furniture was new, the lighting was excellent, and lighting controls were built directly into the nightstand. The only thing I thought was unusual was there was a lack of a desk to work on, but that just means I needed to work from the bed which I didn’t mind that much.

There was, however, a small table with apples on it. On the wall directly behind it were a lot of different media device outlets.

As with all hotels, there was an overpriced mini fridge section. The closet was standard and included a safe, iron, ironing board, and robe.

The bathroom was nice as well, and again it was very apparent that there was a recent renovation. There was a large shower with a rain shower head, which I love, another robe, and June Jacobs amenities. There was only a single sink but that didn’t make a difference to me since I was traveling alone.

 

Location-wise, I thought this hotel was perfect. It was about a 10-15 minute walk from Taipei 101, and just beyond that was a park and a bit of a hiking trail called Elephant Hill that I went up to get spectacular views of the city. Taipei 101 itself has a huge mall and food court inside. On the other side of the hotel are small shops, restaurants, and other stores. Basically, it was a great place to do all the touristy things and also see the more local side of Taipei (although being so close to Taipei 101 meant lots of touristy things around).

I try not to order room service too much when I’m traveling abroad, but when jet lag strikes and I’m hungry, I don’t always have many options. I ordered one of my favorite Asian dishes – fried noodles. It was about $15 all-in and was a pretty good portion size as a snack or meal. It was delicious as it usually is!

After two days here, I hadn’t come into contact with any ghouls, goblins, or other non-living things. I can’t say I was particularly disappointed – I’d rather not experience that kind of stuff when traveling alone. The only one thing that was a bit out of the ordinary was the below sign, which pointed out that some rooms were through a wall. Could it have been showing the ghosts to their rooms?

Okay so I’m assuming that this was part of the hotel that was still under renovation and so they basically put up a wall in it’s place. That’s not as fun of an explanation as “it directed traffic for the ghosts” but it’s the best I can do.

The rest of the hotel stay was pretty uneventful. I unfortunately didn’t have Diamond status at the time so couldn’t try breakfast, and most of the time I was here I spent outside the hotel exploring and sightseeing. That being said, the time that I did spend in the hotel was fantastic. The room was brand new and it felt like I was in a new hotel, while the lobby was huge and bright. I thought the location was excellent given I only had a couple of days in the city.

At only 12K Hyatt Points per night, I think this is an excellent choice for staying in Taipei.