Country
Taiwan
City
Taipei
Hotel
Marriott International
Notes
The Good
- Modern luxury
- Variety of dining options
- Heated pool, and 24/7 gym
The Bad
- Location away from the city and Taipei's major airport
- Communication with guests could be clearer
X-Factor
- Great Executive Lounge, if you have access
Introduction
Up the northern end of the Taiwanese capital city, the Taipei Marriott Hotel features 320 rooms with a luxurious, modern atmosphere, along with favourites such as an Executive Lounge for Marriott Rewards' Platinum Elite members and above, or those staying on the Executive Floors.
Australian Business Traveller put the hotel to the test from the perspective of a Platinum Elite member booked in Deluxe Room – the category above the entry-level rooms, to which Elite members may be upgraded – to bring you this review.
Location & Impressions
Situated in the city's Zhongshan District, the Taipei Marriott Hotel's location isn't its strongest point, being a 35-60-minute drive from Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) – the main transport hub serving all flights to and from Australia – and 10-20 minutes by car from Taipei Main Station in the CBD.
Taking public transport pushes that airport trip to almost two hours, while public transport into Main Station also takes 35-55 minutes.
Instead, the hotel is better-located for Taipei's smaller Songshan Airport (TSA), which is 8-15 minutes by car or around half an hour on public transport, which you can see quite clearly from this viewing area not far from the hotel, which looks back to both the airport and the city, where you can spot Taipei 101:
Arriving just after midnight on a flight from London, I quickly had my room key in-hand and was in the lift, where I paused to smile at the names of some of the meeting and event rooms here...
... while the room itself provided a nice view towards the city, which I was able to better-appreciate in the morning:
While I don't tend to watch much TV when I'm travelling overseas, I turned it on mainly to check that it was working as part of this review, but was greeted by the following alert:
At first, I grabbed my phone to check the weather during my stay, but quickly realised that Typhoon Maria had struck several weeks prior, and that this was an old message.
While it's great that the hotel can present alerts like this as needed, when a cyclone has well and gone, so too should the alert, as this could be concerning to less-experienced travellers.
Room
The Taipei Marriott's Deluxe Rooms feature a modern decor and all the expected amenities, as the hotel first opened its doors in 2015, so everything here still feels relatively new.
The rooms provide a choice of twin or king bedding...
... and as I always like to see – particularly at newer-build hotels – there's power available by the bedside to keep your smartphone nearby while recharging...
... and you'll find more power outlets available over in the working area, beside the television...
... with a dedicated fixed shelf area catering for your luggage, so that you don't have to try and balance it on one of those typical fiddly baggage stands:
More power points can be found closer to the entrance, where you'll also find facilities for making tea and coffee, although the latter is of the instant variety, rather than having a coffee pod machine as are increasingly becoming the norm in higher-end hotels:
Next to that, a typical cupboard with bathrobes and slippers, along with the in-room safe...
... while the bathroom offers a separate bathtub and shower – no 'shub' here!
My room gave views towards Songshan Airport and the Taipei CBD (pictured further above), while some rooms face the Miramar Ferris Wheel for something different (shown at the top of this section).
Work
As mentioned above, there's an in-room work space with handy access to power, a height-adjustable chair and plenty of room to spread out your gear or papers...
... but the hotel also has an Executive Lounge – open to Marriott Rewards Platinum Elite and Platinum Premier Elite members staying in any room type, or those who book Privilege Rooms, Comfort Suites, Sky Comfort Suites and Brilliant Suites – where some of the window-side seats also provide access to power:
Connecting to the complimentary WiFi, at first, I had to gasp – the welcome screen indicates that the free access is limited to a mere 30MB, which I can often chew through after a quick sync of my email inbox, let alone anything more data-intensive:
However, no limit was actually imposed and I didn't have any access problems during my stay, with the hotel's connection offering download speeds of 26-34Mbps and uploads of 27-38Mbps: more than acceptable and suitable for tasks like video streaming or sending and receiving large files and attachments.
Eat
Continuing with the Executive Lounge for those who have access – again, that's Platinum Elite members and above, and those booking a Privilege Room or higher – the mornings provide a breakfast spread of hot and cold options including those below and other bites like fruit and yoghurts, and machine-made espresso coffee...
... with nibbles and non-alcoholic drinks available throughout the day, where the lounge can be a nice place to work...
... while in the evenings, a good variety of canapés appear including garlic broccoli, BBQ chicken thighs, seasoned eggs, fish on mini-toasts (which could be labelled a little better than "seafood dish" by the hotel)..
... spiced salt spare ribs, fried oyster mushrooms, and a selection of homemade pastries:
Alcohol is also complimentary in the evenings with a selection of beer, wine and spirits on offer – and even after the service had 'officially' ended, staff still came around to offer top-ups for those remaining guests:
Another option for breakfast, albeit chargeable (750TWD, or about A$34), is down in Garden Kitchen on the ground floor, where the views are as the name describes...
... and a vast buffet provides a variety of Asian and Western cuisine:
Here, I returned for lunch, and enjoyed the soup of the day, followed by the duck special...
... and found that a good hand-prepared latte wasn't too far away. For dessert, a few treats from the nearby buffet – some of which also appear in the Executive Lounge upstairs.
The hotel also has a Lobby Lounge, Mark's Teppanyaki (Japanese), The Dining Place (Chinese), and Inge's: a 'grill' restaurant up on level 20, with similar views as had from the Executive Lounge.
Relax
While the Executive Lounge can be a great place to work, it's also a nice spot to relax, with plenty of comfy seats less business-like...
... while the hotel also has a 24/7 gym to complete your workout whenever it suits your schedule...
... and finally, a headed rooftop pool welcomes guests from 6:30am to 10pm daily:
Overall, the Taipei Marriott is a nice, modern and spacious hotel with beautiful public areas – including plenty of sky-high artwork in the lobby – and provides great recognition for regular Marriott guests through the property's Executive Lounge.
However, its location leaves much to be desired, and isn't at all convenient for Australian travellers arriving at Taoyuan Airport and tending to business in Taipei's city centre.
Given the hassle of getting anywhere from the hotel, it'd need to be priced well below other options in the city itself, taking into account the added financial and time costs of taxis or trains to and from – but with the right room rate, I'd stay here again on future Taiwan business trips.
Hopefully, the hotel also improves some of its messaging to guests: those checking-in don't need to be startled by a long-expired typhoon warning in the room, or be told that the free WiFi will cut off after only 30MB, when that's fortunately not the case.
Chris Chamberlin was a guest of the Taipei Marriott Hotel.
Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
United Airlines - Mileage Plus
17 Feb 2016
Total posts 45
Hands down one of the best business hotels I've ever stayed in. Brilliantly and simply appointed rooms and first rate connectivity and facilities.
09 Dec 2016
Total posts 17
Hi Chris, re your comment on the wifi, I think you may have misinterpreted the "30MB". My understanding is this refers to the speed (30Mbps) rather than a download limit which looks consistent with the speeds you experienced when testing the service.
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2432
Hi therealdave, not misinterpreted at all: in tech, “MB” and “Mbps” are two very different (but similarly-written) things – the former relates to data size/volume, the latter, to speed – so 30MB, as listed on the WiFi portal, suggests a download limit rather than a speed. If the hotel meant to say “Mbps”, its portal should be updated.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
02 Sep 2018
Total posts 153
One of the best Marriott brand properties I've seen.
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