RATING (Scale of 1 to 10)
Location: ********
Rooms: *******
Condition and Cleanliness:
*******
Staff Performance: *******
Room Comfort: ********
Food and Beverage: *****
Other Amenities: *****
Value for Money: ******
 |
| Taipei Relite Hotel |
The 3-star, Minimalist-style,
12-storey hotel, built in 1998, was formerly known as Relite Hotel Taipei and
Lilai Hotel.
It has 100 elegantly
decorated airconditioned, non-smoking rooms with flat screen cable TV with 40
cable channels (5 English – CNN, HBO, AXN, Discovery and TLC), NDD/IDD
telephone, small refrigerator, magnetic door locks, doorbell, coffee/tea making
facility, complimentary bottled water, work desk and complimentary wi-fi
access.
The private ensuite bathroom had
a bathtub, shampoo and liquid soap dispensers, complimentary toiletries (2 sets
of toothbrushes, shower cap and small bar of soap) and hair dryers.
 |
| Front Desk |
The 19.8 sq. m. (216 sq. ft.)
Standard Double Room (PhP2,261) has one double bed; the 19.8 sq. m. (216 sq. ft.) Standard Twin Room
(PhP2,789-3,045) has two single beds; the 23.1 sq. m. (252 sq. ft.) Deluxe
Double Room (PhP3,301-3,045) has one double bed; the 23.1 sq. m. (252 sq. ft.) Deluxe
Twin Room (PhP3,301-3,557) has two single beds; the 23.1 sq. m. (252 sq. ft.) Standard
Triple Room (PhP3,684-3,940) has one single bed and one double bed; the 23.1
sq. m. (252 sq. ft.) Standard Quad Room (PhP4,708-4,964) has two double beds;
and the 23.1 sq. m. (252 sq. ft.) Deluxe Quad Room (PhP4,836-5,092) has two
double beds. |
| Room 1612 |
It also has a 24-hour Front
Desk, on-site coffee shop (Sunny Café, serving American and Chinese cuisine),
tour desk, business center, shared lounge/TV area, meeting/banquet facilities and
fitness center and offers luggage storage, daily housekeeping, shuttle service
(surcharge), airport shuttle (surcharge) and 24-hour room service.
Complimentary wi fi was also available in public areas, with two routers per
floor.
Breakfast is served at the
small, clean but no frills al fresco restaurant at the roof deck which has a
great view of the city. You should take the lift to 12nd floor and then walk
upstairs. Breakfast, which comes free with the room, doesn’t have much
variety - mostly Asian fare (with a day or two without rice), eggs (mostly hard
boiled or scrambled), coffee, tea, hot soya milk, iced tea, orange juice, ham,
bread, jam and porridge. Times of eating are segregated based on your color
voucher. They promptly close the breakfast table at 10 AM.
 |
| Elevators |
The pillows and mattresses in
the room were soft. There's no bidet in the bathroom but the electric mirror demister was a nice addition. Air conditioning in the room has no temperature control so we were shivering all night, even under our heavy blankets.
The staff was kind and courteous but had a hard time
speaking in English but it was enough to get by. The hotel lobby has an unlimited water
dispenser and coffee/tea machine for waiting guests but the two elevators were very tiny.
 |
| The roofdeck coffee shop |
One great plus for this hotel
is its location. The centrally located Relite
Hotel Taipei, alongside the biggest road and the sole sightseeing bridge
flyover of Taiwan, is minutes away (200 m.) from Taipei City Prefecture North
Gate and 400 m. from Zhongshan Hall and is within close proximity of Tianhou
Temple and Red House Theater.  |
| Sunny Cafe |
 |
| 6/F Elevator Lobby |
 |
| Reception Area |
It is also 300 m. from Beimen
MRT Station, the Market and a 7-11 Supermarket; 500 m. from Front Metro Mall
and Taipei International District of Commerce; 650 m. from National Taiwan
Museum; 700 m. (a 10-15-min. walk) from Taipei Main Station and Presidential
Office Building; about 800 m. from the popular Ximending Night Market; 1 km.
from Dihua Street; 1.3 kms. from Qingshan Temple and Bopilao Old Street; 1.7
kms. from Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall; 4.8 kms. from Taipei Songshan Airport
and 27.9 kms. from Taipei Taoyuan International Airport.
 |
| The author and his son Jandy |
Ximen Relite Hotel: No 21,
Section 1, Zhonghua Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei 100, Taiwan. Tel: (855) 214-4563 (Guest Reservations) and +886 2 2311 1440. Website: www.ximen-relite.taiwanhotelstaipei.com.
