Places in Taiwan We Love

For a safe bet for a bed in Taipei, Ambience Hotel is fairly good. It’s generic 90’s minimalism - real boutique size, Philippe Starck furniture and bathroom fittings, white lobby with sharp edges, fashion shows playing at reception and in the lifts - basically your standard cookie cutter trendy hotel that introduces nothing you haven’t seen before in every city you’ve ever been to but does a nice job of it all the same and is still a million times better than the alternatives on offer. The rooms are very spacious compared to most in this part of the world and offer free Wi-Fi which is nice because free anything is a rarity these days, very comfy beds and plenty of channels of B grade Hollywood movies in case you want some inane chatter to fall asleep to. The view’s nothing to write home about but the lighting’s well considered so keeping the curtains drawn and the lights low is the best option. I was there at the beginning of spring when it’s still cold out and raining constantly and inside the temperate matched the design in that it was never cozy. I was cold the entire time I was there because the air conditioner wouldn’t go past 20.5C and turning it off did nothing to warm the place up either. Thank goodness for cashmere cardigans and wooly socks. Also, don’t bother asking room service to bring you a pot of milk for your tea. They won’t. Though they will come all the way up from reception to tell you they can’t bring you milk. Also, not many of the staff speak English so you’re often left hanging on the phone while you get passed from staff member to staff member until someone can help you or not help you as the case may be.

The look and feel may be generic and obvious but it is still comfortable and definitely the best option I’ve seen in Taipei so far.

Ambience Hotel, 64 sec 1 Chang-an E Road, Taipei, 104, Taiwan. + 02 2541 0077; www.ambiencehotel.com.tw