We got to the Mandarin Oriental after dinnertime, which is located pretty close to the city center. We chose the Mandarin Oriental as part of the Cathay Pacific “Book Together and Save” package, which brought down the total price, as each room can go as high as 2500 HKD at this hotel. The exterior of the hotel is rather grand and classic, what I’d normally expect from a Mandarin Oriental.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Exterior
The hotel has a large driveway, with a fountain in the middle. It’s pretty grand, to the point where it’s almost gaudy.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Entrance
The lobby has a little “entryway” – I didn’t explore what was on the right due to time issues, so turned left into the lobby.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Lobby Entryway
The lobby is grand, and the ceilings are really high. That said, the entire lobby is pretty small, and consists of a few seats, surrounded by a concierge and reception desk.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Lobby
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Lobby
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Lobby
The design of the lobby felt really classic without being shabby, which is a balance I normally find tough to strike.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Lobby
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Lobby
The friendly concierge assigned us rooms 1525 and 1526, of which 1525 had twin beds. We went over to the lift lobby, which was nicely appointed, once again, but I couldn’t help feeling like the lobby felt very “white”.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Lift Lobby
Our rooms were situated on the 15th floor, which is the top floor below the “club” area of the hotel. I quite like the hotel’s hallways – they’re well designed, feel like a high-end Chinese (not especially Taiwanese, but still) restaurant in Hong Kong and had amazing finishes.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Hallways
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Hallways
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Twin Entrance
Our room was located a distance from the lift lobby. The finishes extend to the door signage, which is gold plated.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Twin Door Signage
The hotel footprint is rather large, arranged in an S shape, with our hotel near the end of one of the sides.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Floorplan
Mandarin Oriental Taipei
Check-in: Friday, June 24, 2016
Room Type: Deluxe Twin
Room Number: 1525
Stay duration: 2 nights
Check-out: Sunday, June 26, 2016
The room featured a zigzag entryway which turned left into the bathroom and right into the walk-in closet.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Twin Entryway
The room was extremely large for an entry level room. Here’s the entryway itself – to the right before the curve was my mother and sister’s room.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Twin Entryway
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Twin Entrance to Bathroom
It even had a chair, which you don’t commonly find outside actual room “spaces”. To the left here was the door outside and to the interconnecting room.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Twin Entryway
If you’re wondering, here’s what the whole entryway looks like (huge, I know…)
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Twin Entryway
The walk-in closet was large, and featured a chair and a makeup mirror, as well as a safe.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Twin Walk-in Closet
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Twin Walk-in Closet
There was, obviously, a space to put clothes, as well as a luggage. They were both large.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Twin Walk-in Closet
The room itself was large, even by Asian standards. It featured two really comfortable beds, a chaise longue, a desk and chair facing away from the room (which I generally love), and a flatscreen TV.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room
When turned down, the decorative touches were removed from the bed, which is sensible, so they don’t end up getting thrown on the floor over and over again. Let me reiterate – the beds are really comfortable. They can compare with Westin/Sheraton’s beds, which is saying a lot.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room
Note the slippers below…I don’t recall taking a picture of them, but they were really comfortable.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room Bedroom/Beside Table
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room Bed
The blackout shades and lights were all electronically controlled at a panel by each side of the bed.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room Control Panels
There was also a chair (apart from the chaise longue) by the side of the room, which was awesome – there were so many places to lounge without actually sleeping.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room Chair
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room Chair
The TV was something we never used, but it was playing cheesy music when we first entered the room, which we promptly switched off.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room Flatscreen TV
While I appreciate a “conventional” desk for working, I didn’t mind the elliptical table either. The chair was also ergonomic.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room Desk
Furthermore, there were universal power ports all around the room, including beside the bed, which I always appreciate…
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room Power Ports
…but the real set (including USB ports and all that) was by the desk, which also featured HDMI cables, as well as everything you could possibly need.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room
By the beside, as well as the light an curtain controls, there was also complimentary water, which I found a nice touch.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room Bedside Table
The minibar was situated behind the desk, and was paid, unlike what the package promised (the package also promised free WiFi, which I’ll get to later). It was definitely extensive, though, and featured Kettle Chips, local snacks, and liquor as well as your normal selection of minibar drinks.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room Minibar
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room Minibar
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room Minibar
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room Minibar
This picture really puts into perspective how large the room is…
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room
The views were of central Taipei with the Taipei 101 in the background. They weren’t especially panoramic or anything, but still nice.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room View
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room View
The best part of the room had to be the bathroom, which was large, and really beautiful. It featured double sinks, an enclosed toilet, and a separate bathtub and shower.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room Bathroom
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room Bathroom
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room Bathroom Toilet
The tub was enclosed with the shower, so you won’t be able to take a bath when your travel partner’s showering, for example. Not many people I know of do that anyway, so it’s fine.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room Bathroom Tub
The walk-in shower was massive, and featured three different shower heads. Even the shower controls were placed in a way that you wouldn’t get wet when turning on the shower.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room Bathroom Walk-in Shower
There was even enough spae to sit, which I can’t say about most walk-in showers out there.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room Bathroom Walk-in Shower
The bathroom featured Diptyque amenities, which were great.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room Diptyque Amenities
I found it really funny that there was a “privacy” button in the enclosed toilet, which we didn’t use. I wonder what they’d be doing that required extra privacy in the toilet (in case a locked door and an extra door wasn’t enough)?
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Deluxe Room Bathroom Privacy Button
Overall, I found the room extremely well appointed and well worth the price premium. However, it’s worth noting that the WiFi wasn’t free – I think it cost 400 TWD per night (there were other packages, but I forgot to screenshot the package details). Once we paid for it, though (for six devices), it was ultra fast.
Breakfast was at the hotel’s restaurant, Café Un Deux Trois (a really stupid name in my opinion, but oh well), and required quite a long wait every morning due to it being a rather small space.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Café Un Deux Trois
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Café Un Deux Trois
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Café Un Deux Trois
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Café Un Deux Trois
The restaurant spread was extensive, featuring various Chinese and Western items that changed every day. Most of them tasted good, while a few items (such as the bacon) were just dry and burnt.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Café Un Deux Trois Breakfast Spread
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Café Un Deux Trois Breakfast Spread
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Café Un Deux Trois Breakfast Spread
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Café Un Deux Trois Breakfast Spread
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Café Un Deux Trois Breakfast Spread
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Café Un Deux Trois Breakfast Spread
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Café Un Deux Trois Breakfast Spread
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Café Un Deux Trois Breakfast Spread
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Café Un Deux Trois Breakfast Spread
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Café Un Deux Trois Breakfast Spread
There was also a table menu.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Café Un Deux Trois Breakfast Menu
I had the waffles one morning and french toast the second, both of which were really good.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Café Un Deux Trois Breakfast Brussel(s) Style Waffles
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Café Un Deux Trois Breakfast French Toast
It’s worth noting that table service at the restaurant was pretty good. It wasn’t spectacular or everything, but it’s hard enough to be attentive and friendly to a packed breakfast dining room every morning.
In terms of the hotel’s facilities, the only facility I visited was the gym, which was well appointed, featuring multiple machines and weights, as well as a lot of other equipment.
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Spa Entrance
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Gym
Mandarin Oriental Taipei Gym
Service at the hotel was also rather good – nothing to write home about but certainly above your average Taiwan hotel.
Bottom Line: The Mandarin Oriental Taipei
I found the Mandarin Oriental Taipei beautiful, with awesome rooms, good (paid) WiFi, good food and good service. Ultimately there were some miscommunications of what we were entitled to, which I blame on the package and not the hotel.
I’d return in a heartbeat, though obviously for cheaper rates and more reviewing variety I’d choose a different hotel in Taipei next time, such as the Le Méridien or the W.
