The Grand Hotel Kaohsiung

The Kaohsiung Grand Hotel was just like how I saw in the pictures and the room we got was beautiful too. The hotel seemed mostly empty as we hardly ever bumped into other people in the lobby or halls. We could see a nice sunset and night lights from our city-view room, with nobody else out on their balconies (maybe because everybody stayed on the lake view side?)

As a British tourist this place was perfect just to soak up some heritage hotel vibes. It does actually look as grand as it does in the pictures and it really was a bit of a "oh wow" moment pulling up to it in the taxi. Its a little old and tatty inside but not in a bad way, in an original vintage furniture way. The room and balcony were massive - and yes it all looks very very south East Asian (it kind of reminded me of the hotel in the Shining with its big red pillars everywhere!) There is a gorgeous little boutique looking brasserie on the first floor and the food in there was really good. You do have to buy a ticket to use the walkway into the park (I think it was 80 NTD - not very much) and the park is lovely - I walked all the way to the pagoda and climbed to the top and back, which took a good three hours - but the views from the top of there were the best, you can see the entire city - would only do this early morning though - it would be to hot for the rest of the day. I spent an hour or so just walking round the property taking pictures, I booked it for how it looked and it exceeded what I was expecting.

The hotel has an interesting history and design. I agree with other reviews that for the history, nostalgia and design it is really impressive. The room is dated, but I think that might be part of it's charm. The room was huge with high ceilings. The balcony was large and overlooked the Lion Lake, the park and Nine Corners Bridge. We had an enjoyable walk through the park. The breakfast was good with many options.

We were here for three midweek nights in the middle of summer. We swam in the pool, walked in the woods around the lake, sat on the balcony reading, dined in the hotel restaurants and, all in all, had a lovely time. The food was excellent, the room was spotless, the staff were kind and attentive, and the pool perfect is for swimming laps. We'll certainly be back.

The way it looked. Very oriental. We loved the little pool for kids.