Prevue May/June 2012 - (Page 79)

Previous: Taipei 101 Opposite: One of Taipei’s avant garde fashion shows Below, from top: Volando Urai Spring Spa & Resort, Tai Pan Club at Regent Taipei “One of the main reasons groups choose us is our high reputation for quality service,” says Han. “We can customize rooms for any kind of theme or party, and we have an excellent location for attendees to easily experience the local lifestyle and access hot spots around the city.” The Regent’s upper-tier Tai Pan Club is designed for business travelers with curbside escort, in-room check-in, and a 24-hour butler that seemed to anticipate our every request. Tai Pan’s exclusive lounge is open 24/7 and offers complimentary breakfast buffet, snacks and evening cocktails, as well as a conference room for board meetings. The hotel has eight high-end restaurants, including Mihan Honke, a 5-star Japanese char-grill, and Silks House which features modern updates of classic Szechuan and Cantonese cuisine. It offers 10 private dining rooms for groups up to 24. You’ll also find a “mini-mall” at the hotel with 54 luxury boutiques such as Hermes, Bulgari and Bottega Veneta. Also located downtown, the 286-room Palais de Chine is a designer hotel and urban oasis open since in 2010. The property melds classic French design with an uber-modern sensibility that has guests uttering “wow” the moment they step off the elevator into the 6th floor lobby. Whether it’s the 300-year-old French tapestries or back-lit gold mirrors floating above the front desk, the exposed stone walls paired with velvet drapes or classical statuary gracing the hallways, the careful attention to the smallest details is designed to impress. It’s like a Versailles estate blasted into the future. Total meeting space is 7,700 sf. “We cater to groups typically between 100-150, and mostly pharmaceuticals, luxury brand companies and governmental agencies,” says Patsy Chen, director of VIP services. “Another part of our appeal is our superb location directly across from the city’s main transportation hub.” The hotel’s exquisite design extends to the guestrooms as well, which include hi-tech flatscreens and Bose audio systems, and with judicious layouts and well-placed mirrors that give a sense of much greater space. The executive VIP lounge, Le Salon, provides complimentary breakfast buffet and evening cocktails. WULAI DISTRICT Only an hour drive from downtown, the Wulai District in the mountains south of Taipei offers various hot springs resorts that feature private and group baths. Our trip to the area began with a nature hike with members from the local indigenous Atayal tribe. We stopped to cook skewers of wild boar over a fire while drinking sweet and flavorful tribal rice wine from bamboo cups. After a relaxing bath in the hot springs at the nearby 20-room Volando Urai Spring Spa & Resort, we were treated to a moving and dramatic performance of the Miling’an musical theater by local Ayatal singers and musicians. The resort has several meeting rooms for groups up to 60, with views of the lush Nanshi River. The same riverside view is available from the dining area that offers both a classic French fare and an Ayatal-inspired cuisine, including local seasonal vegetables and fruits. MEET TAIWAN: meettaiwan.com Regent Taipei: regenthotels.com Palais de Chine: palaisdechinehotel.com Volando Urai Spring Spa & Resort: springparkhotel.com prevueonline.net | 71 http://www.meettaiwan.com http://www.regenthotels.com http://www.palaisdechinehotel.com http://www.springparkhotel.com http://www.prevueonline.net

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Prevue May/June 2012

Sheraton China + Macau
The Peppermill, Reno
Charleston + Denver
CSR with Caesars
Hong Kong's Kai Tak Terminal
Special Section: Europe
Hyatt Fisherman's Wharf
Affordable Luxury
Frenchman's Reef, USVI
Australia
Toronto
Taiwan
U.S. Gaming Hotels
Caesars/Paris Las Vegas
Grand Lucayan, Bahamas
Iberostar Cancun

Prevue May/June 2012