Chinese travelers are flocking to Taiwan. Since visas for them were allowed in 2008, Taiwan has been awash with affluent mainlanders and attracted 3.35 million Chinese tourists in 2013, up from 2.87 million in 2012, according to The Wall Street Journal. Taiwan's capital, Taipei, has seen a particular growth. To increasingly cater to discerning tourists, chic hotels like HOTEL QUOTE have cropped up amid the city's metro overpasses and teeming night markets.
A breezy six-minute drive from the Songshan Airport, and just a one-minute walk from Taipei Arena — an indoor sporting complex — the hotel’s location is ideal. The 64-room property, with its reddish-brown panel exterior, is surrounded by gobs of restaurants, train stations, parks and schools that burst daily with packs of uniform-donning students. Every morning, the main street of the hotel's entrance comes to life around 8 a.m. as office workers and shopkeepers scooter or bike to their day's duties.
The building was formerly a popular karaoke club, and the hotel maintains a social and fun atmosphere. Massive wood front doors stand like sentinels receiving guests into the lobby, which is actually a sleek and caramel-illuminated counter shared by the bartenders of the adjourning restaurant. HOTEL QUOTE has a motto of "Stay Understated," even though Taiwan standards are anything but.
The interior design is eye-catching and playful. One can't help but to peer over the lobby desk at the restaurant's embossed tin-plate walls and the eerily entrancing center pool, a giant square motif of still water that appears like a vat of black ink. Vintage European touches, from antler mountings to ceramic rabbits as centerpieces, successfully balance the future-forward aesthetic. Ray Chen, the only Taiwanese architect to have won the Design for Asia Award three times, designed the interior. His name is quite an impressive one to be associated with such a small property, as he’s about to complete the design for China Airline's new fleet of planes.
One floor up from the lobby is the lounge, a fully stocked, round-the-clock place for guests to check e-mails and nosh on a variety of Asian and American treats. There are also racks of international magazines and newspapers as well as a small meeting space equipped with TV screens.
The hotel's staff is exceedingly gracious, and are more than happy to assist with directions, candid suggestions for sightseeing, and logistics. The same hospitality can be found downstairs where 333 Restaurant & Bar caters to expats, local businessmen, groups of girlfriends, and young couples.
Rooms, ranging from a compact "Q" to the balcony level "Quote" suites, are sleek and warm, bathed in light-wood decals and paneling à la Chen's direction. BOSE stereos, hyper-fast Wi-Fi, Nespresso coffee makers, and other high-tech touches make the property a model of Taiwanese modern standards.
It's those technological touches, along with superb design and a location in the midst of the city's daily, authentic life make that HOTEL QUOTE the quintessential Taipei stay.
