Choosing a hotel can be such a headache. Few travelers want to settle for a roach-infested room but many are also reluctant to part with, say, NT$10,000 to NT$20,000, for a place to stay. That's the old guest mentality. The Sheraton Taipei Hotel has spent NT$2.4 billion on renovations in anticipation of the new guest mentality: A hotel is more than just a place to stay.
While the Sheraton's outer appearance hasn't changed much, the renovations begun in April 2003 have just reached completion. There is a new lobby, new restaurants and a new look for the rooms themselves, including two floors of new "executive" rooms, claimed to be the best in Taipei.
Once known as the Lai Lai Sheraton, the 26-year-old hotel is within walking distance from the Executive, Control and Legislative Yuans and has gained a reputation over the years as a favorite hangout for politicians.
PHOTOS: SUNG CHI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Owned by the super-wealthy Tsai family, the Lai Lai became a hotbed of power and intrigue. In 1985, a Tsai-family financial scandal involving the Taipei Tenth Credit Cooperative and Cathay Plastics resulted in the hotel changing hands. In 2002, Tsai brothers Chen Yiang (
Austrian hotelier Josef Dolp was general manager of the hotel in the years leading up to the renovations. While they were underway, he served as general manager at the Sheraton in Xian, China. He returned to his post at the Sheraton Taipei this June.
"The Lai Lai Hotel had an old Chinese feel to it and the design was very local," said Dolp. "We did so much renovation that we also wanted to change the market mix and the kind of custo-mers we attract."
While Dolp acknowledged that his hotel's location meant political clientele would be a mainstay, he said the new target groups are international businesspeople and Taiwanese 30-somethings. This shift is reflected in the hotel's new look and feel, which is clean and structured, simple as opposed to busy, and focuses on functionality and timelessness. These are aesthetic virtues appreciated not only by international businesspeople, but also by young people, according to Dolp.
Owner Tsai Chen-yang and his wife Ellie Lai (
"Our hotel reflects the status quo of the story of Taiwan," Dolp said, pointing to the classical Japanese influence that is most apparent on the rigidly straight, elegant wood that lines bedroom walls.
While a beautiful, comfortable interior is important, it is the process and the experience that will bring customers back and give the hotel a competitive edge, Dolp says.
The management has adopted an approach to service that centers on customer feedback instead of hotel traditions. While it is common practice for the bellboy to whisk away a guest's luggage the moment they check in, surveys revealed this to be an annoyance for many guests, especially businesspeople who want to have their work with them at all times.
The goal, Dolp says, is to make the hotel experience as efficient as possible while still maintaining a friendly, human touch. And despite the amount that was spent on upgrading the hotel's appearance, in the end it's the people and the experience that count for the most.
"It's like a one-night stand with a beautiful lady," Dolp said. "If you find out she's stupid, you won't sleep with her again. So we want to be a beautiful lady who is smart so you'll fall in love and come back over and over again."
April 28 to May 4 During the Japanese colonial era, a city’s “first” high school typically served Japanese students, while Taiwanese attended the “second” high school. Only in Taichung was this reversed. That’s because when Taichung First High School opened its doors on May 1, 1915 to serve Taiwanese students who were previously barred from secondary education, it was the only high school in town. Former principal Hideo Azukisawa threatened to quit when the government in 1922 attempted to transfer the “first” designation to a new local high school for Japanese students, leading to this unusual situation. Prior to the Taichung First
The Ministry of Education last month proposed a nationwide ban on mobile devices in schools, aiming to curb concerns over student phone addiction. Under the revised regulation, which will take effect in August, teachers and schools will be required to collect mobile devices — including phones, laptops and wearables devices — for safekeeping during school hours, unless they are being used for educational purposes. For Chang Fong-ching (張鳳琴), the ban will have a positive impact. “It’s a good move,” says the professor in the department of
On April 17, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) launched a bold campaign to revive and revitalize the KMT base by calling for an impromptu rally at the Taipei prosecutor’s offices to protest recent arrests of KMT recall campaigners over allegations of forgery and fraud involving signatures of dead voters. The protest had no time to apply for permits and was illegal, but that played into the sense of opposition grievance at alleged weaponization of the judiciary by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to “annihilate” the opposition parties. Blamed for faltering recall campaigns and faced with a KMT chair
Article 2 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China (中華民國憲法增修條文) stipulates that upon a vote of no confidence in the premier, the president can dissolve the legislature within 10 days. If the legislature is dissolved, a new legislative election must be held within 60 days, and the legislators’ terms will then be reckoned from that election. Two weeks ago Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) proposed that the legislature hold a vote of no confidence in the premier and dare the president to dissolve the legislature. The legislature is currently controlled