Luxury doesn’t exactly spring to mind when thinking about a trip to Taipei. But hidden within the city’s concrete sprawl, stylish comfort awaits.
Boutique hotels, which have sprung up throughout Taipei in recent years, offer more personal, intimate alternatives to the run-of-the mill five-star hotel complex.
The Taipei Times visited several places around town and found everything from impressive hot springs baths and full-course Italian meals to free mobile phone and even butler service. In this first of a three-part series, we look at a hotel that offers a fresh take on jet-setting getaways.
VILLA 32
Villa 32 (三 二行館), a hot springs resort in Beitou (北投), is the fantasy vacation come true for those searching for a serene escape.
Originally opened as a private club by businessman Chiu Ming-hung (邱明宏), Villa 32 offers five Japanese and European-style suites, with prices ranging from NT$16,000 to NT$25,000 a night.
But you don’t need to be a wealthy business tycoon or a movie star to sample the sensual pleasures of this ultramodern resort and its Zen-inspired tranquility. Affordable packages, ranging from NT$1,780 to NT$3,500, include four hours at the resort’s magnificent public hot springs baths and a gourmet Italian meal.
From the moment a visitor enters Villa 32’s grounds, any thoughts of the bustling city melt away into the sounds of natural spring water and the rustling of wind-blown leaves.
The entrance itself creates a sense of anticipation and wonder. Guests walk some 40m along a tree-lined path just to get to the reception area — enough time to soak in the view of the entire compound, with its outdoor patio and garden shaded by maple trees and several towering camphor trees over a hundred years old. Just before the doorway to the lobby, the path turns into square stone slabs surrounded by water. It feels as if you’re walking on top of lilies in a pond.
Villa 32 blends European and Asian design sensibilities, with lots of clean architectural lines that harmonize with the natural surroundings. The reception room has a museum-like feel with its stone sculptures, but the room feels warm and welcoming with plush sofas and teak wood furniture.
One could also spend hours poring over every inch of the guest rooms, from the European suites, which have a Scandinavian flavor, to the traditional-looking Japanese accommodations.
The European suites have two floors, with the living room and bedroom on the ground floor and private baths upstairs, which steal the show. The Jade and Crystal suites each measure around 120m² and have two bathtubs made of a beautiful opaque black stone — one tub pipes in hot-spring water; the other, cold-spring water. Natural light bathes the room through skylight windows, making for a potential romantic setting either night or day.
The Japanese suites, which also measure 120m², look like those of a traditional inn one would find in Kyoto. Dubbed Matsu and Sakura, each suite has an outdoor garden with a small pond and outdoor hot-spring tub made of Hinoki cypress.
I spent a morning last spring at Villa 32’s public hot springs area (at their courtesy), which feels like both a resort and museum. There’s a Balinese flavor in the verandas, made of teak wood, and the baths are presented like works of art. They don’t look like pools but glistening sheets of water hovering on the ground.
The resort divides its public hot springs into men’s and women’s areas, as guests bathe in the nude. Each side has four outdoor and four indoor pools of varying temperatures and pH levels (temperatures range from 42.5°C to 39.1°C for the warm pool and 31°C for the cold pool; pH levels vary from 1 to 7).
There are several lounge areas, both indoor and outdoor, with complimentary Evian water and extra towels readily available. Bathers can replenish afterwards with a shower (either Japanese or Western-style) and an assortment of skin-care products from L’Occitane, also complimentary, in the grooming and changing room.
As for privacy, the service staff knew when to hit the notes. They seemed to be on hand when needed and out of sight otherwise. With just one other person at the public hot springs on my visit (just before noon on a Thursday), I felt like I had the entire place to myself. The resort also offers private hot springs rooms for 90 minutes for NT$2,000 on weekdays and NT$3,000 on weekends.
The resort takes its pampering seriously. Overnight guests are assigned a personal valet (they call them “butlers”), who handles everything from mundane chores to out-of-the way requests. They are encouraged to go to great lengths to please guests. A Villa 32 staff member offered an example: one staff member overheard a Japanese guest lamenting that he wanted to try the dumplings at Din Tai Feng (鼎泰豐) but didn’t have the time to make the trip to Taipei. The next day, the guest had a surprise meal delivered to his door — the valet had traveled into the city to bring back dumplings from the restaurant.
Villa 32 has received rave reviews from luxury travel magazines such as Conde Nast Traveler, which listed it as one of the world’s “hottest” hotels in 2006. Located just a 10-minute walk from Xinbeitou MRT Station (新北投捷運站), the resort makes the perfect getaway for Taipei residents who want to forget but don’t want to go far.
Next Saturday, the Taipei Times visits VVG BB+B, a boutique bed and breakfast in Taipei’s East District.
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