The Four Points by Sheraton Hotel (福朋喜來登酒店) in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和) on Sunday officially changed its name to the RSL Taipei Jhonghe Hotel (瓏山林台北中和大飯店).
The move came after the hotel terminated its contract with Marriott International in protest over the US group caving in to Chinese pressure to refer to Taiwan as part of China.
Marriott International last month was found to have changed the hotel’s location to “Taiwan, China” on the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) reservation system, sparking a protest from the hotel.
Photo: Chu Shu-yu, Taipei Times
Hotel management in a letter informed Marriott International of its intention to rescind their contract and has launched the procedure to do so, general manager Chu Shao-han (朱少菡) said yesterday.
The hotel stopped receiving bookings through the SPG system in the middle of last month, but guests who had reserved their rooms before would not be affected, she said, adding that guests can book rooms by telephone.
The hotel also took down its Web site and would soon launch a new one, Chu added.
It has informed local booking agents to update its name, she said, but added that correcting its name on foreign Web sites would take time.
Most of the hotel’s signs, consumables and staff uniforms have been renewed, and new printed materials have been ordered, she said.
The hotel would also change the billboard at its parking lot later this week and has arranged for workers to change another one on the Formosa Freeway (Freeway No. 3), Chu added.
Management responded to the issue in the shortest time possible and the hotel would donate next month’s revenue to groups promoting public welfare to follow its founder’s idea of “caring for this land,” she added.
The hotel belongs to RSL Corp, which was founded by Rong San Lin (林榮三), who also founded the Liberty Times Group and passed away in 2015.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
RSS