Kaohsiung's Hidden Gem: Hsiangkelira Hotel - Unbelievable Luxury Awaits!
Kaohsiung's Hsiangkelira Hotel: My Brain Dump on Unbelievable Luxury (and a Few Minor Gripes)
Okay, folks, buckle up. I've just crawled out from under the ridiculously soft sheets of the Hsiangkelira Hotel in Kaohsiung, and my brain is still buzzing. Seriously, this place… it’s an experience. Forget "hotel," think "escape pod from reality… a luxurious escape pod, mind you.
First Impressions & Accessibility - Cracking the Code (and the Curb)
Let's get the practical stuff out of the way first, because let's be honest, it's important! Accessibility is pretty darn good. The elevator is spacious, a HUGE plus, and navigating the common areas (including the gorgeous outdoor swimming pool) was a breeze. They genuinely seem to have thought about facilities for disabled guests. I didn't need them myself, but I saw ramps, accessible doorways, and a general vibe of inclusivity, which is always a win. Getting to the hotel is easy via airport transfer and taxi service are readily available. And yes, there is car parking [free of charge] AND car park [on-site] - because even in a city this cool, parking can be a pain.
Check-in/out [express] – Speedy and Seamless
I can tell you, the Front desk [24-hour] staff are friendly and efficient. They even offered Contactless check-in/out which, in the age of… well, gestures vaguely at the world, is a huge relief. They also offer Check-in/out [private].
My First Taste of Heaven (and Why My Stomach Is Now Indebted)
Right, let's talk food. The Dining, drinking, and snacking options at Hsiangkelira are… excessive. In the best way possible. Seriously, my stomach is still singing praises.
- Breakfast [buffet] - Oh, the breakfast! It's a full-blown extravaganza. Forget your sad continental breakfast. This is an Asian breakfast and Western breakfast collision of epic proportions. Fresh fruit (I filled up on the sweetest mangoes I've ever tasted), pastries, noodles, eggs cooked every conceivable way, dim sum… I mean, everything. There's even Breakfast in room if you're feeling antisocial (which, honestly, I considered after the second helping of those mangoes). They cater to all tastes, offering Alternative meal arrangement and even a Vegetarian restaurant option.
- Restaurants: I enjoyed both Asian cuisine in restaurant and International cuisine in restaurant.
- Room service [24-hour] – This is seriously dangerous. One night, after a particularly exhausting day of… well, existing… I ordered a burger. It arrived promptly, perfectly cooked, and I devoured it in utter bliss. I’m pretty sure it was the best burger I’ve ever had, and it definitely was the most comfortable I have been in my life.
- Poolside bar and Bar: Drinks are a must at these places. It's just the rules.
- Coffee/tea in restaurant: I enjoyed coffee in the morning.
- Desserts in restaurant: The Desserts. Oh my gosh…
The Room: Where Comfort Meets… Well, More Comfort
I stayed in a non-smoking room (thank heavens!). Air conditioning was a godsend, especially after a day exploring Kaohsiung's vibrant streets. And the Internet access – wireless (Wi-Fi [free]), was fast and reliable, for all my endless scrolling and insta-stories.
- Available in all rooms: The additional toilet, air conditioning, alarm clock, bathrobes, bathtub, blackout curtains, carpeting, closet, coffee/tea maker, complimentary tea, daily housekeeping, desk, extra-long bed, free bottled water, hair dryer, high floor, in-room safe box, internet access – wireless, internet access – LAN, ironing facilities, laptop workspace, linens, mini bar, mirror, non-smoking, on-demand movies, private bathroom, reading light, refrigerator, satellite/cable channels, scale, seating area, separate shower/bathtub, shower, slippers, smoke detector, socket near the bed, sofa, soundproofing, telephone, toiletries, towels, umbrella, visual alarm, wake-up service, window that opens.
- I loved the fact that there was a reading light and a laptop workspace.
- Smoke alarms and Fire extinguisher are a reassuring touch.
The bed? Oh, the bed. I swear, I sunk into it like a marshmallow in hot cocoa. It's one of the most comfortable beds I’ve ever had the pleasure of crashing on. If you’re looking to sleep, you are in safe hands at the Hsiangkelira. They also have soundproof rooms, so you won't be disturbed.
Spa, Sauna, and Seriously Chill Vibes
Okay, the spa needs its own paragraph. The Sauna, spa/sauna, steamroom, foot bath area is… well, it's the stuff relaxation dreams are made of. (And I had a few of those, post-massage.) I opted for a massage, and it was glorious. The therapist actually listened when I said I wanted the knots worked out of my shoulders (a miracle!). And the Pool with view? Perfect for a sunset dip. I'm not usually one for "spa experiences," but Hsiangkelira converted me. Body scrub and Body wrap options are available, too, for the truly dedicated relaxers
The "Meh" Bits (Because Let's Be Real)
No place is perfect, right? Here are a few tiny niggles:
- The coffee shop could use a boost. It's fine, but not amazing. (I’m a coffee snob, sue me.)
- Pets allowed is unavailable.
- I was confused by the Bathroom phone.
- The Invoice provided…
But Truly an Incredible Experience.
The Cleanliness and safety are outstanding. I noticed Hand sanitizer stations everywhere, and they seem to take hygiene seriously. They had Anti-viral cleaning products, Daily disinfection in common areas, and staff Trained in safety protocol.
The Verdict: Book It. Seriously, Book It.
Look, if you're looking for a luxurious, relaxing, and thoroughly enjoyable experience in Kaohsiung, the Hsiangkelira Hotel is it. It's a bit of an indulgence, sure, but worth it. The staff is genuinely friendly and helpful. It is a great option for Family/child friendly.
Here's My Stream-of-Consciousness Offer (Don't Judge, It's Honest):
Escape the Ordinary. Immerse Yourself in Unbelievable Luxury at Kaohsiung's Hsiangkelira Hotel!
Tired of the same old travel routines? Craving a getaway that's both stunningly beautiful and incredibly relaxing? Look no further than the Hsiangkelira Hotel in Kaohsiung!
We're talking:
- Rooms So Comfortable, You'll Think You've Died and Gone to Sleep Heaven: Seriously, the beds are legendary. And with all the amenities you could possibly need (think free Wi-Fi, blackout curtains, and a minibar stocked with goodies), you might never want to leave.
- Food, Glorious Food! (And Enough to Share with Your Inner-Gourmand): From the breakfast buffet that'll make your jaw drop to the 24-hour room service that delivers pure bliss, your taste buds are in for a treat.
- Spa Days That Redefine "Relaxation": Melt away stress in the sauna, get pampered with a massage, and soak up the sun by the stunning outdoor pool. Pure. Bliss.
- Kaohsiung at Your Fingertips: Convenient access to everything Kaohsiung has to offer.
But Here's the Really Good Part:
Book Your Stay at the Hsiangkelira Hotel in the next 2 weeks and Get a COMPLIMENTARY Upgrade to a Room with a View! PLUS a complimentary bottle of wine upon arrival!
Don't miss out on this exclusive offer! This is your chance to experience the ultimate in luxury and create memories that'll last a lifetime. Click the link below to book your escape now!
(Insert Booking Link Here)
Seriously. Book it. You deserve it. Your weary soul (and your Instagram feed) will thank you later.
Beijing's BEST Kept Secret: Hanting Premium Hotel Near Shijingshan Amusement Park!
Okay, buckle up buttercups! We're going to Hsiangkelira Hotel in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. And this isn't your perfectly curated Instagram itinerary, oh no. This is the real, messy, beautiful chaos of travel, unfiltered. Prepare for:
The Hsiangkelira Hotel & Kaohsiung – My Slightly Unstable Travel Diary
Day 1: Arrival and the Great Taiwanese Curry Quest (or, My Stomach vs. The World)
- Morning (Pre-Dawn Panic Mode): Flight lands. I haven't slept. My hair looks like a startled bird's nest. Passport control – thank GOD I remembered my visa. The existential dread of an international flight fades… momentarily. I'm here! Kaohsiung, baby!
- Breakfast (The Hotel's Buffet – A Love-Hate Thing): Hsiangkelira Hotel. Swanky lobby. Too swanky. Reminds me of my Aunt Mildred’s living room, though thankfully minus the porcelain cats. The breakfast buffet is a glorious, overwhelming assault on the senses. Noodles! Dim sum! Mystery meats! Staring down at the table like I have a deadline. The coffee… well, let's just say it's a good thing I packed emergency caffeine pills. I'm pretty sure I saw a guy wearing pajama pants and slippers. This is my people.
- Mid-Morning (Lost in Translation, Again): Getting a taxi to the hotel. My Mandarin… is non-existent. We play a spirited game of charades involving luggage, pointing, and increasingly desperate facial expressions. Success! Hsiangkelira achieved. Check-in is smooth, which is a relief because I was fully prepared for a disaster. The room is… spacious. Maybe a little too spacious. Feels like I could hold a small rave.
- Lunch (The Curry Crusade Begins!): Okay, here's the deal. I'm obsessed with Taiwanese curry. It's a life-altering experience. So, armed with a dog-eared map and Google Translate, I'm on a mission. Wandering the streets. The smells! The street food vendors! The tiny scooters whizzing past! Nearly get taken out by a particularly aggressive scooter. This is living, I tell myself as I wipe the sweat off my brow.
- Afternoon (Curry Victory… and Defeat): Found a tiny, hole-in-the-wall curry place. The best curry I've ever tasted. Rich, flavorful, and with a perfect kick of spice. I go back for seconds. And then… well, let's just say my stomach and the Taiwanese curry had a brief, but ultimately explosive, disagreement. Spent the rest of the afternoon in the hotel room, clutching my stomach. The price of glory, people. The price of glory.
- Evening (Regrouping): Ordering room service (bland rice porridge, a very safe choice.) Watching Taiwanese television. Everything is dubbed in Mandarin, even the foreign movies. I understand absolutely nothing, but I'm strangely mesmerized. The hotel is beautiful, the staff are the loveliest people ever (I'm sure they've seen it all), but I'm already starting to miss my own bed.
- Midnight (Regret and a Midnight Snack): That rice porridge was NOT enough. Rumbling stomach. I go for a midnight snack – instant noodles from the convenience store downstairs. This somehow feels right.
Day 2: The Lotus Pond Labyrinth and the Perils of Public Transport
- Morning (Redemption): Feeling better. Less… volcanic. Headed for Lotus Pond. Holy moly, the temples at Lotus Pond are absolutely stunning. The vibrant colors, the intricate carvings, the sheer grandeur… I'm speechless. I spend at least an hour just wandering around, taking in the sheer beauty. But I also find a cat, and I think that it's a sign.
- Lunch (Oops, Wrong Restaurant): Attempting to eat some local cuisine. I thought I was going to a seafood restaurant but when I got there, I realized that it was a fully-fledged dim sum house. Ordered some dumplings. I didn't even notice the tiny, but important, language barrier until my food arrived – and I'd unwittingly ordered something… interesting. Let's just say it involved a lot of ginger and possibly something that used to swim.
- Afternoon (Public Transport Adventures): Taking the public transport to a different part of the city. Getting on the bus. Utterly confused by the route. The announcements are only in Mandarin. I accidentally get off one stop too early and wander aimlessly through a residential area, feeling like a complete idiot. People stare. They are probably judging my horrendous navigational skills. This is the part where I start to feel like a clueless tourist.
- Evening (Night Market Magic – and My Wallet's Tears): Oh, the night markets! They are a food-lover's paradise. The smells, the sounds, the sheer energy of it all! I try everything, from stinky tofu (surprisingly delicious, if you close your eyes) to bubble tea (a must-have). I spend way more money than I intended, on food and random trinkets. My wallet weeps, but my stomach is happy. I even win a very small stuffed bear. The joy is real.
- Night (Hotel Room Reflections): Back at the hotel. Sitting on the ridiculously comfortable bed. Drinking a beer. Contemplating all the things I've seen and done and eaten. Kaohsiung is a city of contrasts. The new and the old, the loud and the quiet, the delicious and the… let's say “adventurous” (still haunted by that dumpling).
Day 3: The Love River And The One True King (The Curry King, of Course)
- Morning (The Love River's Embrace): Taking a boat trip on the Love River. It’s absolutely lovely, even if the name makes me a little bit cynical. The city looks beautiful from the water. The buildings blur. I see some couples holding hands. I miss my cat.
- Lunch (The Holy Grail of Curry): Today is the day. I'm determined. Back to the curry quest. After a frantic search, I find. The. Perfect. Curry. Place. It must have been the most glorious curry in the entire world! And the owner is the friendliest person ever, He even taught me some basic Mandarin to order a second bowl. The warmth that they showed me after the bad day of curry almost made me cry.
- Afternoon (Museum of The… Uh…): I visit a quirky museum. I'm not gonna tell you which one. It was a really weird experience. The exhibits are something, though. Definitely not what I expected. It was bizarre, thought-provoking, and almost laugh-out-loud strange.
- Evening (The Hotel's Glow): Dinner at the hotel's restaurant. It's fancy. I wear my "nice" travel pants. The food is good, but it's not curry.
- Night (Packing and Sadness): My last night. Packing is my least favorite thing in the world, and I procrastinate as long as humanly possible. I contemplate whether I'll ever find curry this good again. The answer is probably not. I know. I'll miss this place. And the chaos. And the food. And the fact that I'm pretty sure the hotel room is haunted by the ghost of a very enthusiastic travel agent.
Day 4: Departure and the Promise of Return
- Morning (Last Breakfast): One last breakfast at the buffet. I eat ALL the dumplings. I stuff my bag full of fruit (shhh, don't tell). The coffee still isn't good.
- Departure (Goodbye, Kaohsiung!): Taxi to the airport. The dread of the flight returns. I'm already planning my return. Kaohsiung, you beautiful, chaotic, curry-filled wonder. I'll be back. (Probably with more anti-diarrheal medication).
So, yeah. That's it. My slightly messy, opinionated, and absolutely honest journey through the Hsiangkelira Hotel and the vibrant madness that is Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It wasn't perfect. It wasn't always pretty. But it was real. And honestly, that's what makes for the best kind of travel, isn't it? Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to Google "Taiwanese curry recipe."
Indonesian Paradise Found: Hotel Makmur Tarakan Awaits!
Hsiangkelira Hotel: Expecting Paradise...and Getting Something Even Weirder, Somehow. FAQ!
Okay, spill. Is Hsiangkelira *really* worth the hype? All those Instagram shots look... staged.
Ugh, Instagram. Right? I went in with some serious side-eye. I'd seen the perfectly-lit infinity pool shots, the impossibly smooth stone floors... and I was ready for disappointment. Honestly? It's complicated. Some of the hype is real, like, *seriously* real. The lobby? Jaw-dropping. Imagine a Zen garden got a makeover from a Bond villain's interior designer. But the staged-ness? Yeah, it's there. You're basically starring in a commercial... for yourself. Kinda off-putting at first, made me a little self conscious actually. But the view from my room? Ugh. *chef's kiss*. Worth the ticket price alone… or so I thought.
Here's the thing: the service is... erratic. One minute, you feel like royalty, being fawned over for a burnt piece of toast. The next, you're trying to flag down someone for a towel you desperately need before your scheduled massage!
Let’s talk about the rooms. Are they actually as decadent as they seem? Give me the dirty (and glorious) details.
Decadent? Honey, we're talking bordering-on-the-ridiculous. My room (a “Deluxe Something-or-Other Suite” – I lost track) had this automated curtain system... I spent a solid hour just *playing* with it. Opening, closing, dimming the lights, bringing them back and then shutting them again.. It's the simple pleasures, people! The bathroom? Marble everything. Literally. The bathtub was practically a private swimming pool. And the toiletries? Forget cheap travel-sized stuff. We’re talking top-of-the-line, imported… I nearly chucked the entire supply into my suitcase when I left. (Okay, I did take a few. Don't judge.)
But also? Imperfection. The coffee maker, which looked like something NASA designed, didn't work half the time. And the pillow menu? Overkill. I'd give to like a few more normal pillows. And the view was glorious, except for the construction site they were building right outside. Talk about a buzzkill! I mentioned it to the concierge and the next day they'd moved us and offered us a complimentary bottle of champagne, but still…
The food. Is it as… fancy as it looks? I’m picturing tiny portions and fussy waiters.
Okay, the food… this is where things get *interesting*. The "fussy waiters" part is spot on. They practically hovered! I'm one of those eat-with-abandon people, and I felt SO self-conscious about, like, slurping my noodles. (Which, by the way, are the best noodles I've ever had, and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise.)
The portions… some dishes were tiny. Like, artistically-arranged-on-the-plate-with-a-single-flower-petal-tiny. Others? Huge. They have this seafood platter… I swear, they brought out half the ocean. It was insane. Delicious, but insane. The breakfast buffet, on the other hand, was a glorious, over-the-top explosion of everything you could possibly imagine. Including a chocolate fountain. I went back three times. No regrets.
Tell me *everything* about the spa. Is it worth the crazy prices?
Okay, the spa. This is the make-or-break moment, right? And Hsiangkelira pulls out all the stops. It’s like entering another universe… a very zen, very expensive universe. Yes, it’s worth it. BUT...and this is a big but… book *in advance*. I tried to waltz in on a whim, thinking “I deserve a massage! After a stressful morning of ordering room service and judging the towels!” and was turned away. Mortifying. I finally got a slot for the next day, and it was… transcendent. The massage, the facilities, the little ginger tea they gave me afterwards... it was all amazing. But prepare for the price tag. My wallet weeps still.
One little mishap, though. I accidentally knocked over a bottle of aromatherapy oil. You know the ones, they're, like, a thousand dollars? I expected nuclear fallout. But they were so incredibly nice. Probably just trying to keep their profits, but hey, that's a great service.
Is the infinity pool *really* as Instagrammable as it looks? And is it crowded?
The infinity pool… okay, I’ll admit it. It lives up to the hype. The view is breathtaking, the water is the perfect temperature, and yes, I took a million photos. Judge me all you want. The issue? It's a popular spot. I went during off-peak hours, which are still jam-packed with people. So, yes, there were other people, and it's hard to get the perfect shot without the crowd. But the view… again… ugh, it's worth it. It's just so damn pretty! Plus, complimentary cocktails! What more could you ask for!
And, let's be real, I was there to judge people. The pretentious instagrammers with their perfectly-posed shots. The old guys in speedos… wait did I just get a little judgemental? Oh well.
I heard there's a rooftop bar. Is it worth the trek? (And do they have good cocktails?)
The rooftop bar, yes! Go. Now. It's a bit of a trek (elevator labyrinth, honestly), but those views… and those cocktails! Some of the best I've ever had. Expensive, of course. But worth it to sit up there, drinking a Singapore Sling as the sun sets over Kaohsiung. It's the kind of place where you want to wear your fanciest dress and pretend you're in a James Bond movie. I didn't have a fancy dress, wore jeans and a t-shirt, and was still happy. Because the drinks are that good.
Overall, would you recommend Hsiangkelira Hotel? Be brutally honest.
Okay, the brutally honest verdict? Yes. With caveats. It's expensive. The service is a little hit-or-miss. It's a bit… much. But… it's also an experience. An over-the-top, slightly ridiculous, utterly memorable experience. The views are stunning. The food, mostly delicious. The spa is heavenly. And the cocktails? Forget about it. Go. Just be prepared to embraceCity Stay Finder
