In January 2020 my wife and I included a 6 night Wendy Wu private tour of Taiwan as part of our 18 day Asian trip we arranged to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. Our tour took in Taipei, Taroko Gorge, Sun Moon Lake, Tainan and Kaohsiung.
For our overnight at Sun Moon Lake we stayed in the Richforest Hotel located in the Ita Thao village of Yuchi Township in the centre of Nantou county. It is a beautiful and impressive wooden structure made from Chinese cypress and stands majestically beside the beautiful man made Sun Moon Lake. There are exotic palm trees growing in front of the hotel building providing a pleasant setting. Entry to the hotel requires negotiating around 12 concrete steps from the roadside.
The reception area looks imposing with timber embellishments including impressive timber staircases to get to higher floors. We found the reception staff to be helpful enough but also a bit aloof and only willing to provide minimum responses to our queries. We did however appreciate sitting on chairs at the reception desk rather than having to stand and lean over a tall counter.
We liked our deluxe room which included a balcony with two chairs and an occasional table where we were able to enjoy some truly spectacular views of the Sun Moon Lake. The two double beds in the room were clean and comfortable. In addition to the usual tea and coffee making...In January 2020 my wife and I included a 6 night Wendy Wu private tour of Taiwan as part of our 18 day Asian trip we arranged to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. Our tour took in Taipei, Taroko Gorge, Sun Moon Lake, Tainan and Kaohsiung.
For our overnight at Sun Moon Lake we stayed in the Richforest Hotel located in the Ita Thao village of Yuchi Township in the centre of Nantou county. It is a beautiful and impressive wooden structure made from Chinese cypress and stands majestically beside the beautiful man made Sun Moon Lake. There are exotic palm trees growing in front of the hotel building providing a pleasant setting. Entry to the hotel requires negotiating around 12 concrete steps from the roadside.
The reception area looks imposing with timber embellishments including impressive timber staircases to get to higher floors. We found the reception staff to be helpful enough but also a bit aloof and only willing to provide minimum responses to our queries. We did however appreciate sitting on chairs at the reception desk rather than having to stand and lean over a tall counter.
We liked our deluxe room which included a balcony with two chairs and an occasional table where we were able to enjoy some truly spectacular views of the Sun Moon Lake. The two double beds in the room were clean and comfortable. In addition to the usual tea and coffee making facility the hotel provided a pod coffee machine which was a nice added feature. Another nice feature was the timber panelling on the walls. The bathroom included a separate shower unit and plunge bath and a decent washbasin. It also included a modern electronic toilet.
On the top floor there is an impressive reading room with comfortable lounge chairs to enjoy a bit of relaxation while enjoying the beauty of the lake. On one of the tables in this room was a nice display of purple orchids.
It was a pity that the hotel was being renovated during our stay and as such the restaurant was not available for us to enjoy an evening meal nor breakfast. A downside during our visit was to have to endure the smell of the industrial glues that were being used by the builders renovating the hotel. This was an unfortunate aspect of our visit. Breakfast was provided at the Lealea Moon Hotel, one of their sister hotels, about 300 metres up the road from the Richforest Hotel. We found the breakfast provided at the Lealea to be only average as it did not provide enough variety of food. It was adequate but not special.
Not being able to have dinner in the Richforest restaurant we ventured downtown and we found the Nine Go Beer Bar, a quirky new restaurant where the owner speaks good English and offers sensible kebab meals and a good range of beers to drink. The place is popular with western tourists in town.
Overall we found the hotel to be charming. However we felt it was let down by guests having to endure the renovations taking place while they were staying there. This of course is progress and necessary and we accept that this will happen to any traveller from time to time.More
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