Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel with Kids (Taipei, Taiwan)

If you’re looking for a hotel in Taipei that’s perfect for kids, look no further than The Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel.

We booked 4 days and 3 nights at this property and it was a memorable stay both for me and my 4 year old son, Luke. Find out why we recommend The Shangri-La in Taipei, especially when you’re traveling with younger children.

Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel

Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel is the tallest hotel in Taipei, which naturally means you get unparalleled views of the city!

You can never go wrong with Shangri-La. It has always been one of my favorite luxury hotel chains and my Shangri-La experience around the world has always been beyond amazing. I’m happy to share that our experience in Taipei was no different.

Surprise Welcome!

As I was checking in at the front desk, a staff member came out with a crate full of toys and asked Luke to pick one! Luke was stunned and took a while to choose which one he wanted! He ended up getting a Beyblade toy. Good choice, Luke! 😉 Hehe.

Then, it was time to check out our room.

Grand Deluxe Room

The Grand Deluxe Room provides panoramic views of Taipei. You can see Taipei 101 from your window! It is also really spacious, at 56 sqm and can easily fit a family of 4. We stayed there as 3 adults and 1 child and it was perfect.

The sofa bed was ready upon arrival. Of course, it didn’t look this pristine once Luke moved in. Haha.

We arrived on Easter Sunday and was greeted with this adorable spread!

The bathroom was spacious, having space for both an enclosed shower and a tub. Guess which one my little boy preferred more? 😉

Luke received his own toothbrush kit too!

It wasn’t long before we all settled in and felt right at home.

Luke spent 2 nights on the big bed with me and another night on the sofa bed with my brother. He insisted on trying both.

Horizon Club Lounge

Our stay at The Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel in Taipei included access to the Horizon Club Lounge.

Here you can enjoy mixed beverages and canapés from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m daily. You can also enjoy light snacks, coffee and tea throughout the day.

 

We were here everyday throughout our stay. And is it any wonder? The food was wonderful, the views were divine and the ambience was just the best.

If you ask Luke, the lounge was one of the highlights of our entire Taiwan trip (ha, that boy knows how to enjoy!) and I don’t blame him. In fact, I myself enjoyed it so much that I wrote an entire article about our lounge experience. Check it out for more photos and details.

Breakfast Buffet

But I think, for me, I enjoyed the daily breakfast buffet the most! Every morning, we had a buffet breakfast at Cafe at Far Eastern.

If you have access to the Horizon Club Lounge, you have the option of having your breakfast there instead of at the Cafe.

Having it at the lounge means you get a more personalized service and a quieter ambience. However, you’ll have more choices here at the restaurant. We didn’t really need quiet (we were traveling with a 4 year old after all.) So we opted to have our breakfast here everyday and I have no regrets!

Some of the highlights for me included the various dimsum and Taiwanese pastry snacks offered, fresh fruit juices, noodle bar and their surprisingly delicious desserts.

Absolutely loved the chocolate danish (and I’m not even really a fan of chocolate!) and my favorite: Laksa!

View from the Rooftop

As you can already tell, you get amazing views of Taipei almost everywhere here at The Shangri-La but nothing beats the clear, bird’s eye view you’ll get at the rooftop.

Also at the rooftop is their swimming pool. This is the highest pool in the entire city of Taipei! And what makes it even more wonderful is how it’s heated. So even during the winter months, you can take a dip. That is, if you wanted to!

Beautiful Dining Options

If I were here with Mor, no doubt we would’ve tried one of these gorgeous restaurants inside the hotel. As with all Shangri-La properties, they have a number of beautiful dining options available.

This one is at the Marco Polo Lounge where you can have afternoon tea or drinks in the evening. They also provide live performances on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

They also have Ibuki, their Japanese Restaurant with gorgeous interiors (reminds me of our very own Inagiku here in Makati Shangri-La,) Shang Palace and Shanghai Pavilion, which is acclaimed as “Taipei’s Best Shanghainese Restaurant”.

The Best Part: Exceptional Shangri-La Service

The Shangri-La at Taipei is everything you would expect a luxury hotel to be but the thing that really impressed me most was the exceptional Shangri-La service. I’ve experienced this is in all the other Shangri-La’s around the world and Taipei was no exception.

Some of my personal experiences, to illustrate what I mean:

• Since I was pumping and bringing home breastmilk for my baby back home, I asked the restaurant staff to freeze my ice packs and milk bags daily. They even gave me newspaper so that the milk bags would stay frozen longer. (Special shoutout to Vincent at Cafe at Far Eastern who assisted me every morning!)
• Aside from freezing ice packs, they also helped me microwave my steam sterilizer bag, for sterilizing my pump parts.
• We called the front desk to ask if there was a clinic after coming home from Flying Cow Ranch because Kim and I had a TON of huge insect bites. They asked why and we told them what happened. A few minutes later, one of the staff rang our doorbell and had an ointment for us to use, served on a tray too!

• Once, I took a taxi back to the hotel with just Luke and a whole lot of bags on the taxi floor (shopping bags, grocery bags, backpack, handbag and my pump bag!) When the staff opened the taxi door and saw everything, he immediately took all the bags without hesitation, for me. Every single one!
• Luke was starting to cough on our final day. I asked for warm water from the front desk and a kind lady delivered it for us (with squeezed lemon too!) When she saw Luke curled up in the bed, she started asking how he was feeling and engaging him in a conversation. So sweet. Thank you for being like our family away from home!

Overall: Shangri-La Taipei with Kids

Going with Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel in Taipei is a great choice for families, especially those with young kids. Here’s why:

• The service is exceptional. And this will be crucial during times you least expect. And when does anything ever go as planned when you’re traveling with young kids, right?
• Access to Horizon Club Lounge is a great perk. Grab a quick bite anytime!
• There’s a daily shuttle bus that takes you around the city. They even offer specialized tours (just book at least 24 hours in advance.) We weren’t able to take advantage of this service but I hope to do so the next time I’m there! Find out more details here.

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(NOTE: THIS POST IS ABOUT OUR EXPERIENCE LAST APRIL 2019.)