Review: Hotel Resonance Taipei, part of Hilton’s Tapestry Collection

This is our review of Hotel Resonance in Taipei, Taiwan.

Eager to visit before, erm, geopolitics intervened, I recently spent ten days in Taiwan and Shanghai. This is the first of a number of hotel reviews we are publishing from my trip.

If you have never been to Taiwan, I highly recommend it. I’m not sure the tourist board does a great job of promoting the island as a destination, despite Taipei being a fantastic city and having some beautiful scenery nearby.

Sometimes it felt like we were the only Western tourists around, which brings its own challenges and delights (and lots of sign language / use of translation apps!)

The hotel website is here. Hilton provided my room for review purposes, but I paid for all other expenses.

What is Tapestry Collection?

If you’re not familiar with Tapestry Collection, it is a sister Hilton brand to Curio Collection. Tapestry Collection hotels tends to have fewer facilities or are slightly less luxurious.

Both Tapesty Collection and Curio Collection are aimed at independent hotels of a high quality which want to be part of the Hilton ‘system’ but don’t want to be beholden to a huge manual of ‘brand standards’.

We have generally been impressed by the hotels we have reviewed which belong to Tapestry and Curio. IHG’s Vignette Collection, Marriott’s Autograph Collection and Hyatt’s Unbound Collection work in the same way. The only downside is that the brands have a fairly high degree of churn, as hotels are locked in for a shorter period than they would be under a full franchise agreement.

Where is Hotel Resonance Taipei?

If you’ve never been to Taipei, it’s a bit of an odd-shaped city. Numerous rivers bisect it, creating distinctions between New Taipei in the West and ‘old’ Taipei in the East. The main downtown area and financial district – home to the famous Taipei 101 tower – is off-centre in the East of the city, enclosed by a small range of mountains.

This means that whilst there are plenty of hotels in the Xinyi District with its skyscrapers and malls, including my next review of the W Tapei hotel, there are plenty more along the numerous East-West roads that span the core metro area.

This includes the Hotel Resonance, which sits pretty firmly in the middle between Xinyi and Ximen by the Tamsui River – the Soho of Taipei. It is literally outside Shandao Temple MRT station, which is served by the blue Bannan line which connects to both Xinyi and Ximen via Taipei Main Station.

I fell in love with this location and, if I am perfectly honest, prefer it to staying in Xinyi simply because it is in the middle of all the main attractions and so well connected. It also has a lovely residential feel to it, versus the endless malls around Taipei 101, with plenty of local restaurants and convenience stores within a very short walk.

It is about 45 minutes by taxi from the large Taoyuan Airport and a bit longer via public transport.

Inside the Hotel Resonance Taipei

Hotel Resonance is a new hotel in a newly built 14-storey tower. It opened in 2020.

What I like about it is that the building itself is set back from the street, with a small, leafy public garden / park running along its entire length. Coupled with the double-height glass lobby, you forget you are in the city:

The effect was somewhat spoiled by the sheer amount of luggage behind reception – perhaps they don’t have a luggage room?!

Reception desks are in the middle, with seating on either side:

and

There was a bit of a queue when we arrived with two or three people in front of us, and the staff apologised for a slow check-in. My Hilton Honors Diamond status was acknowledged.

Rooms at Hotel Resonance Taipei

We were given a standard King room on the 15th floor – the top floor of the hotel. (As in the US, Taiwan counts ground as the first floor.) It took a while to get up as the lifts were bizarrely slow.

Rooms are decorated in fairly neutral greige tones with warm yellow accents and lighting:

Overall it was very spacious at 30 sqm, with plenty of room around the bed. On the right you have an open wardrobe above a luggage rack:

The king bed is in the centre, with good connectivity on both sides as well as a Bluetooth speaker:

There is a chaise long, round table and mini bar by the window:

The mini bar is complimentary and features an apple juice box, bottle of iced tea and local snack that’s replaced daily.

A Nespresso coffee machine plus tea bags and a kettle are also there.

Opposite the bed is a big 55″ TV:

To the left, you have a small toilet cubicle with a TOTO automatic toilet and handwash basin, whilst, on the other side, is the bathroom. This features a separate shower and bathtub with views across the city thanks to the window:

Toiletries are branded by the hotel in large pump bottles, but it smelled pleasant.

Here is the view – we had a southerly aspect:

Other amenities at Hotel Resonance

The hotel doesn’t offer a huge number of amenities – it doesn’t even have its own restaurant, although there is a Starbucks on the ground floor. If you have free breakfast benefit as Hilton Honors Gold or Diamond you are given a 500TWD (~£13) credit to spend in Starbucks. You also get a 10% discount on further purchases.

On the second floor you’ll find a small gym. It mainly features cardio machines but it does have some pleasant views:

Also on this floor is a self-service laundry room that is totally free for guests. This was certainly a novelty for me – the first time I’ve ever seen a free laundry room for guests – although I didn’t end up using it. Detergent etc is automatically added when washing – there is no need to purchase anything.

There isn’t an official Club Lounge but the hotel does have something called ‘The Portal’ on the ground floor at the back of the lobby. This is for Hilton Diamond members or those who book a room which includes access. This is a separate room and would be a good place to work – it was very quiet when I was there.

Some basic snacks and soft drinks are available throughout the day, for free, whilst beer and some alcopops are available during happy hour in the evening.

There is no pool, no room service or other amenities.

Conclusion

The lack of amenities – and breakfast – may put some of you off, but I really enjoyed my stay at the Hotel Resonance.

The location was, for me, excellent, and within easy access of where I wanted to go. Being on the blue Bannan line is very convenient.

The rooms are modern and spacious. After a slow check-in the staff were helpful, and even lent us a USB-C cable which was very convenient after we had problems with our own.

Room rates start from around £133 per night or 60,000 points per night. You can find out more, and book, on the hotel website here.

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How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards (January 2024)

There are various ways of earning Hilton Honors points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Hilton Honors Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Marriott Bonvoy Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

Did you know that the Virgin Atlantic credit cards are a great way of earning Hilton Honors points? Two Virgin Points can be converted into three Hilton Honors points. The Virgin Atlantic cards are the only Visa or Mastercard products in the UK which can indirectly earn Hilton Honors points. You can apply here.

You can also earn Hilton Honors points indirectly with:

• American Express Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Rewards Credit Card (10,000 bonus Amex points)

and for small business owners:

• American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Business Platinum (40,000 bonus Amex points)

The conversion rate from American Express to Hilton points is 1:2.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Hilton Honors points. 

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)