Asia Pacific Hotel Beitou
北投亞太溫泉飯店
Asia Pacific Beitou Hot Spring Hotel 北投亞太溫泉飯店 is a new hotel that opened in 2019. Everything you need to know, is in that sentence. It’s a new hot spring hotel located in the Beitou area. The hotel is so new, that it’s not in the mapping system for Uber. I had to input the address instead of just being able to type the hotel name.
Hot springs pretty common in Japan, but I don’t think many people are aware that you can find hot springs in Taiwan. Beitou is one of the most popular areas for hot springs in Taiwan, while only being 30-minutes from Taipei via MRT. The experience of being naked, outside and in hot water with other people is very unique…BUT I’ve done that and prefer to have my personal space.
That’s where Asia Pacific Hotel Beitou 北投亞太溫泉飯店 shines, each room is equipped with their own private hot spring. It’s a large concrete tub where you can feed in hot spring water, hot water and cold water. It’s nice, but at a high price.
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First off this is going to be a long detailed post on what you can experience in a premium hot spring hotel in Taiwan. You might want to check out my YouTube video on it for a better experience.
PRICE
RESERVATIONS
GOOGLE MAPS LOCATION
TAIWANEATER RATING
$$$$
Yeah, it’s a hotel
Website
4/5
Asia Pacific Beitou Hot Spring Hotel 北投亞太溫泉飯店 Review
Hot Spring Health Benefits:
If you’ve never been in a hot spring before, give it a shot. The minerals in natural hot spring water are known to improve:
- Blood circulation
- Reduce Stress
- Relieves aches and pains
- Heals skin issues (maybe that’s why Asian people look young forever?)
Beitou Hot Spring Budget Friendly Alternatives:
- Beitou Public Hot Spring: For NT$40 you can get an affordable hot spring experience!
- Spring City: For only NT$499, you can visit this public hot spring park in Beitou.
- Phoenix Pavillion: For NT$1350, you can visit this private hot spring in a hotel for 2-hours. You get your own private room for up to 2 people
- Hot Springs and a Hike: Not a typical hot spring experience, but you will hike to see it in a natural setting.
Price: Booking The Hotel
The cheapest room in Asia Pacific Hotel Beitou 北投亞太溫泉飯店 is the Superior Room starting at $300USD/night. That’s what we booked, but it was on a special American Express Taiwan Platinum promotion which ended up being practically free. Personally, I’m cheap and wouldn’t pay $300/night for any hotel. As for the rate, that’s what you can expect to pay at some of the most premium hotels in Beitou, and Asia Pacific Beitou is premium.
Official nightly prices from the Asia Pacific Hotel Beitou 北投亞太溫泉飯店 include Breakfast and Dinner and are subject to a 10% tax:
- Superior Room NT$12,900 (see price on Agoda)
- Deluxe Room NT$15,900 (see price on Agoda)
- Deluxe Japanese Room NT$22,900 (see price on Agoda)
- Deluxe Family Room NT$22,900 (see price on Agoda)
- AP Suite NT$26,290 (see price on Agoda)
- AP Family Suite NT$28,900 (see price on Agoda)
- AP Japanese Premium Suite NT$34,900 (see price on Agoda)
If you try to book a room using the online website, the booking system is only in Chinese. You’ll need to use Google Translate if you want to force your way through. The 3-star hot spring hotels in Beitou will cost you around $150USD/night.
Getting There: Free Shuttle
As I mentioned earlier, I’m cheap. Whenever staying at a premium hotel, I always check if there’s a shuttle. In many cases, there is a hotel shuttle and it’s free! The Asia Pacific Beitou Hotel has a free hourly shuttle that runs hourly from Beitou station and Xin-Beitou Station throughout the day.
Beitou and Xin-Beitou Station are part of Taiwan’s amazing MRT system. From Taipei, it will cost you less than $1USD to get to Beitou using the MRT.
I ended up missing the shuttle when I first arrived and didn’t want to wait an hour for the next one so I took an Uber. With Uber, the ride was 100NTD.
Pro-Tip: Always check if there’s a free hotel shuttle
You can try walking, but I don’t recommend it. It’s a very steep walk through narrow streets. It can be dangerous since cars drive around the hills and there isn’t a dedicated sidewalk. If you have luggage, hiking up to the hotel will be the challenge of your life.
The Location
Asia Pacific Hotel Beitou 北投亞太溫泉飯店 is located up in the hills of Beitou. The view is beautiful, but the area is mostly residential, other hotels and nature. If you want to walk to the station, it will take about 30-minutes through the winding uphill and downhill roads.
I searched the area for food, but you’ll be limited to hotel restaurants. If you want more variety, you’ll have to get back to Beitou/Xinbeitou station. You can use the free hotel shuttle for your food journeys, but included with your stay is dinner and breakfast.
Since I got there early, I was hungry and UberEats doesn’t deliver to this area, so I had to take the shuttle to Xin-Beitou to get food. Plenty of options there.
What’s in Beitou?
Beitou is known for it’s hot springs. People go here to relax and escape from the busy city life in Taipei. Beitou has a lot of Japanese influence which is why you’ll feel like you’re in a small Japanese town while only being 30-minute from the modern super city of Taipei.
Checking-In
Official Check-in time for the hotel is at 3pm. I arrived at 12:00 with the hopes of being able to check-in early. As soon as I arrived in the Uber, I was greeted by one of the several doormen they have and escorted in to the lobby. My luggage was carried for me from the Uber to the lobby. FYI, tipping is not expected in Taiwan.
At the front desk, I handed them my passport and gave the name for the reservation. As I was being checked-in, one of the hotel employees brought over hot tea for me to drink. A very nice touch that I don’t often see at many hotels.
I was then surprised to find out that they upgraded the Superior room to a Deluxe room! Then, they handed me the room key and I was off to the room.
It was even more surprising to see they let me check-in 3-hours early! Since the hotel looks very Japanese, I was expecting a strict check-in time of 3pm which is the standard in Japan…but this is Taiwan!
FYI, I only speak English. In Taiwan, they speak mandarin. When checking in to the hotel, the staff spoke English very well. During the trip, I also overheard some of the staff speaking in Japanese and Korean. As you can expect from a premium hotel, many languages are spoken here.
They also included 2 complimentary drink vouchers for the hotel bar, located on the first floor.
The Hotel
Floor set up of the hotel is very interesting. Since the hotel is built into the steep hills, the driveway and main entrance is on the 7th floor. You can’t actually access the 1st floor from outside the hotel.
On the 7th floor lobby, you can find the reception desk, the main entrance and hotel restaurant. The 1st floor is where you can find all the hotel amenities. There’s a VR Arcade, children’s activity room, indoor pool bar, hot spring, pool shop and lounge.
The Deluxe Room
As I walked towards my Deluxe room, it was situated at the end of the hallway in the corner. If you’re a hotel pro, you know that this is a very good room. Rooms at the end of hallways located from everyone else in the building, are the quietest.
I opened the door to the room and entered Japan. The first thing you’ll notice is that the floor is raised after the entrance. This keeps a strict separation between the “shoe-zone” and the rest of the apartment. Naturally, you should take off your shoes before entering the rest of the room.
Pro-Tip: Rooms at the end of hallways or corners of the building are the quietest.
Slippers/Sandals
They provided two types of slippers in the room. The classic white room slippers and Japanese slippers to walk around the building and hot springs. The Japanese slippers were clearly noted as “Not a present,” meaning, don’t take these because it’s not free.
The Bed
As you enter the room you’ll find a large bed. Most people that come to Beitou are couples looking for a weekend getaway. They provided a blue and pink kimono to use around the hotel and in the room. I liked that and it was pretty comfortable.
On the bed there are 4 large pillows. I really mean large, the pillows were too big and fluffy. It looks great, but I’m not used to sleeping with my head elevated so high. I had trouble sleeping because of these pillows. It’s weird, but pillows that are too big are actually a problem. Imaging stacking 3 regular sized pillows and trying to sleep; it’s too high! At least that’s the case for me.
In front of the bed you’ll find that they use up all the space against the walls for seating and a desk. Pretty efficient. Included in the room were 4 bottles of water, tea, cookies and several Nespresso capsules. There was a mini-fridge you could use in the room, which I like much more than a mini-bar.
The Bathroom
From the bed, the bathroom is located the furthest away possible. You have to go down the hall, through a wooden door, then a glass door to get to the toilet. I like this because it cancels out any possibility of hearing noises made when using the toilet. In many hotels I’ve experience in Taiwan, there’s no sound barrier.
The toilet had one of those premium Japanese bidets which is always nice. There was also an air vent that would run in the bathroom if you needed it. Through the bathroom there was also a window if you wanted to look out into the Beitou hills.
Let’s call this section, the basic bathroom that had a western toilet and sink. The hot spring room is a whole different situation.
The Private Hot Spring Room
The private hot spring bath replaces your typical shower and hot tub with a large concrete hot spring bath! This is what you’re actually paying the premium for at Asia Pacific Hotel Beitou 北投亞太溫泉飯店. The bath included controls for hot spring water, hot water and cold water. There was also a rubber ducky that would read the temperature of the water for you. Around 40C is the sweet spot for me.
Before getting in the hot spring bath, you should shower and thoroughly clean your body. If you’ve been to a hot spring bath before, you know the rules. Clean yourself before getting in the hot spring. This is just so you don’t have all those dead skin cells floating around the bath. It’s not a big deal if it’s just you, but if it’s in a public place then it’s not considerate towards other people.
There’s a small seat, bucket, shower head and soaps for you to wash yourself before getting in. Unfortunately, the shower head didn’t have a place where I could mount it at a regular height. All showers could only be done while seated here. That’s not the way I like to take showers, but it’s very traditional for a public bathhouse.
The hot spring tub is BIG. You could probably comfortably fit 4 people in there. As I used it by myself, I felt like I wasted A LOT of water. It was super relaxing though. My tolerance is about 10-15 minutes before having to get out.
The Food
Included with the booking is dinner and breakfast. When I checked in, they asked what time I would like to have dinner because it comes in 2 different times: 5:30pm and 7:30pm. I opted for 7:30pm because I’m too young to have dinner at 5:30pm.
Dinner
The dinner at Asia Pacific Hotel Beitou 北投亞太溫泉飯店 was surprisingly nice! They had it semi-buffet style, where you would order the main course and then you can get as much food as you want at the buffet.
There weren’t any options for the main course, it’s just whatever the special of the day is, and this day it was the giant tiger prawns and beef. I was surprised that it took 20-minutes to get the main course and it was served at room temperature. That just says it was ready, but someone forgot to bring it out for 20-minutes.
I found the buffet food to actually be better than the main course. The buffet included sushi, fried chicken, skewered meats, matsutaka pork (my favorite from all the options) and a variety of desserts. The buffet was a solid 4/5 on taste and quality.
Dinner Pricing
If you just want to pay for dinner (additional guests), it’s NT$980 plus a 10% service tax. They have a minimum per person charge, so if someone just wants to hang out they’ll still need to buy dinner. There’s also a NT$500 corkage fee on wine and NT$1000 on liquor.
When I was there, the dinner main course was a giant tiger prawn with pepper salt and beef ribs, glazed with a Hatcho Miso sauce.
Breakfast
The breakfast options weren’t as exciting as dinner. I got some noodles, tamagoyaki, bread and cheese. It’s still better than some of the other hotel breakfasts I’ve had in Taiwan so it’s not that bad, but I’d rate it average at 3/5.
Hotel Amenities
Games
They have 2 air hockey tables and 2 foosball tables available to use at any time.
Included with your stay is access to all the amenities. You get to play one of the VR games for free. Unfortunately, you have to make a reservation and it’s only open 3-hours per day. That’s super limited and you have to know about it before getting there. It’s open from:
09:40-10:40
16:40-17:40
19:00-20:00
Weird, but okay. On check-out day, we made it in tome to try the VR Games at 09:40-10:40. After playing just 1 game, it was enough.
All the gear looks super advanced, but the graphics for the games were really weak. I easily get motion sickness so was very careful to check-out the games before actually playing. It didn’t look worth it, but it looks like the hotel invested a lot in these activities.
Unfortunately, you can only play about half of the VR games they had available because many were being “serviced.” So you have a lot of fun games, but most of them don’t work or have low quality graphics…
They hold a daily class to teach kids something interesting daily from 15:20-16:00. It’s held in a small classroom next to the VR Games.
Water Activity
Activities are held in the indoor pool from 16:00-16:50 and again from 17:00-17:50. I didn’t make it in time to check it out.
Music Time
In the pool/lounge area, they play music nightly. Saturday are the best day because that’s when they’ll have a live band.
I skipped this feature. You can see the pictures online here, it’s pretty simple, but clean. It’s a public hot spring because you don’t actually need to stay at the hotel, you can pay to access it. There is a strict separation by gender.
Price: NT$1600/person
The indoor pool is pretty nice. I didn’t end up using it, but it was really clean and lit well. Next to the pool were cabanas that you could use that were partial indoor/outdoor. You can also use the lounge next to the pool for water, tea and coffee.
Pool Shop
They have their own small pool shop if you need to purchase anything like a swimming cap/clothes.
Overall Thoughts
What I liked about Asia Pacific Hotel Beitou?
This is an amazing hotel for a weekend getaway from the city. The dinner buffet was really good. Everything was super clean and the service was really good. I loved the Japanese wooden door panels in the room were fun to use.
The hot spring bath in the room was amazing. That’s the biggest selling point.
What I didn’t like about Asia Pacific Hotel Beitou?
The location is pretty remote. You have to get a taxi, uber or shuttle to get to the hotel or leave. It’s good and bad, but basically you might be confined to the hotel since it’s difficult to walk around in the area.
The shower in the room is sit-down only. If they added a mount higher up on the wall in the bathroom you could shower normally.
The dinner buffet was great, but the main course that they served came out at room temperature. As for the breakfast, it wasn’t as impressive as you would expect from a premium hotel.
Overall 4/5
Value 3/5
Average price for a premium hotel in Beitou
Service 4/5
The service from reception and the doormen were outstanding, but the rest of the service from the restaurant and 1st floor amenities desk were good, but not outstanding.
Location 3/5
The location is in the Beitou hills, with very limited access to things in the area. But you really come here for the hot springs and the nature.
Room 4/5
The room was outstanding, but I would have like a shower head mount higher up so I could shower while standing.
Food 3/5
The dinner buffet was excellent, but the main course wasn’t. Breakfast is pretty average, but you expect more from a premium hotel.