Ben's Guide to Taipei and Taiwan

The Grand Hotel / 圓山大飯店 / Yuán Shān Dà Fàn Diàn This lives up to its name; it is a towering pagoda style structure with a view of the city. It is starting to show signs of age, but is still very impressive. There are no doubt more luxurious hotels, but none with as much character. Take the MRT to Yuanshan . From there you can take a taxi for $70. The Grand Hotel's Website: http://www.grand-hotel.org/newsite/html/e/ca01.htm Taipei Site Seeing Index: http://taipeiguide.blogspot.com/2006/05/sites-in-taipei-city.html

Ta Chien Cinema / 大千電影院 / Dà Qiān Diàn Yǐng Yuàn For a bit of luxury the basement of the Westin Taipei Hotel has a theater in the basement level which has sofas with footrests. Tickets are NTD 350 and reservations are advised however if you show up and no tickets are available, you may wait to see if there is a no show and can get seated just before show time. Location: Nanjing East Road, Sec. 3, No. 133, B2 / 台北市南京東路3段133號B2 On the north-east side of the Fuxing Rd. intersection, this is walking distance from the Nanjing East Rd. MRT station on the Brown-Muzha Line. Their website is in Chinese only: http://www.whatis.com.tw/westin2005/act.php http://babelfish.altavista.com/ can provide a half-ass machine translation which should be adequate to see what is playing and maybe even make a reservation. http://www.whatis.com.tw/westin2005/news_content.php?eno=1#mvlist To make a reservation: Telephone reservtations are accepted for the same day only, but English may or may not be spoken: ...