Destinations editor Eric Moya visited Taipei as the Grand Hyatt in the Taiwanese capital put the finishing touches on a $100 million renovation. His first dispatch follows.
It was nearly midnight when I stopped off at the Grand Hyatt Taipei's lobby bar for a quick one before bed, as I attempted to counter the effects of jetlag from a 16-hour flight and 12-hour time difference. While an acoustic duo strummed and sang its way through an all-English repertoire -- Coldplay's "Yellow," the Eagles' "Desperado" and John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" were part of one set list -- I settled into a stool and ordered a Taiwan Gold draft.
I was surrounded by conversations in English. Amid the small talk, words like "synergies," "solutions" and "leveraging," and analogies about scaling mountains or other physical endeavors, peppered the conversation. It was the second-to-last day of an industrial machine-tool show at the adjacent convention center. A medical-instruments exhibition was taking place simultaneously in another hall. A major financial-services firm would begin its meeting, held throughout the Grand Hyatt's myriad functions spaces, in a couple of days.
So within these few blocks of eastern Taipei, anyway, the prevailing language was neither Mandarin nor a Taiwanese dialect -- nor English, really: It was corporate-speak. I'm probably more comfortable conversing in my beyond-rusty Mandarin.
Still, I struck up a conversation with a fellow from Canada who was in town for the machine-tool show, while his colleague chatted up a couple of ladies. (Those exchanges seemed to be conducted primarily in pantomime.) My bar-stool buddy said he'd been attending that particular conference since its inception 25 years ago. He'd been to the mainland on business, too, and once visited "the dead soldiers in Zee-AN."
For the 853-room Grand Hyatt, international meetings and conventions are a vital part of its clientele. And as one might expect, corporate travelers are certainly well cared for, with a staff fluent in English and employees who speak German, Korean and Japanese; propertywide WiFi (like all Hyatt hotels, as of last month); and a well-equipped gym and spa.
A variety of Western- and Asian-style options are on offer at its eight restaurants, which include the newly unveiled Yun Jin, serving an expertly prepared menu inspired by the cuisines of Taiwan and several regions of China (though currently not Xian, home of the terracotta warriors, which is more correctly pronounced SHE-ahn).
With its $100 million, top-to-bottom renovation, the hotel, according to General Manager Kai Speth, is looking to maintain its prominence as a meetings-friendly property while still catering to both leisure travelers and locals who've long turned to the Grand Hyatt Taipei for wedding receptions, graduation celebrations and other special occasions.
Regardless, I get the feeling that guests like my bar buddy from Canada will continue to feel at home. And any slip-ups in Mandarin won't be of much consequence; for his needs, he speaks the language of Taipei fluently.