31 March to 3 April 2024
We had a comfortable and enjoyable 3 days stay in the H2O Hotel Kaohsiung. Although H2O was the chemical name for “water”, the name of the hotel actually means your “Home and 2nd Office”.
Location
There were a few 5 star hotels that I considered when planning my trip. I finally chose H2O Hotel because of its proximity to the Zuoying HSR Station and Xin Zuoying TRA Station.
It is also within walking distance to the Kaohsiung Arena MRT Station and the Hanshin Arena Shopping Mall. Ruifeng Night Market is only a 7 minutes walk away and the Lotus Pond Scenic Area which I wanted to visit is also a short taxi ride away.
Free shuttle service to and from the Kaohsiung HSR Station.
The hotel provides free shuttle service from the HSR Station if you informed them of your arrival details at least 1 day in advance.
On the day of our arrival in Kaohsiung by HSR from Chiayi, we were met by a representative of the hotel at the platform of the HSR Station.
We were pleasantly surprised that he came to the train platform to meet us.
The young man, smartly dressed in a silvery long tailed coat, helped us with our luggage and drove us to the hotel in a luxurious SUV. Cold towels and drinks were offered to us while we rode to the hotel in style.
On our day of departure, we booked the same shuttle service to send us to the HSR Station.
H2O Hotel Lobby
The concierge took care of our luggage from the moment we arrived by SUV to the hotel. We were ushered to the lobby on the 20th floor for check-in.
Another cutesy spot for photos at the lobby.
Unfortunately, our room was not ready at our check in. We were told that we could go explore Kaohsiung first and we will be notified by SMS or email once our room is ready.
There are 3 restaurants in the hotel. Dim-Sum located on the lobby floor serves classic Chinese cuisine, while Ripple offers a selection of Western dishes. I was considering the Capstone Steakhouse on the ground floor that serves one of the best steaks in town but chose otherwise.
We decided to take a slow and short walk to Hanshin Arena for lunch and thereafter, go explore the Lotus Pond Scenic Area.
Our Room
Lift lobby on the Room floors.
Our room is the Deluxe Double Room that came with a large King-size bed, a flat-screen TV, a sofa and a working desk.
Very comfortable King-size bed in the spacious Deluxe Double Room.
A flat screen TV is provided in all rooms. The TV has an external HDMI connection port on the desk that I used to connect my Android TV box that I brought from home.
Like most hotels, standard items like towels, free toiletries, bathrobes, slippers and a hairdryer are provided.
Unlike most hotels, the mini-bar items at H2O are complimentary (i.e. included in the hotel price). I think this should be the standard in all hotels. Why provide overpriced mini-bar items that turn people off when these could be included in the overall price for the room and presented as a form of excellent service.
Pantry with Nespresso coffee maker and capsules, bottled water and kettle.
Complimentary cold drinks and snacks are also provided.
The bathroom has a bath tub and a walk-in shower, as well as an electronic bidet (a typical feature in most Japanese hotels and homes).
It was nice to soak in the hot tub after a long day of sightseeing. The water pressure is good, so it was fast to fill.
The “not-so-private” bathroom is transparent and could be seen from the bed. Fortunately, there is a venetian blind that you can close so your partner need not see you naked.
Breakfast
One of the things that I enjoyed most at the H2O Hotel is their excellent breakfast that is served in the Ripple restaurant.
In addition to the buffet spread, there are also carte items that we can order. Small pegs with our table number are provided and we could just pin the pegs on the ala carte items we wanted. This include beef steak with Paraguay beef, Singapore laksa, French toast, porridge with scallops and abalone, fish burger, Japanese style vegetarian noodle soup (vegan), omelette, over-easy eggs or hard-boiled eggs.
Standard buffet breakfast items like noodle soup, bread, toast, ham, bacon, sausages and salad.
Over the 3 mornings, we tried almost all of the ala carte items.
One of our favourite items – beef steak that is medium done, juicy and tender. I had this on all 3 days! The beef is from Paraguay and the doneness is fixed by the chef.
Scallop and Abalone porridge. Quite tasty seafood rice porridge.
On the first morning, we were able to order a special crab porridge that was not on the menu.
Selection of desserts, juices, soft drinks and Haagen-Dazs ice cream.
Overall, the breakfast service in this hotel is amazing. It is truly value for money to book a room that included breakfast.
Rooftop Bar and Pool
The hotel pool is located on the rooftop. Getting out from the elevator, we were greeted with a walkway that is quite beautiful decorated.
Walkway leading to the hotel’s rooftop pool and bar.
The design of the swimming pool is something you either like or hate. The elevated pool has glass on one side facing the pool bar.
I hated it.
It reminded me of an aquarium, except that this time, you are watching people.
We patronised the pool bar on one of the evening. I was enticed by a drink coupon that came with our room. I thought it was a “1 for 1” coupon, but the coupon was actually for a 50% discount for the 2nd drink. My bad.
Loud music video were projected on a large screen and I did not really enjoyed the environment. In fact, there were mosquitoes making a meal out of us.
This was the only item that failed to meet our expectations during our stay.
Summary
Overall, we had a wonderful stay at this luxury hotel in Kaohsiung. The standard and service of this hotel is really worth the price!
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