Taiwan, Taipei : Day #5, Part 2 (Mulan Motel)

We’re back in Taipei! The reason we didn’t leave our luggage with Rainbow Hotel was because we’re headed to another hotel motel for our last night in Taiwan. Alighting at HSR Taipei Main Station, we took a cab to our destination – Mulan Motel, Taipei (沐蘭時尚精品旅館). Like previous times, we gave the driver the address (and even a map this time).

Still, we encountered some difficulties in locating the motel, which is located near Miramar Entertainment Park. When we finally got to the motel, we realized that the side of the motel facing the main road is in fact, not the entrance. Advised by Mulan’s restaurant staff (who came running out to the side of the road), the cab driver (not looking very happy, hehe) drove us round to the other side of the building.

Alighting from the cab, we were perturbed. Where the heck is the entrance? Not even a sign or anything. All we see is a downward slope leading to the basement of the building. Left Shan standing by the pavement with the luggage, and I went down the bottom of the slope to the toll-booth lookalike. Turns out, that was the hotel’s service counter, or lobby if you can even call it that? Confirmed our reservation and brought our luggage down.

Took a lift up, and exiting from the hallway, it was dim and dark, and very cool. Even somewhat futuristic? Stepped into the room and it was like, WOAH. Guess I’ll just let the pictures do the rest of the talking!

Absolutely loved the luxurious room! It was spacious and tastefully decorated. Dual queen-sized beds and large LCD television! And, who could resist having the LCD television in front of the bathtub?

Alas, it wasn’t the room that we’re staying in. Why?! When we were checking-in, we were told that our room wasn’t ready yet. Gave us the key to this room instead to let us chill while they readied our room. Let’s just say the room we’ve reserved is erm, a slightly better one?

Spent an hour or so going through the room, watching television programmes, marveling at the design of the room and just chilling. Being considerate, we took extra care not to mess up the room too much, so that they didn’t have to re-do the whole room again. Finally, the call we’ve been waiting for broke the silence in the room, and we scooted off to the service counter to exchange our room keys. Mulan staff was nice enough to help bring up our luggage.

It dawned upon us that this motel took its name literally, and was designed for motorists. For non-motorists like us, you get to walk along the basement, flanked by garage doors. Meant for cars to use, the basement is modestly decorated. Didn’t manage to take any photos in the basement, but I found two pictures at this blog.

Reached our garage, which has enough space for a single car, and has a lift that serves only our room, which is at level two. Our room? Water Dance suite （水舞套房), room no. 607. At Mulan, there are only two such suites. If Chateau was about half the size of our home-to-be at Punggol, Mulan is probably three times the size. Mulan’s website lists the area as 85-100 ping (坪), which translates to roughly 281-331 sqm.

Opened the door to our suite, again to be overwhelmed by what we saw. From the lift, the first door leads to the foyer area. By the time we got to our suite, it was already 7pm, which explains the dark skies. Our suite has an open-concept, which means daylight is able to enter the suite from the various windows.

Plainly decorated with a single chair, there was no mood lighting in the foyer. It all changed when we stepped into the living area. Dimly lit throughout the entire living area, pink mood lighting gives an entirely different feel to the place.

The cabinet hides a water flask and mini-fridge, with a music player placed on top of it. Also, a tray of complimentary snacks is provided, free-of-charge. Moving on to the bedroom, the theme is consistent.

A bathrobe set provided by Mulan, just in case we needed it.

King-sized bed. 65-inch LCD television. Video-on-demand. What’s not to like?

The restroom was totally different in terms of style. More elegant and with cleaner lines, it adopts a white, grey and silver coloured theme. Even the wooden door to the restroom looks great, while the walls are lined with mosaic tiles.

Space is really a luxury here, and they do a great job of flaunting it. They’ve even got the space to place a chair here that doesn’t really serve any purpose, does it? Really wide mirror by the sink area, and all the little things you might need are provided here in a wooden box – toothbrush, comb, razor, shower-cap, etc.

First cool thing in the restroom? A sauna. Yep, that’s right. Talk about luxury huh? A private sauna room, just enough for two people. Has an emergency button in case somebody faints in the hot box. Looking through the glass panel in the door, it was just enough to peek at the world cup match showing on the LCD television!

Next cool thing? A huge, huge bathtub – the biggest we’ve ever seen, and used, that’s carved into the floor. It is so deep that it comes with an additional step to us to get into the tub.

Besides the usual bath in the water, there are two modes – the rain-shower massage or the back massage. For the rain-shower, the water comes down (doh!) from ceiling, blasting down into the water. For the back massage, nozzles at the steps are supposed to work their magic. Sadly, we couldn’t get it to work.

In front of the tub is an embedded LCD television. Also, they provided a plate of flower petals and a little bottle of aromatic oil for a romantic dip.

Alright, fanciful stuff aside, there is a regular shower head for use. Thoughtful feature to have a little bench to sit on at the shower area eh?

Ah. We’re not done yet. That was just the indoor area. Let’s go outside! Opening the sliding doors in the living area, we see more lamps!

Cool thing no. 3? An outdoor jacuzzi tub! Pressing on the white switch would turn on the twin water jets for a soothing back massage. Well, at least this one works even though the indoor one didn’t. Yep, it was already pretty dark by now.

Cool thing no. 4, and the best in my opinion, is the 12m by 3m private swimming pool! It was an omigosh moment as we set our eyes on the freaking, enormous pool!

Most of my pictures at night didn’t turn out that well, so do check out the next day’s post for more outdoor pictures!

We actually spent about an hour or so as we literally explored the suite and played with almost whatever we could get our hands on. Before we knew it, it was 8pm and we set off to the iconic Miramar Ferris Wheel just a few minutes away from Mulan.

Initial plans was to dine at a Japanese restaurant, but it was full-house. Turned our attention to T.G.I.F instead, which also happened to showing World Cup 2010 matches.  Woohoo! Ole-ole-ole.

Had a good meal at T.G.I.F, but what really caught our attention was the level of service instead. Their staff gave the impression that they were really passionate about their work, and takes prides in it too. In fact, this was the overall feeling I’ve got in Taiwan, regardless of what we’re in Taipei or Kenting.

On our way back from Miramar, we passed by Wego (薇閣精品旅館), another boutique motel chain that we were tempted to stay in as well. Like Mulan, they have motels not just in Taipei, but also in Taichung (台中). In fact, the luxury motel trend had started in Taichung. Compared to the discreet and elegant Mulan, Wego is much more flashy. I guess we’ll have to save it for our third trip to Taiwan then!

Made our way back to Mulan to rest for the night, which comprises of World Cup matches, a soothing bath, and a fluffy bed. Shall not bore you with the details then!

For more info, please visit Shan Flickr!