Taiwan
Luxury hotels, insider access, and bespoke itineraries
The Destination
Taiwan is the most consistently underrated destination in East Asia, and the arrival of Capella Taipei in April 2025 is the clearest sign that is changing. For years the island was somewhere business travellers passed through; it is now somewhere people fly to for the food, the mountains and the hot springs, with a hotel finally built to match.
Capella Taipei is an André Fu building in Songshan — 86 rooms and suites around a pool terrace enclosed by a thirty-eight-metre bougainvillea hedge, with Taipei 101 rising behind it. It took Wallpaper*'s Best New Opening in the 2026 Design Awards. What makes it work is the city around it: Taipei has held a Michelin guide since 2018, and the gap between a three-star tasting menu and a bowl of beef noodles in a night market is about fifteen minutes and a great deal of pleasure.
The island rewards moving. High-speed rail runs the length of the west coast in about ninety minutes end to end, which puts tea mountains, hot-spring towns and a tropical south within easy reach of a Taipei base. As preferred partners we add benefits such as breakfast, upgrades when available and hotel credits, at the rate you would pay booking direct.
Best Time to Visit
October to December is the window, and November is the best single month: dry, mild in the north at roughly 20 to 25°C, and past the typhoon season. Taipei sits in a basin that traps heat and damp, so June to September is hard work — high 30s, very humid, and the peak of the typhoon season, when a direct hit closes transport and shops for a day or two. May and early June bring the plum rains, a stretch of persistent drizzle rather than dramatic storms. January and February are cool and damp in the north, around 15 to 20°C, but this is when the hot-spring towns at Beitou and Jiaoxi make most sense, and the south around Kenting stays warm enough for the beach year-round. Lunar New Year, in late January or February, is the one date to plan around: the island effectively travels home for a week, trains sell out, and many kitchens close.
Insider Tips
Base in Taipei and use the high-speed rail rather than moving hotels. Taipei to Kaohsiung is about ninety minutes, Taichung about an hour, so the tea plantations around Alishan, the old streets of Tainan and the southern coast are all day trips or single overnights from one good room. Two specific things worth building in: Beitou, a hot-spring district inside Taipei's own metro system, which almost no first-time visitor uses, and Jiufen in the hills northeast of the city, which is worth staying for the evening after the tour buses leave rather than seeing at midday with them. Book the Michelin-starred restaurants three to four weeks ahead; the night markets need no booking at all and are the better story. Bring an umbrella whatever the forecast says.
Frequently Asked
When is the best time to visit Taiwan?
October to December, with November the strongest month — dry, mild and clear of the typhoon season. Summer from June to September is hot, very humid and the peak typhoon window. Winter is cool and damp in the north but ideal for the hot-spring towns, and the south around Kenting stays warm all year.
How many days do you need in Taiwan?
Five to seven nights is the sweet spot. Two or three in Taipei for the food and the hot springs, then the high-speed rail south for Tainan and Kaohsiung, or up into the tea mountains. Taiwan also works well as a stopover of two or three nights on a wider Asia itinerary.
What is the best luxury hotel in Taipei?
Capella Taipei, which opened on 1 April 2025 in Songshan. It is an André Fu building of 86 rooms and suites, with Pool Terrace Rooms opening onto a terrace ringed by a thirty-eight-metre bougainvillea hedge under Taipei 101, and it won Wallpaper*'s Best New Opening in the 2026 Design Awards.
Is Taiwan a good food destination?
It is one of the best in Asia, and unusually democratic about it. Taipei has had a Michelin guide since 2018 and the guide now covers Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung as well, but the night markets are the real argument — Taiwan is a place where the finest meal and the most memorable one are often not the same meal.
Is booking Taiwan through a luxury travel advisor worth it?
You pay the hotel's own rate and gain preferred-partner benefits — breakfast, upgrades when available and hotel credits. The greater value here is planning: which room category at Capella actually earns its premium, how to sequence the high-speed rail so you are not backtracking, and getting the restaurant bookings that matter.
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