This hotel is one of the top two or three in Kaohsiung. It is located above one of the best shopping malls in the city. So it is well located.

It has 43 floors, and breakfast is on the top floor, so you have a fantastic view of the city. I was on the 39th floor. There had been four earthquakes of magnitude 4 in the last week so I was hoping that the earth might shake for me at this height- but I felt nothing!

It is not the most modern hotel in Taiwan. It has a feel of a slightly outdated Sheraton, with simulated gold plated bathroom fittings and "luxury" carpets on the floors. I am not a fan of either! But in this city there is very little choice of good hotels.

The gym is fairly good and will keep you going, (90% of hotels in Taiwan have very poor or no gym facilities) so just for that I would certainly return.

In terms of value for money it is good, for two nights including room service it worked out at around £120 per night.

Overall a comfortable and pleasant stay compared to other hotels I have stayed at in this city.

I am with 5 days around the island package tour and so this hotel stay is included. 1st-8th floor is a giant shopping mall and lobby is located at 9th floor and then you will have to take a different elevator from 9th floor to your room (most likely 28th floor and up). Unlike many hotels in Taiwan, staff from this hotel speaks English and thus good for business travel. Usually receptionists speak best English (try to ask them everything if you anticipate more problem with communication in Taiwan). I would say this place as good 4 stars (in International standard) but not worth 5 stars.

Good:
- Location: great city view (best to take photo at night), like some TA reviewers mentioned, shopping mall on lower floors help with last minute shopping.
- Food: I found their breakfast buffet items extensive with good, cook to order Taiwanese noodle (try with meat or Chinese eggs), good seafood, rice porridge (even better and contain more meat than the one I tried at another 5 stars hotel's expensive Chinese restaurant!) and many other Asian food. Yes, there is limited non Asian food (check my picture of Danish with shredded pork (another popular Taiwanese breakfast food)) but you should try other food while you are in Asia. Will you complain there is too many fish n chip places (in reality, too many Indian food places) while you are in Britain??
There are multiple restaurants on 10th floor and even a Western Steakhouse on different floor. Credit to Grand Hi-Lai to provide so many alternatives to eat.
- Big outdoor swimming pool and good Gym facilities on 10th floor.

So So:
- Rooms are a bit dated although it looks pretty grand. Some rooms has funny, old smell.
- Charging a lot for internet in the room is really a bad idea. Other real 5 stars hotels and even small hotels provide free internet. Charging internet for nearly as much as breakfast buffet is a real shame.
- There is no direct elevator from 1st floor to your room. You will need to take an elevator to lobby first and then, as describe above, take a different elevator to guest rooms. Again, as some TA reviewers mentioned, those limited elevators could be busy when non hotel guests are using to go to excellent restaurants on 10th floor and up.

When compared with so many great hotels in the world many things are average about this older, but considered luxury for Kaohsiung, hotel. I give it a Very Good rating for Value because when you factor everything (country, city, locality, culture, relative to other hotels in the vicinity, etc. and your budget) it is not that expensive for what you get and many things about it are nice. But for each of the rated categories below other than Value (Service, Sleep Quality, etc.) I evaluate my experience to the best and worst in the world that I have experienced (say from a very scary mom-and-pop motel to the Four Seasons). Rooms at the Hi-Lai are large (even for U.S. standards) if dated. Beds are old and stiff and was actually not that comfortable but tolerable. Breakfast buffet has good choices but average in quality and taste; coffee though was particularly good and what I would consider German style which I favor, rich, smooth, not bitter, and deceptively potent. The fact that the hotel is integrated with a department store and basement food court is a definite plus; you can take care of souvenir shopping and food very expediently. In short, if you are visiting Kaohsiung for business or pleasure, out of all the hotels in the area that I saw, this has the most going for it. I would say the real issue with the hotel is indirect - if the city of Kaohsiung was more dynamic and exciting then the hotel would adjust somehow to keep pace and therefore its late 70s looking lobby with karaoke night may be refurbished with something more chic. And the outdoor swimming pool, which is very functional, may also be more inviting and be more of a fun and chill gathering place on summer evenings. Short-and-sweet: Hi-Lai is your best choice in Kaohsiung right now even if it would be considered only average in say New York or Tokyo. Side-note: Exec Level and its lounge was disappointing and I do not recommend paying more for it.

This is an older hotel that shows its age in both décor and room size. But it is well-run, clean, conveniently located and has a very courteous and attentive staff. It is simply a standard old-style city hotel that hosts tour groups as well as business travelers. The "king" beds are typically Asian -- two twins pushed together.