The deluxe Grand Hotel stands prominently atop a slight hill north of the Keelung River in central Taipei, and it has been recognized as one of the landmark hotels in the city for years. Its 12 floors and 500 rooms are contained within a large stylized Chinese temple design, complete with a colorfully decorated overhanging roof. It does live up to its grand name, but it is a bit isolated as driveways, parking lots, and a maze of streets and highways surround it. I imagine that the hotel's exterior layout was based with the car in mind, as walking to it from the city below is quite a chore and a bit dangerous in some areas.
Once you get past the driveway and the grandiose display of flags of prominent nations, you will enter an opulent lobby with Asian design influences throughout. The staff at the front desk is quite helpful, especially when I befuddled one particular young woman with a question about the location of a local baseball stadium and whether there was a game that evening. She even tried to call someone else to get some more information for me.
The hotel is geared to the international businessperson, with its own convention center, a bunch of restaurants and cocktail lounges, outdoor pool with snack bar, and a large valet parking lot with room for coach buses. Because of its elevated location, the fine rooms have outstanding views of the surrounding city. You can watch the daily air show of planes taking off and leaving at the nearby Sungshan Domestic Airport about two miles away. The Taipei Fine Arts Museum and the Martyrs Shrine are relatively close to the hotel, but if you are walking nothing will seem that close.