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Volando Urai
We stayed in a Rooftop Suite room on the 7th floor. Breakfast and dinner (there are two restaurants) are included in the room rate.
Pros
- Nicely decorated rooms with a direct view of the river
- Comfortable bed with canopy
- Beautiful bathroom with private onsen soaking tub, Japanese toilet, L'Occitane toiletries
- Free beverages in minibar (incl. alcoholic)
- Free wifi (good signal)
- Very nice breakfast, and acceptable dinner (both included in the room rate)
- Complimentary fresh fruit changed daily
- Impeccable service, and front desk English is very good
- Free shuttle to Xindian MRT Station
- Access to their public onsens (indoor and outdoor)
- Various kind gestures for our honeymoon
- Within walking distance of Wulai's Old Street
- Tea in the afternoon, and midnight room service congee available (we did not take advantage of these perks
- Some cultural-type presentations/shows such as drum demonstrations (we did not go to any)
- Little surprises throughout our stay
Cons
- Location is along a busy street; not very remote
- The public onsen/spa facilities look a little worse for wear
- Towels and in-room robes and yukatas not luxurious at all and are worn out
- Slightly awkward dinner service
- Expensive for what you get (probably due to Wulai's proximity to Taipei)
- Be careful with the fresh fruit (especially the grapes) as they attract tons of tiny ants!
Service Comments
The service at Volando Urai was quite lovely. From the moment we stepped through the front doors, we were greeted in quite good English and shown to our room (plus a quick room tour).
Our first night, we were surprised to come back from dinner to find our turndown service included votive candles lit all the way around the room and (perhaps slightly awkward) a "Happy Honeymoon" banner spread suggestively across the bed.
On our second night, our dinner was capped off with a rolling cart with candles and an ENORMOUS soufflé as a honeymoon gift. Now, the soufflé itself was undercooked and collapsed, but I appreciate the thought.
In general, I found the service to be top notch. Very easy to interact with the staff and clearly well-trained.
Onsen Comments
The public onsen (i.e., for an entrance fee, anyone can enter the main onsen facilities) is split by gender. They provide you with a locker key. There are two cubbies - the first one is for your shoes, the second (larger) one is for your clothes. Like Japanese onsens, you are expected to go in your birthday suit and clean yo' self extensively before entering the main pools.
The indoor section has 4 pools ranging in temperature. The hottest one is about 40'C (according to the temperature display), a warm pool, a cool pool, and a cold pool (the cool/cold pools are very small). The outdoor pool is around 40'C, but a medium size. The outdoor onsen is the same style as in the indoor one (i.e., does not look like traditional outdoor Japanese onsens which have a more "natural" look with stones).
Picture time!
Lotus sculpture in the lobby of Volando Urai
Rooftop Suite
Rooftop Suite - wonderful bed!
Rooftop Suite - gorgeous bathroom with private onsen soaking tub
Rooftop Suite - Bathroom vanity
Rooftop Suite - Japanese toilet
Rooftop Suite - nice big closet, robes, yukata, safe, and slippers for the public onsen
Rooftop Suite - Desk area
Rooftop Suite private terrace
Rooftop Suite view from the terrace
Fresh fruit
Happy Honeymoon banner on our bed; votive candles lit throughout our room
Volando Urai bear
Free midnight congee snack, if you like
7/11 just next door...
700 and 800 numbered rooms are on the 7th floor
Restaurant Comments
There are two restaurants at Volando Urai: Siliq and Abu. Siliq is their Chinese fusion restaurant, while Abu is their Western restaurant. While the food was acceptable at both restaurants, I slightly preferred Abu's food. Siliq was described as using Asian ingredients in Western cooking methods, but we felt like the food was entirely Western. We were almost sure we had gone to Abu by accident, until our server asked us if we wanted Chinese or Western for our next night's meal. We said "...The other one", and the waiter responded with "Ah, the Western one then".
We may just be spoiled foodies living near NYC, but we found that while the execution of the dishes was adequate, the individual courses were somehow not that enjoyable. There was gimmicky plating, plain unappealing looking plates (see my pictures below) and uninspired flavour combinations, resulting in two very boring dining experiences. I think the portion sizes were more than adequate by American standards (we couldn't finish everything from each course).
Service in the restaurants (at dinner time) was also a little awkward. I understand there may be language barrier issues, but there was no attempt to introduce each dish to us as it was presented. Just a few words stating what the dish was would have gone a long way.
The breakfast, on the other hand, was much more enjoyable. Very tasty Chinese breakfast (also available is a Western choice, which we skipped both days), lovely fruit spread. Service was also perfect both mornings - no awkwardness at all. Included two Din Tai Fung Xiao Long Bao dumplings, steamed fish, yam congee, carrot/turnip cake, cabbage, soy milk, coffee, fruit juice, etc. Very lovely breakfast!
Pictures from our dinner at Siliq
Siliq - bread (actually sliced mantou bread). The black sesame butter was interesting.
Siliq - Scallop on shiso leaf, mushrooms, duck breast
Siliq - mushroom soup
Siliq - Unappealing looking soup
Siliq - salad course
Siliq - an example of annoying plating to me - egg yolk, egg white, red onions all provided on the side of this smoked salmon salad course
Siliq - a sorbet palate cleanser
Siliq
Siliq - unappealing looking chicken dish. Not a memorable taste, either.
Siliq - I find the plating to be a bit gimmicky
Siliq - Overcooked prawn, rice with no fragrance
Siliq - Smallest cheese course ever. Poprocks chocolate.
Siliq - Poorly executed grapefruit cheesecake, with meaningless sauces on the plate. The crust was thick and tough. It's not hard to make a good cheesecake, really.
Siliq - extremely watery milk tea!
Breakfast at Abu
Breakfast fruit spread
Passionfruit
Kiwi juice
Soy milk
bread and croissants
Din Tai Fung Xiao Long Bao (probably frozen though)
Chinese breakfast set
Dinner at Abu
Abu - Big piece of abalone
Abu - Scrambled eggs
Abu - Tomato bisque (I don't know why everything at these two restaurants at the hotel were so unphotogenic!)
Abu - Small piece of fried fish
Abu - A scoop of sorbet in a ridiculous bowl
Abu - Overcooked prawn again
Abu - They made us a huge souffle for our honeymoon, but it was underbaked and sunken. Oh well, it's the thought that counts ._.
Bottom Line
It was hard for us not to compare this resort to Asebino in Izu, Japan given their similar price points.
While the service is more foreigner-friendly, the bathroom is more modern, and the bed is way more comfortable, the location, public onsen, dinner, and even towels put Volando Urai on a step below Asebino.
It is a well-maintained resort with a lot of great things going for it, but we will not return. For those looking for luxury overnight accommodations in Wulai, though, I think Volando Urai is the best you can get.
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