Grand Hotel

The Grand Hotel is an iconic Taipei tourist attraction by Yuanshan (圓山) MRT in Zhongshan District. Established in 1952 and completed in 1973, the hotel has a historic significance to Taiwan. It played host to many foreign dignitaries who have visited Taipei. The hotel lobby is quite grandiose, and wide staircase is reminiscent of interior of palace-style mansion. For those fans of the sitcom, "Fresh Off the Boat" might recall a scene where the Huangs visited Taiwan and find themselves at the Grand Hotel lobby, where Luis's brother is getting Married. The hotel itself contains numerous objects of art, wall panels, paintings, carvings, and significant restaurants. Dragon motifs are frequently intertwined throughout the various structures that make up the hotel, earning the hotel the name "The Dragon Palace". Each of the eight guest levels represents a different Chinese dynasty, as reflected through the murals and general decor. They also have a "secret passage way" which is reportedly the world's longest secret slide. The 67-meter passage, according to the hotel, was built during the hotel's refurbishment in 1970 to serve as an evacuation tunnel for the late President Chiang Kai-shek. Two secret underground passages were built, one on the east side and the other on the west side of the building, with the latter opened to the public from September 2019. There are six guided tours every day of 1hr duration, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 15:00, 16:00, 17:00.Tickets are NT100 (children NT50).