Taipei’s most upscale literary youth hotel！Eslite Inn rooms feel like “Do Min-jun’s study”

▲ Eslite Inn’s book wall with 5,000 volumes is highly captivating.

Reported and photographed by Chen Zi-Yin, Taipei

Eslite Inn prides itself on integrating “humanistic reading, cultural creativity retail, music and film, greenery and nature.” Located in the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, how does this hotel — hailed as “Taiwan’s first arts and culture hotel” — aim to deliver to its guests? Perhaps the answer lies as soon as you step into the lobby. The spacious floor-to-ceiling book wall in the first-floor lobby houses over 5,000 carefully curated Eslite collection books, resembling the endless bookshelf owned by Do Min-jun in the Korean drama “My Love from the Star.” Here, “books” are the stars of the show, but so are people.

Read more >>>Grand opening of Eslite Inn in Songshan presided over by Robert Wu himself



▲% The season’s beautiful time passes quickly.

Falling in love with a hotel might only take a second, but there’s no doubt that for Eslite Inn, it happens the moment you see the book wall. The book wall, comfy sofa chairs that feel like home, and large floor-to-ceiling windows bathed in light gently accompany guests, while the adjacent beverage bar adds the perfect touch. The ambient sound of a mellow cello performance fills the space, and casually picking up a book on spatial architecture perfectly complements the relaxing vibe — ideal for reading. No wonder Plato once said, “The highest form of leisure is to quietly feel the world.”

Books on the upper levels are also easy to access thanks to the catwalk design, making retrieval a breeze. The range of books covers art, architecture, music, dance, drama, photography, film, aesthetics, and literature, while the roughly 2,000 books below focus on humanities, art, creativity, and lifestyle.


▲ The Chapter restaurant on the first floor serves cuisine and cocktails all day.

Going up a floor, the second-floor restaurant — In Between — is a Western-style eatery. Its entrance also employs a grand wall concept, featuring an entire red brick wall created by Taiwanese artist Nian Chin-Cheng. With 22 panels made of four different types of bricks, the feature is both atmospheric and refined, exuding a local Taiwanese warmth. In Between also houses a temperature-controlled wine cellar, storing wines from Europe, America, and Australia.

 

▲ In Between restaurant showcases the full red brick wall by artist Nian Chin-Cheng.

Floors 3 to 13 feature 99 refined guest rooms, classic rooms, and executive suites, spanning 11, 13, and 17 ping (approximately 36–56 square meters). The 15th floor, open during our visit, is the “main attraction” — the Humanities Suites, comprising five suites with areas of 20, 25, 32, and 41 ping, designed based on book classification concepts including life, art, humanities, nature, and creativity. Each suite houses between 114 and over 1,072 books, infusing every room with literary charm. Most notably, the 41-ping “Spectrum 'Life'” suite contains a collection of 1,072 books, featuring recent Eslite selections and important classic titles, offering guests their very own personal book wall.The astonishing number of books inside the room is like<<来自星星的你>> Do Min-jun’s timeless personalbook wall.



▲% The top-floor “Spectrum 'Life'” suite holds 1,072 books.

% Even other rooms on the 5th floor also contain between 114 to 231 books.