Four Taiwanese hotels win 2017 World Luxury Hotel Awards – Tamsui Fullon bags double honors

▲ Night view of Tamsui Fullon Hotel. (Photo provided by Fullon Hotels)

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

The World Luxury Hotel Awards, known as the Oscars of the hospitality industry, held its award ceremony at Kulm Hotel St. Moritz in Switzerland in the early hours of December 3 Taiwan time. A total of 180 hotels from 80 countries around the world were honored.Taiwanese winners included Tamsui Fullon, Liaoxi Laojia, Hualien Yuanlai, and Taipei Mecure. Among them, Tamsui Fullon won both the Luxury Harbor Hotel and Luxury Banquet Hotel awards, making it the only hotel in Taiwan to receive two accolades this year.


▲ Lake St. Moritz, Switzerland.

In his speech, the CEO of the Awards, Brad Luther, said that luxury does not simply refer to extravagant facilities, but more importantly, whether a hotel can offer guests an irreplaceable travel experience. This is also why this year’s ceremony was specially held in the small Swiss town of St. Moritz. Located at an altitude of 1,856 meters, St. Moritz requires over four hours by train from Zurich. The town, with white clouds nestled against the blue sky and complemented by breathtaking lake and mountain scenery, is otherworldly. Its bright weather is likened to champagne bubbling with golden bubbles, hence earning the reputation of having “champagne air.” Mineral hot springs were discovered here as early as 3,000 years ago, which helped the town develop into a resort destination. The 160-year-old Kulm Hotel St. Moritz offers stunning views like a fairyland, leaving a lifelong impression on its visitors.

This is also the key reason why the Tamsui Fisherman’s Wharf “Fullon Grand Hotel,” one of this year’s winners, stood out. The hotel’s architecture blends seamlessly with the mountain and sea views of the Tamsui River, featuring a uniquely designed cruise ship-like exterior. The Tamsui sunset has even been ranked among the world’s top ten most beautiful sunsets by the Japanese travel magazine TRiPORT, earning praise from netizens as the “most dreamy hotel in Taiwan.” Another highlight of the hotel is its elegantly decorated banquet hall adorned with sophisticated crystal chandeliers. Floor-to-ceiling windows offer sweeping views of the charming Tamsui River scenery. With a 15-meter-high ceiling, column-free space, and capacity for a thousand guests, it is ideal for hosting wedding banquets or large-scale conferences. As a result, it was honored with two awards:“Luxury Harbor Hotel” and “Luxury Banquet/Event Hotel”—the first time in Taiwan’s history that a single hotel has won both awards simultaneously.


▲ Tamsui Fullon Grand Hotel General Manager Dai Ruihong receives the award in Switzerland.

Tamsui Fullon Grand Hotel General Manager Dai Ruihong personally attended the award ceremony in Switzerland. He said that it was already a great honor to be shortlisted alongside so many top-tier hotels from around the world, and winning two awards was even more exceptional. What he is most grateful for are all the domestic and international guests—they are the strictest judges of all.