Stepping into The Westin Yilan Resort feels like instantly being transported to a hot spring ryokan nestled in the Japanese mountains. With its Japanese-style courtyard, flowing water, lush plants, and the surrounding mountains in the background, the tranquil and serene atmosphere offers a truly relaxing vacation vibe. If you're looking for a rejuvenating hot spring getaway to relax your body, mind, and soul, how could you miss The Westin Yilan?

Yilan Travel Information

★【Transport】Kamalan Bus｜Yilan Private Car Charter｜Scooter Rental

★【Attractions】National Center for Traditional Arts｜Turtle Island Half-Day Tour

★【Tickets】Zhang Mei Ama's Farm｜Taipingshan National Forest Recreation Area

★【Activities】Nan'ao River Rafting Experience｜Dong'ao Beach ATV｜Kayaking

★【Hot Springs】Mu Jiao Xi Hotel Hot Spring House｜Hot Spring Onion Art Bath

♨️ Table of Contents

• Transport & Location
• Hotel Entrance & Lobby
• Room Tour—Luxury Honeymoon Suite
• Member Perks Happy Hour–Café LOUNGE
• Buffet Breakfast—Seasonal Tastes
• Hotel Facilities
• Hotel Restaurants

♨️ Transport & Location

The Westin Yilan boasts a pretty great location. There are quite a few famous attractions within a 10-minute drive, and it's about a 10-15 minute ride from public transport stations. The hotel also offers a free shuttle bus service. Here's a quick intro to getting there~

By Car

Take National Freeway 5, exit at the Yilan Interchange, and continue on County Highway 191. Turn right onto Xianmin Boulevard, then turn left when you hit Yuanshan Road (Provincial Highway 7) via Lanfeng Road. Turn right onto Fuxing Road in Yuanshan, cross the Yuanshan Bridge onto Wenquan Road, and head straight until you turn right onto Yongtong Road. The hotel will be about 300 meters ahead. Guests can enjoy free parking at the hotel parking lot, and any other spending in the resort gets you free parking with a receipt.

Public Transport

After getting off at the Yilan Railway Station or Yilan Transfer Station, you can take a taxi or the hotel shuttle bus to the resort.

★ By Taxi: About 10-15 minutes, costing around NT$200.

★ By Shuttle Bus:

Cost: Hotel guests - Free / Other hotel guests - NT$50 per person

Route: The Westin Yilan → Luna Plaza → Diu Diu Dang Forest → Yilan Transfer Station → Yilan Railway Station (Rear Station) → The Westin Yilan

Schedule:

Stop Locations:

• Luna Plaza: The bus stop outside Starbucks at Luna Plaza (Section 2, Minquan Road)
• Diu Diu Dang Forest: The bus stop next to Diu Diu Dang Forest directly opposite Yilan Railway Station (Section 1, Yixing Road)
• Yilan Transfer Station: The temporary passenger pick-up area in front of the drop-off zone (Linsen Road)
• Yilan Railway Station: The bus stop at the roundabout in front of the rear exit

For the latest schedule and routes, please check the official website. If you want to take the shuttle, be sure to make a reservation by 12:00 PM three days prior to your ride. Seats are limited, so we highly recommend booking early! (Book Shuttle on Official Website)

During our stay, we received a map of nearby attractions from the hotel, which is super handy! There are some famous spots around, like Wanglongpi and Leigongpi. Since we didn't drive, we ended up just staying and relaxing in the resort the whole time, so we won't go into detail about the attractions here.

➡️ Official Website Booking: Chinese Website / English Website

➡️ Check Rates: Agoda / Klook

♨️ Hotel Entrance & Lobby

Inspired by a paper airplane, the exterior of The Westin Yilan is said to symbolize the historical significance of the three early airports built in Yilan. In front, there's a ring-shaped installation art piece made of stainless steel mirror. Walking up to it, you can see your distorted reflection. The most famous installation art of this kind is probably Cloud Gate in Chicago, and we actually saw something similar before at W Taipei~

In The Westin Yilan lobby, an eye-catching, large feather-shaped lighting fixture hangs from the super high pitched roof. The stone-patterned floor and wooden walls and pillars really set a relaxing, resort-like mood. However, Cherry, who usually instantly approves of anything with high ceilings, felt this lobby didn't quite win her heart. Something just felt a bit off? The materials of the ceiling and the front French windows didn't seem to match perfectly—it felt like it needed more wood to truly feel like a resort cabin (How picky can she be? 😅)

But once the lights come on at night, this lobby is genuinely beautiful~ It gives off a strong island resort vibe.

Leaving the lobby and walking deeper into The Westin Yilan, the style suddenly shifts. Surrounded by Japanese-style architecture around a courtyard with flowing water, and backed by lush green mountains, it feels just like a hidden hot spring ryokan in the woods. So peaceful and quiet.

Cherry especially loved this water buffalo-shaped bench! It seems to add a touch of Taiwanese flavor to the overall Japanese Zen style. On our way from Yilan Transfer Station to The Westin, we passed a lot of lush green rice paddies, so seeing the water buffalo felt particularly fitting. It brings in a bit of local character, which we really love~

➡️ Official Website Booking: Chinese Website / English Website

➡️ Check Rates: Agoda / Klook

♨️ Room Tour—Luxury Honeymoon Suite

Photo from the official website

This time, Fish and Cherry used a Suite Night Award to upgrade to the Luxury Honeymoon Suite. We actually could have requested other room types with a higher price tag and larger space, but Cherry, the "high-ceiling addict," was enchanted by the high ceiling of the Honeymoon Suite and ultimately chose this one.

📌Read More: Marriott Bonvoy Points & Suite Upgrade Award Application Examples

This is that dreamy, resort-cabin-like high ceiling we were talking about~

Besides the high ceiling, this Luxury Honeymoon Suite had two other features that really appealed to us. First is the dual-aspect lighting. Because this suite is located on a corner, it has two massive floor-to-ceiling windows. Second, this suite has two private hot spring pools—one indoors and one outdoors.

Dual-aspect floor-to-ceiling windows—one faces the hotel entrance, while the other faces residential houses.

On the balcony facing the hotel entrance side, there is an outdoor hot spring pool.

It’s very authentic Japanese hot spring style! Though, because it's right by the hotel entrance, the view and privacy aren't the absolute best.

This Honeymoon Suite has one minor drawback: it’s too close to the residential houses. On our first morning, we were woken up by a rooster crowing next door! While it was a special "countryside stay" experience for us city folks, if you're looking to sleep in on your vacation without being disturbed by a rooster, it might ruin your morning mood a bit 😅 (Info as of April 2021).

The entryway to the room is very spacious, and the counter design is super practical—it feels like it can hold a lot of luggage. Cherry especially liked the little shoe cabinet design (it even lights up, instantly making ordinary shoes look premium 🤣). It allows you to store your shoes neatly. This clever little detail really highlights the Japanese style.

Inside the shoe cabinet are outdoor flip-flops. They are very comfortable to wear and you can take them home!

There's quite a large vanity table. The huge counter space also makes it very convenient to use the adjacent Mini Bar!

There’s a Philips Bluetooth speaker on the counter, thoughtfully accompanied by an instruction manual.

The Mini Bar has a capsule coffee machine, a kettle, and an ice bucket. Unfortunately, there were no decaf capsule options.

Below, there is a small refrigerator.

In the drawer next to the fridge, you'll find some basic utensils needed for making tea and coffee.

The provided tea bags are from TWG. It seems like a lot of hotels are using TWG tea bags these days~

The welcome gift from The Westin Yilan was also very locally Taiwanese: healthy rice milk, almond milk, and Yilan biscuits (cow tongue pastry). These seemingly ordinary local snacks totally captured the hearts of us expats living abroad for years~

The overall space of the Luxury Honeymoon Suite uses many light-colored wood elements and straight wooden lines, including the wardrobe next to the bed and the sliding doors to the bathroom.

Inside the wardrobe next to the bed, there are bathrobes, an iron, an ironing board, a safe, etc.

Besides the outdoor flip-flops, there are also indoor slippers in the wardrobe.

Because we had just stayed at the Renaissance Taipei Shihlin Hotel the day before, we couldn't help but compare the bathrobes of the two hotels. The Westin Yilan's bathrobe is slightly heavier and the material isn't as soft as the one at the Renaissance, but it's still quite relaxing to wear~ It’s a bathrobe Cherry would definitely still wear.

In the bathroom, not only the floor but also the ceiling is made of wood. This not only adds a premium feel but also echoes the high wooden ceiling in the room.

The bathroom features double sinks. If you don't close the wooden doors, you can enjoy the outside view through the floor-to-ceiling windows while washing up~

The amenities provided are from Westin's own brand, the "Heavenly Spa" series, which claims to be free of added preservatives and dyes and rich in natural ingredients.

The hairdryer provided is Panasonic~

The bidet toilet in the restroom automatically opens, flushes, and closes the lid. You don't have to touch the toilet at all from start to finish! More and more hotels are using these bidet toilets. Once you use it, you get addicted. We really want to install one at home 🤩

The shower room is separated by a frosted glass door.

The shower isn't separated from the indoor hot spring pool, but because the shower space is long enough, the water won't splash into the tub while you shower.

The indoor hot spring pool has a view of the residential houses outside, but the overall field of vision is still quite open. The indoor and outdoor pools have very different vibes. It's so nice to switch between the two depending on our mood~

When it comes to Yilan hot springs, most people probably think of Jiaoxi, but Yuanshan Township, where The Westin Yilan is located, is actually a hot spring town with its own spring veins! The water is crystal clear and belongs to a sodium bicarbonate chloride spring. The spring water comes from the sedimentary rock area of the Lanyang Plain. After soaking, your skin will feel incredibly smooth and slippery, so comfortable! Since Cherry is pregnant, she just used the private pool as a "foot bath." Next time, we definitely need to come back and enjoy a proper full soak when she's not pregnant!

There is an emergency button and hot spring usage rules on the wall.

Also, The Westin Yilan provides an abundance of pillows. There are even two extra pillows placed on the bed for you to choose from.

Turndown service is provided in the evening, and the bedside is fully stocked with bottled water and Yilan biscuits. This hotel is really generous with replenishing those biscuits!

Cherry used to be able to crash on any bed and sleep till dawn, but since getting pregnant, she's become as picky as a bed critic and often sleeps poorly. During our 11-day babymoon, we stayed at the Renaissance Taipei Shihlin Hotel, Courtyard Taipei, Humble House Taipei, Hotel Resonance Taipei, W Taipei, and The Westin Yilan—six different hotels in total. We must say, The Westin Yilan's bed completely beat all the other hotels, including the higher-tier W Hotel. It proudly won first place as the most comfortable bed in Cherry's heart. She literally fell asleep the moment she lay down and slept straight through the night. Westin's famous Heavenly Bed truly lives up to its reputation!

➡️ Official Website Booking: Chinese Website / English Website

➡️ Check Rates: Agoda / Klook

♨️ Member Perks Happy Hour–Café LOUNGE

Although The Westin Yilan doesn't have an executive lounge or an exclusive member lounge like The Westin Tashee Resort, their daily Happy Hour does provide some snacks and drinks. Marriott Bonvoy Platinum members and above can choose their preferred drinks and enjoy them with snacks at the Café LOUNGE (Info as of April 2021).

The interior of the Café LOUNGE feels very much like a sports bar, perfect for watching a game, having drinks, and chatting with a few friends.

We stayed for two nights, and the snacks provided were the same both days.

For drinks, there are various non-alcoholic and alcoholic options.

Even though Happy Hour doesn't offer a ton of food, one very unique perk of The Westin Yilan is that they provide a late-night supper for all hotel guests! We're not sure if they change the menu regularly, but during our stay, we had savory congee and braised pork rice (Lu Rou Fan)~ It definitely made up for the lack of hot food during Happy Hour.

➡️ Official Website Booking: Chinese Website / English Website

➡️ Check Rates: Agoda / Klook

♨️ Buffet Breakfast—Seasonal Tastes

The buffet breakfast at The Westin Yilan is served at Westin's signature all-day dining restaurant, Seasonal Tastes. It's available from 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM on weekdays, and 7:00 AM to 10:30 AM on weekends. Seasonal Tastes also offers buffet options for lunch and dinner.

The breakfast spread seems to focus more on Taiwanese cuisine. The Western options are relatively fewer in comparison, featuring salads, cold cuts, waffles, and cornflakes.

Bacon, hot dogs, and some Western pastries.

The Taiwanese dishes are quite abundant. For those of us who love a Taiwanese breakfast, there are plenty of choices. Besides congee and turnip cake, they also offer egg crepes (Danbing), Gua Bao (pork belly buns), and Yin Si Juan (steamed/fried silver thread buns), which are quite rare for hotel breakfasts.

Super mini Shaobing (baked flatbread) and Youtiao (fried dough sticks)! This is so thoughtful. Cherry is always afraid of seeing massive portions that she wants to try but dares not take because half of it would fill her up completely.

While most hotels usually have a made-to-order noodle station, here you have to DIY. We felt a tiny bit disappointed (honestly just too lazy to cook on vacation 🤣), but the upside is you can add whatever ingredients you like, however you like!

Japanese Chawanmushi (steamed egg custard) also seems rare for hotel breakfasts. Additionally, they provide some small side dishes served in pretty little plates.

What really caught our eyes at the buffet breakfast were the dishes incorporating local flavors, like Yuanshan Township's local soy milk bread and Yilan's famous Sanxing scallion bread.

To sum up The Westin Yilan's breakfast, the variety of Taiwanese and Chinese hot dishes is great. For us lovers of Taiwanese breakfast, it's a rich spread. The Western section is standard—it has what it should have. As for the overall taste, Cherry felt it was a bit average and not particularly memorable. Generally speaking, there's definitely room for improvement in the flavor department.

♨️ Hotel Facilities

Outdoor Hot Springs (Rotenburo)

Photo from the official website

Since The Westin Yilan heavily emphasizes the hot spring experience, absolutely do not miss the hotel's outdoor hot springs! Non-guests can also pay to use them. The opening hours are from 7:00 AM to 11:00 AM, and 2:00 PM to 11:00 PM. The outdoor baths feature dual-sided hot spring pools separated into men's and women's baths. The designs are different—one square and one round, one black and one white, each with its unique characteristics.

The hotel swaps the men's and women's bath signs daily, allowing guests to take turns experiencing the different atmospheres on both sides~ Besides the outdoor baths, the indoor space also includes a sauna, a steam room, and a relaxation area.

Outdoor Swimming Pool

Except for the outdoor hot springs, the other facilities are concentrated in the same area. The outdoor pool is honestly quite small for a resort hotel and isn't situated in the spot with the best view. You can definitely tell that The Westin Yilan focuses primarily on the hot springs, and the swimming pool isn't the main highlight~

Kids Club

Although the Kids Club isn't large either, and the view is mostly blocked by the adjacent bookshelves~ there is a massive ball pit! Kids will definitely have a blast in there 😊

Fitness Studio

The fitness studio features a full wall of floor-to-ceiling windows looking out onto the outdoor pool. Coupled with large mirrors, the space visually feels quite large~

The equipment is quite diverse, including treadmills, cross-trainers, recumbent and upright exercise bikes, as well as weight and cardio machines.

Outside the gym, there is a table tennis table and a pool table, perfect for the whole family to play together.

♨️ Hotel Activities

Originally, Cherry totally felt like she was just at a hot spring ryokan 🤣, until we saw this activity schedule and were suddenly reminded that we were staying at a resort! Just like many overseas resorts, the activity schedule is packed with different activities you can join every day~ You can tell that despite having limited facilities, The Westin Yilan puts a lot of effort into organizing activities within their limited grounds to create that true resort feel!

Due to our check-in timing, we participated in two DIY activities: making DIY hand warmers and little doll charms. These are great family-friendly activities, so if you're bringing kids along, definitely give them a try~

➡️ Official Website Booking: Chinese Website / English Website

➡️ Check Rates: Agoda / Klook

♨️ Hotel Restaurants

The Westin Yilan has three restaurants in total. Aside from the aforementioned Café LOUNGE and Seasonal Tastes for breakfast, since the overall design of The Westin Yilan is so akin to a Japanese hot spring ryokan, it fittingly features a Japanese restaurant called "Mai".

Operating hours are Lunch 11:30–14:00 and Dinner 17:30–21:00.

The interior walls display an impressive collection of Japanese sake.

Compared to dinner sets that start at NT$580 per person, Mai offers a lunch set for two at NT$780. We tried their lunch set during our stay, and the spread of little dishes looked quite spectacular~ The taste was also pretty good. For those who don't want to leave the hotel, we highly recommend coming for lunch; the CP value (cost-performance ratio) feels much higher.

To be completely honest, Cherry feels that for a resort, the dining options at The Westin Yilan are a bit limited. If you stay for two or three days, it seems hard to avoid going out to eat or ordering delivery. If you don't want the buffet or Japanese food, your only other option is bar food at the Café LOUNGE. For a pregnant woman who doesn't eat raw food, it felt a little unfriendly. From our perspective, the dining experience would be much better if there were a few more choices. Fortunately, there are plenty of food and drink options nearby, which is why we highly recommend driving or renting a car. There are lots of nearby attractions to explore and enjoy~

To summarize, The Westin Yilan is absolutely a "hidden hot spring retreat in the mountains." It cleverly utilizes its natural landscape advantages and considers Yilan's rainy weather. The courtyard surrounded by buildings with flowing water and lush plants looks glorious in the sun, and when it rains, it adds a touch of peacefulness and serenity, making it look perhaps even more beautiful~

As one of only two Westin brand resorts in Taiwan, it naturally gets compared to The Westin Tashee Resort. Because of the size of the grounds, the hardware and public facilities at The Westin Yilan are not very large and are significantly fewer than those at Tashee. However, The Westin Yilan wins when it comes to hot springs! If you really want to escape the hustle and bustle for a deeply relaxing vacation, The Westin Yilan is perfect. You don't even have to leave your room to soak in the hot springs. After a good soak, your whole body feels invigorated, and your mind can truly unwind. Having fewer facilities somehow turns into an alternative perk—you don't feel rushed to schedule time to experience everything! Alternatively, for those who don't want to just stay put in a resort all day, The Westin Yilan has better nearby attractions and conveniences. You can plan to go out exploring, eating, and drinking, and then come back to the hotel for a hot spring soak to wash away the day's fatigue—a fantastic choice~

Anyway~ the two Westins have very different positionings, so Cherry feels it's hard to compare them directly. It all depends on the main purpose of your trip! However, if you are a family bringing kids, we would definitely recommend The Westin Tashee Resort. Their diverse and rich facilities are simply unbeatable—perfect for parents to chill while the kids burn off energy~

📌Read More: [Taoyuan · The Westin Tashee Resort] God-Tier Faux-Abroad Trip! The Ultimate Bali-Style Resort

Yilan Travel Information

★【Transport】Kamalan Bus｜Yilan Private Car Charter｜Scooter Rental

★【Attractions】National Center for Traditional Arts｜Turtle Island Half-Day Tour

★【Tickets】Zhang Mei Ama's Farm｜Taipingshan National Forest Recreation Area

★【Activities】Nan'ao River Rafting Experience｜Dong'ao Beach ATV｜Kayaking

★【Hot Springs】Mu Jiao Xi Hotel Hot Spring House｜Hot Spring Onion Art Bath

Taiwan Accommodation Experiences

Taipei · W Hotel

Taipei · Renaissance Shihlin Hotel

Taipei · Aloft Beitou Hotel

Taipei · Courtyard Taipei

Taoyuan · Sheraton Taoyuan Hotel

Taoyuan · The Westin Tashee Resort

Taipei · Humble House Taipei

Taichung · Fairfield by Marriott

Marriott International Resort Experiences

Dubai · Renaissance Downtown Hotel

Bali · Renaissance Uluwatu Resort

Phu Quoc, Vietnam · JW Marriott Resort

Fiji · Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay

Hilton Hotel Experiences

Maldives · Hilton Maldives Amingiri Resort & Spa

Tahiti · Conrad Bora Bora Nui

Fiji · DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Hotel Fiji - Sonaisali Island

Finland · Hilton Helsinki Airport

UK · Hilton London Bankside

Other Travel Guides

★ Middle East: Dubai | Abu Dhabi | Doha

★ Europe: Finland | UK

★ USA: Las Vegas | San Francisco

★ Southeast Asia: Bali | Phu Quoc | Koh Samui

★ Islands: Tahiti | Maldives | Fiji