Review: EPISODE Daan Taipei hotel, part of JdV by Hyatt

This is our review of the EPISODE Daan Taipei hotel in Taiwan.

For the second half of my Taiwan trip I stayed at the EPISODE hotel, which opened in May 2024. This is the second EPISODE hotel in Taiwan and part of Hyatt’s JdV collection brand.

The EPISODE’s concept is ‘Less But Better’ so you can expect stripped back amenities but a nevertheless comfortable experience.

Hyatt arranged my stay for review purposes. HfP paid for all other expenses.

The hotel website is here.

The review of my previous hotel, Hotel Proverbs, part of Marriott’s Design Hotels brand, is here.

Where is EPISODE Daan Taipei?

EPISODE is in the Daan area of Taipei, which is a popular neighbourhood filled with restaurants, bars and more. Located on Fuxing S. Street, the EPISODE is located on a busier, less neighbourhoodly part of the city with the important Ren’ai arterial road just a block to the south.

It’s not the most vibey part of Daan but it does make it easy to get around the city, and you can walk to the trendier parts of Daan within a couple of minutes.

In terms of public transport, you are within a five minute walk of both the Blue and Brown lines which take you to all four points on the compass. I only used the Brown line once, to visit to the National Palace Museum where there is currently an excellent special exhibition showcasing Van Cleef pieces next to treasures from ancient China. Most of my travel was East-West on the Blue Line.

Ubers are readily available in Taipei and I would recommend getting one from the airport rather than faffing around with your luggage on trains. The journey takes about 40 minutes, depending on traffic, and costs around £35.

Inside the EPISODE Daan Taipei hotel

The hotel is inside a new purpose-built 15-storey block. The ground floor is occupied by two retailers: a Texas Roadhouse steakhouse restaurant as well as a grab and go cafe. Both are open to the hotel lobby, which makes it feel a bit like a Vegas hotel:

The EPISODE has no other food and beverage outlets, apart from a bar in the fifth floor lobby. Breakfast is served in Texas Roadhouse.

The lobby is what the hotel calls an ‘all-day hybrid social space’ called The SOCIAL by Lay Low.

It is a bar / hotel lobby / hot desking space all rolled into one. There are self check-in machines on the left but I didn’t notice these and went straight to the staffed desk at the back which is set against a wall of vinyls.

The lobby also features a small snack station with cans of cola and Sprite freely available as well as a range of cookies and savoury snacks. These are free for guests. If you are wondering why the coke and Sprite is not in a fridge, I suspect it is because cold drinks can be seen as unhealthy in Chinese culture.

Disappointingly my room was not ready when I arrived at 4:20pm even though the hotel check-in time is advertised from 3pm. I was offered a drink of tea or coffee and after 10 minutes I asked how long it would take; a further 10 minutes later and they gave me my keycard and apologised for the delay.

Rooms at EPISODE Daan Taipei

There are 136 rooms at the EPISODE, so it was much less intimate than my stay at Hotel Proverbs. The vast majority of rooms are classed as standard at 30 square metres; the only difference is the view you get or the type of bed (king vs twin). Corner rooms come with onsen-style tubs whilst Deluxe rooms are larger and come with the tub and a balcony. A couple of suites are also available.

I had a ‘standard’ king room albeit with a 101 City View.

The rooms are, in my opinion, where the ‘Less Is Better’ concept comes full circle. Whilst the hotel is clearly stripped back to basics in its amenities, the rooms themselves are well designed and equipped and wouldn’t look out of place at any full-service hotel. In fact, they are reminiscent of the much more expensive, minimalist EDITION brand thanks to the artfully thrown faux-fur blanket on the bed:

The bedroom and bathroom are semi open plan, although sliding wooden doors mean you can close it off if you prefer:

The shower and TOTO toilet are in separate milky glass cubicles. Somebody finally realised that a clear glass wall for the toilet wasn’t what people wanted!

Toiletries in the shower are by MALIN+GOETZ from wall-mounted dispensers. If you’ve forgotten to pack anything then a box of dental kits, combs, razors and the like is available:

The bedroom features a super-size king bed:

As mentioned above, the faux-fur blanket is a blatant rip-off from Marriott and Ian Shrager’s EDITION brand but hey, why not! There were two types of pillow on the bed, one thicker and one thinner.

Controls for the whole room – lighting, temperature, housekeeping / do not disturb are via a small black control panel on the bedside table:

A universal mains socket was also available on each side, although no USB ports.

Also on the bedside table was a sign indicating that the hotel offered a reduced housekeeping service. That meant you got a full service (changing the sheets, vacuuming the floors, properly cleaning the bathroom) on Mondays and Thursdays.

Remaining days would be serviced on an ‘eco’ basis, with consumables and towels replaced (if on the floor) and the bed made. However, if you wanted your sheets made on an eco-day you could simply place the sign on your bed. This suited me fine and I was happy to have the option to request a full service, rather than have it being offered as default.

Opposite the bed was a long console table that acted as mini bar and desk:

The mini bar featured a Nespresso machine as well as two large bottles of still water and two bottles of Perrier sparkling water. The fridge was empty.

One of the quirks of the hotel is that they offer a vinyl style CD player. This is a funky addition but not really a practical piece of equipment!

In the window was a modern chaise longue:

Here is my 101 City View: you can just about see the top of Taipei 101 poking above a tall building. The lipstick-shaped building will become a dual-branded Park Hyatt and Andaz hotel when it opens sometime next year.

EPISODE Daan Taipei breakfast

As mentioned above, the hotel doesn’t have a restaurant of its own so it contracts breakfast to the Texas Roadhouse restaurant downstairs. This is a casual steakhouse style diner. Breakfast is a choice from three options:

• Classic American breakfast
• American breakfast wrap
• Cheesy bacon and egg breakfast sandwich

I had the latter:

To be honest, with so much amazing food in Taipei, I would give this a miss unless you’re really craving an average American breakfast …. and even then it’s not great!

A happy hour for free beers and wines is offered in the hotel lobby every evening, although I didn’t manage to make it to one during my stay. However, I thought this was good for a hotel that brands itself as select service.

Conclusion

As a hotel, the EPISODE Daan Taipei hotel brands itself as a ‘less is more’ property – a sign in the lobby even says ‘Turn Down for What’ – and I think it largely delivers on this promise.

In practice, this means it’s a cross between a Moxy and a DoubleTree hotel with the personality of the former but the amenities and size of the latter. It strikes a good balance, particularly if you plan to explore the city for most of the day.

Room rates at EPISODE Daan Taipei start at around £130 per night. This is a Category 3 hotel inside World of Hyatt, so redemptions are available from 12,000 World of Hyatt points per night.

You can find out more, and book, on the hotel website here.