InterContinental Kaohsiung

InterContinental Kaohsiung stands on Xinguang Road in Qianzhen, in the new quarter that has grown up along Kaohsiung Harbour beside the exhibition centre and the cruise terminal. Its 253 rooms and suites carry the brand’s Art Deco signature, while the public spaces take their cue from the sea: the designers drew on the deep ocean and on coral reefs rising from the seabed, a theme that runs all the way into the vaulted, cave-like pool hall.

The hotel leans into smart luxury, with lights, curtains and in-room information in every room answering to voice commands in five languages. Food is just as central: Italian, Cantonese-Shanghainese, Singaporean and Japanese restaurants, an omakase chef’s table, a lobby bar given over to tea, gin and cocktails, and an in-house patisserie. The fifth floor holds the Club InterContinental lounge and the indoor pool, and two ballrooms seat up to 480 guests.

Six restaurants and bars are spread over several floors:

• SEEDS — Italian restaurant on the first floor, cooking with Taiwanese produce from the hotel’s own farm in Pingtung and local growers, plus seafood landed at the harbour; business lunches, dinner and weekend brunch
• ZHÀN LÙ — Cantonese and Shanghainese classics on the second floor, with a long wine list and Chinese spirits; the signature Cantonese roast duck is ordered two days ahead
• HAWKER — Singaporean and Southeast Asian street-food dishes, refined, on the second floor: chilli crab, Hainanese chicken rice
• WA-RA — Japanese restaurant on the fifth floor: warayaki, cooked over a rice-straw fire, with kaiseki touches, an omakase chef’s table and a bar pairing sake with wine beneath a ceiling more than 30 m high, where light projections play in the evening
• BL.T33 — lobby bar, lounge and tea room: afternoon tea, a gin selection and signature cocktails
• Delicatesse — patisserie on the first floor for pastries, bread, light meals, coffee and tea