Period of Stay : 22 - 25 Aug 2012
As clouds rolled across the salty air in a hide-and-seek game with the late afternoon sun while rows of short houses and vegetation peeled back from the coach's window, a lofty white frame rose into view. The building's simple yet strong lines stood out against an architectural backdrop of muted structures and empty roads. We've arrived at Penghu
Yentai Hotel (元泰大饭店).
The arrival was rather unexpected for me as I wasn't prepared for such a swanky structure on a stamp-sized island destination. Planted at the seam of Penghu's city centre, the hotel offered a luxurious escapade minutes away from the seatown's retail and cultural hub. We couldn't have asked for a better choice of accomodation and here's a tour of the 5-star resortel...
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| Organic sculptures littered a grass field next to Yentai Hotel, forming an outdoor stone gallery. |
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| Frontal visage of Yentai Hotel. Further down the road, about a 10-minutes walk away is the town centre. There's a 7-Eleven next to the hotel so it is pretty convenient. |
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| Step through the door to vacation bliss! |
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| Elegant opulence comes full circle at Yentai Hotel's guest waiting lounge. |
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| Hotel's reception with very friendly and polite staff. |
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| Coffee Shop where breakfast and meals are served. The garden umbrellas spread out a resort feel and mood indoors. |
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| A large and spacious conference hall on Level 1 for business meetings and corporate presentations. It can also be converted into a banquet room. |
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| Recreation area on Basement 1. |
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| The industrial looking recreation hall houses a reading area, piano and smallish gym. |
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| A sparse exercise zone with the odd inclusion of table tennis. Perhaps if they build up the facilities and equipments, the hotel can sell gym membership and turn it into a profit centre as well as to draw crowd. |
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| Hints of Balinese cultural flavours pepper Yentai's decorations and premises. |
The Rooms of Yentai Hotel
Having toured the various sections and facilities of the hotel, let's unwrap the rooms and check out the creature comforts within. The hotel has various configurations and sizes to meet different requirements.
One of the unique features common in all rooms is the use of sandalwood in their furnishings. It was like walking into a lightly fragranced forest each time I entered my room.
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| Presidential VIP Suite. Intricate Chinese carvings of auspicious objects accompanies the number of each room. |
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| Minimalist concept of the suite gives a invokes a sense of space and openness. |
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| Love the quirky red chandeliers that added a dash of spunk. |
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| Apart from the bed-cum-living room, there's a mini bar section for in-suite entertainment. |
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| There's even a rustic swing at an open-air patio that adjourns the bar and bathroom. |
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| Suite's bathroom with a Sino-Jap influence. All bathrooms in the hotel come with the powerful massage shower jet system. |
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| I got to view quite a range of rooms at Yentai from VIP suites to family rooms to deluxe bedrooms. |
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| Zebra prints and African sculptures extends a tribal welcome to guests of the Starlight Suite. |
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| Red-hot and warm hues draws out the animal instinct... a perfect suite for honeymooners. |
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| Starlight Suite comes with a recessed dayroom to laze around in. |
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| This is the reason it is called the Starlight Suite. A skywell at the balcony provides the privacy to get intimate under a heavenly canvas. |
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| Bathroom of Starlight Suite. |
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| A full set of toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, toothbrush, shaving kit and personal care kit) and hairdryer are provided. |
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| Beddings of the Deluxe Twin Room. |
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| The charming Deluxe Double Room. It's interesting to go from room to room to check out the changing wallpaper at the bed mast. |
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| Derng derng derng derng... after visiting all the other rooms, this leads to my room which I'll share with the funny and irrepressible Eken, the coordinator of the Penghu leg of our trip. |
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| We were given the Deluxe Suite! Nice! I let out a gasp when I saw the size of the room that can comfortably sleep four. |
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| Day rest corner. |
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| Rooms come with LAN connection and wifi, but my room was a wireless blindspot. |
I'd mention that Yentai Hotel has big, spacious rooms regardless of the rooming matrix. The space would come in handy especially at night since there isn't much nightlife on Penghu island.
The Cuisines at Yentai Hotel
Other than rooms and facilities, food is the next attraction of a hotel that seals the star status, or breaks it. There are two restaurants at Yentai and I got to sample the spread at Coffee Shop, a Chinese cafe where daily breakfast is served along with an all-day menu.
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| The restaurant has a glass roof that allowed sunlight to brighten the place naturally and giving guests the experience of dining under the stars at night. |
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| My unusual breakfast assembly. |
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| Buffet spread for breakfast. |
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| Boiled whole baby squid. What an exotic item for breakfast! They were really sweet and fresh. |
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| Another of my fave... century eggs. |
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| Had this delicious beef and brisket spicy soup noodle set meal for lunch. The portion was huge and costs about S$13.00. Great value for money! |
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| Kung bao chicken rice set. Had a sample of the chunky meat pieces and they were tasty and hearty. |
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| Duck Salad. In addition to the Asian set meals, other mouth-watering pickings include a Western ala carte selection created specially by the chef. |
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| Grilled prawns sauteed with cream sauce. |
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| Generous prime cut with garlic marinate. |
Having spent a couple of nights at Yentai Hotel, I found the accomodation to be very pleasant with a great environment, nice comfy bed and appetising gourmet. While the entertainment level could use some work, it's a minor misgiving as we were out exploring the sights most of the time.
The thing I'm most impressed with at Yentai is the honesty. I left behind a bottle of perfume and totally forgotten about it but the staff kept it and returned to me. Definitely a worthwhile stay to check into!
Address : No. 477, Xindian Road, Magong City, Penghu County
Tel : 06-921-1111, Fax : 06-922-1111
Very nice and cozy hotel!
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