Grand Hotel in Taiwan

The Grand Hotel, which I visited after a long absence, has been improved so much.
How many years ago was it? The hotel suffered from a big fire, and the upper half of the building was burnt, leaving it looking very miserable.
But now, it has regained its beauty. All the rooms had their interiors redone and are now very easy to use, but what was wonderful was that they made half of the extraordinarily large lobby into a coffee shop.
The lobby was big enough to fit four tennis courts into it, so you can imagine what it was like.
I remember seeing people sitting here and there, some resting, tired after their travels, and some waiting for others to come. Occasionally , they will stare at the ceiling.
The interior that reminds one of some really gorgeous former palace, can only be looked up at, nothing more.
It gets to be dull after 15 minutes.
Why did they not think of these earlier. It only took some smart-looking chairs and tables and a simple enclosure to make the space into a luxurious coffee shop.
At brunch time, when a set of Chinese buffet dishes is placed on a long table, the lobby transforms itself! "Splendid" indeed.
Just as the coffee shop on the ground floor of the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong is a showplace, this coffee shop of the Grand Hotel will surely become one as well.
You can enjoy yourself by imagining you are some kind of emperor while listening to a live performance on the Chinese fiddle.
This coffee shop was the highlight of my visit to Taiwan this June .
Incidentally, I heard that Bill Gates stayed here as well during his stay in Taiwan.
On assignment in Taiwan for the September issue of Katei Gaho (women's magazine).