[Taipei 新北 ⌂ Stay宿] Great Roots Forestry Spa Resort 大板根温泉酒店－Lynda's Taiwan-logue

< Stayed in Mar 2017 >

One of the things to love about Taiwan, is how easy it is to find respite from the hustle and bustle of city life, by travelling mere minutes to the outskirts (or hours if you want to head farther up to the mountains). In the spring of 2017, my gal pal and I headed to Great Roots Forestry Spa Resort 大板根温泉酒店, a haven located in the outskirts of Taipei City, at Sanxia 三峡 district (known for Sanxia Old Street 三峡老街).

We had intended to take the resort shuttle (NT$60/pax) plying Yongning 永宁 and Jing An 景安 MRT Stations, only to realise upon reaching the former station that Wednesday afternoon, the shuttle runs only from Fridays to Sundays. We hopped on to a cab for an approximate 20-30 minutes drive to our destination.

Nestled in a low altitude rainforest area, it was noteably cooler at the resort, even getting rather cold at night and in the early morning when we took a stroll.

1. Hotel check-in
2. Guest room
3. Resort surroundings
4. Original prop-root woods (hiking trails)
5. Spa
6. F&B
6.1 Dinner
6.2 Breakfast

☷☷☷☷☷ 1. Hotel check-in ☷☷☷☷☷

There are two main accommodation choices - hotel block and resort cluster - we had opted for the former, located near the main entrance.

For the most part of our stay, we seemed to be the only two - or two of very few - guests, perhaps due to it being a weekday. Felt very private and exclusive, in the vast grounds of the resort.

☷☷☷☷☷ 2. Guest room ☷☷☷☷☷

Our home for one night on 8F...

Superior Twin Room / 8702

The cute frog sticker for hotel guests to roam the premises unrestricted, a necessity considering there could be non-staying visitors here for other facilities and activities.

The dual wash basin and separate toilet-bath are great for room-sharing, a welcomed feature if I don't get to have my own room.

Our window view of the mountains (and a small vegetable plot at the carpark below) ~

☷☷☷☷☷ 3. Resort surroundings ☷☷☷☷☷

After unloading our luggage, we wasted no time in exploring the grounds. As mentioned, during our stay, we saw few other guests (until breakfast the next morning) - not sure if it was our timing of stay (and on a Wednesday) or simply because the resort was so huge, everyone had luxury of space. In any case, there was always sight of service personnel, so I personally welcomed the "emptiness", without any safety concern.

▼ The building opposite our hotel entrance houses a gift shop and a Tea Museum 大板根茶业历史文物馆, which is pretty worth a visit.

▼ Continuing our stroll in the lovely premises of the resort, the crisp cool air was refreshing, accompanied by what was left of the spring cherry blossoms (more of this later!).

The resident cat must be feeling cosy in its coat of fur (*envy).

The sole convenience store runs 10am-7pm on weekdays and 9am-10pm on weekends. Worth taking note if you forsee a need to load up on snacks even before coming to the resort.

Alternatively, you can make use of the vending machines.

An outdoor hot spring pool, which we didn't get to use this time (weather felt rather chilly for this outdoor facility).

We didn't meet the peak of the sakura season, though there were still remnant (and other) blooms.

☷☷☷☷☷ 4. Original prop-root woods (hiking trails) ☷☷☷☷☷

In the depth of the resort - also a highlight here - hiking trails into the rainforest. (We saved this for the next morning, before breakfast followed by a shower and check-out.)

It can get chilly in the early morning, would be a good idea to layer on for your hike especially if you are here in the colder season. There are 3 trails to challenge, ranging from 30mins, 60mins to 120mins, to-fro.

There are resort suites at this part of the resort.

Reaching one of the two highlights of our hike - the National Treasured Giant Vine 国宝级神木. Truly tall enough that I couldn't even capture it in 1 shot.

The other highlight - Rainbow Drawbridge 彩虹吊桥. The steps may look daunting for the less-than-fit (which was us), but thanks to the easiest (30-minute) trail, we only took about 20mins to reach this point - worth a try even with kids or (fit) elders in tow.

Saw some ladies enjoying the hammock on our descent. It was really no joke trying to mount one of these - the lady here obviously couldn't do so PLUS look glam at the same time. Not to mention, she was close to the edge of a hill while trying this daredevil stunt.

After a similar plight as the said lady (despite choosing a securely-located and seemingly lower hammock), this (below) was my best attempt to look relaxed and not get myself into any physical harm.

1 of the other trails that looked more challenging with non-existent steps. Guess we could try this another time.

☷☷☷☷☷ 5. Spa ☷☷☷☷☷

Though it was too chilly for us to make use of the outdoor facilities, we did include a 90-minute spa treatment at Forest 森 Spa - located at another building (观景会馆) - after checking in (and before dinner). We were the only two customers during our treatment - sure felt exclusive enough.

☷☷☷☷☷ 6. F&B ☷☷☷☷☷

Famished after the spa treatment, we made our way to Scenic Cafe 景观咖啡 for a healthy tonic dinner to complete the self-pampering.

Again feeling exclusive in the restaurant, until another couple joined us.

I had the collagen-based Beauty Health Soup set, with choice of meesua in sesame oil. The herbal taste wasn't overwhelming (for someone not too keen on strong medicinal taste despite being a fan of nourishing soups) and the broth was thick, albeit a tad greasy. The greens on the side came in a generous portion. While the ingredients were healthy, I am not so sure if the portion was. But not complaining, it was a good and affordable dinner at NT$500+10%.

The next morning after our hike, breakfast (included in our room rate) was buffet-style at Prince Restaurant 太子西餐厅, served from 7-10am.

An interesting looking plant eaten raw~

The spread was more than decent, even though we arrived at the later hours of the breakfast buffet.

☷☷☷☷☷

If you are looking at including a leisurely 1 or even 2-night stay in your Taipei itinerary, Great Roots Forestry Spa Resort 大板根温泉酒店 makes a good option for its proximity to city central and wide range of facilities. Even if you are here during peak season, I doubt you will be bothered by crowds, given the vastness of the premises. We had checked in around 3pm, after an earlier activity. For a revisit, I'll likely consider getting here earlier to make use of the hot spring facility.