Not surprised. A movie about realistic roaches is a hard sell.
I remember watching it as a kid, on a school trip. Played it on video on the coach. I thought it was awesome, i had nothing against roaches, i had never seen one…
…Until i got to Taiwan then it was hate at first sight.
Looks like they’re actually doing renos. Those are all air ducts.
Ah… okay, interesting. I guess that makes more sense than the city just decided to abandon it to nature.
It’s a full on hotel renovation. At first I thought they were just going to give it a lick of paint and reopen but watching the huge piles of garbage being thrown out on a daily basis mean’s they’ve effectively gutted the entire building, back of house and front of house as well as 500+ bedrooms and embarked on a serious renovation project. Just a shame that it took 5 years to (attempt to) bring it back to its former glory. Competition is tough within a couple city blocks as there are several high end 5 star hotels
Yes, I just stayed at one. That’s why I was passing it today. 
What’s the best hotels.in the area?
We stayed at TAI Urban, which opened last year.
The Intercontinental and Grand Hi-Lai are also nearby.
All three are great and 5 star AFAIK. TAI Urban is the most modern (being the newest), Hi-Lai is the oldest, and Intercontinental is the fanciest (and priciest… I’m not cheap, but that one is usually out of my price range).
Intercontinental is probably the swankiest with prices to match. Silks place is also very nice. The Nikko has just opened and then there is the Tai Urban. E-da is planning a new hotel opposite the convention center with another shopping mall. Reopening the 85 is a tough call without any Chinese tourists plus they have an eight floor department store to upkeep
I like the Marriott. The food options in the lounge are great. Right next to Costco.
I hope they renovate the 85 Sky Tower. It’s a landmark of Kaohsiung. It is shown on tourist brochures and on the displays on airplanes as you land into Kaohsiung. Or build a bigger and better one than Taipei 101 since Kaohsiung seems to like one-upping Taipei these days (new main train station, new performing arts center, attracting concerts and nba players, etc)
I had a meal at the New Nikko, near there and the hotel looks great.
