I am the manager of hotelpoispois. I studied interior architecture and design in the UK; I have lived and worked there for 6 years. The environment has given me a rich exposure to the art and culture. After returning to Taiwan, I have been assigned to work on this project for 4 years. From the beginning of shaping the concept to realizing it, I have coordinated with the creative team from different backgrounds. Now I am focusing on the operations of the hotel and planning for our future ones.

[/fusion_toggle][fusion_toggle title=”What led you to open the hotelpoispois? Why Taiwan?” open=”yes”]

Our mother company is a real estate developer based in Taiwan for the past 30 years. We chose this location because Taipei is not only the city that we are most familiar with but also has a highly competitive hospitality and entertainment business industry. We took our time after acquiring the land a few years back and finally decided to make it into a hotel, for its very central location and unique features of the land.

The initial idea was to make a real authentic, bold statement in the saturated hotel industry in Taiwan, to be unique and not to repeat. To give alternative dwelling experience with our solid background in architecture and interior. It is also our take to introduce a contemporary hotel that breaks the frame of stereotypes. Every decision we make is the interpretation and realization driven by the concept of ‘bubbles’.

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The name was triggered in a conversation between three people, our creative copywriter, art director and me. We were flipping through a French dictionary and we found the word ‘pois’, which means ‘dot’ in French. We found that meaning of a dot matched the small space we have, and the pronunciation sounds like ‘bubble’ in Mandarin, which is not only catchy for the Taiwanese market, it also proposes a very challenging task to work on, it suits our great ambition perfectly.

Immediately after we started to use these two elements in our space and all the visual communications. ‘Bubble’ for us represents fantasy. It delivers pure joy, creativity, and freedom. We reached out to the biggest ocean institute in the world ‘Scripps’ in California and consulted with a Ph.D. doctor Dale Stokes who specialized in the study of the bubble, to further investigate and gather ideas. He enlightened us with the physical facts. Bubbles always go to the least pressure and usually the top of the surface. They always have a short life and within the bubble is a vacuum and absolute peace. Among all, we found these three the most comprehensive and could perfectly be applied to the hotel.

[/fusion_toggle][fusion_toggle title=”The first thing that caught our judge’s eyes was the décor, slick and modern interiors. What is the inspiration behind this?” open=”yes”]

Everything in the hotel is about the interpretation of the bubble according to us. Defining how the ‘bubble’ should be presented in space is subjective. The biggest challenge for us was trying to focus more on the physics and the romance side instead of being too literal. We tried our best to keep it childlike yet sophisticated but not childish. In response to this, the choice of our material and color tone is carefully curated.

The entire building creates a strong visual impact inside out. While the exterior could be bright red with constant changing neon lights, almost like asking for attention in the hustle and bustle of the urban context, the guest rooms are all white and quiet so the guests could rest. In the common area, we stress on the reflective or colorful material, reflecting the nature of the bubble. In the end, we aim to deliver a fantasy space.

[/fusion_toggle][fusion_toggle title=”Who would you say is your target market?” open=”yes”]

Initially, instead of setting a target market we were keener on introducing this new interpretation of the hotel to the public. I would say people who are curious and open to new ideas. After opening, we were surprised to find that over 50% of our guests are local Taiwanese guests, and overall 70% of our guests are women.

For the type of the guests, their habit of choosing where to stay is between Airbnb and five star hotels, which enjoy characteristic or even eccentric living experience. We have guests from a wide range of ages, but mostly between 25-45. They are also the group who are heavy users of digital media, which helped with our exposure a lot.

[/fusion_toggle][fusion_toggle title=”The online reviews really impressed our judges. What would you say is the one thing that sets you apart from the competition?” open=”yes”]

Most of all would be the spirit. There are various aims and reasons behind running a hotel for a corporate, and that idea will be practiced in the management and strategy of decision making. Sometimes the concentration of spirit and the magic of a hotel could be compromised by putting the profit as first priority. For us, we try our very best to keep a good balance. Everything about the hotel from the design, the experience of space to service is all based on our very own interpretation of ‘bubble’. For the service from the staffs, we try to shake off the stiffness of the usual hotel, all our staff could maintain their personality, and are highly interactive with our guests. It takes handwork to form a lively hotel with its own culture, but so far it is rewarding.

[/fusion_toggle][fusion_toggle title=”You offer themed rooms, a unique concept. How many themed rooms do you have and what sort of themes can guests expect? What room would you recommend?” open=”yes”]

There are a total of 4 theme rooms, the classic ‘petite poispois’ is the most original statement of the bubble, the guests could experience an actual bubble chair in the room, a ceiling with swirls that seemingly extract all the noise in the room and leave the space as if it were a vacuum, and the curved walls throughout the room that make you feel you have been covertures within a bubble.

‘La Chambre Vert’ is the little bit eccentric green room with wallpaper from House of Hackney and the installation of bird lighting. ‘La Chambre Rose’ is a relatively more feminine room covered in pink with a touch of bright green and an oversized armchair. ‘La Palette’ is the most colorful of all, with the base of a yellow tone. These three rooms are the more spacious ones in the entire hotel, and almost every time our guests after seeing all the rooms could instantly tell us which is their favorite.

If the guest is intrigued to know more about us, I will recommend room 802, as it is the prototype of the very first version of the room, a room that is experimented with mistakes which now seems beautiful.

[/fusion_toggle][fusion_toggle title=”What sort of cuisine do you serve at Ch-eat & Drink?” open=”yes”]

We are an all-day dining restaurant, serving breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. The dishes we have are based on the Italian cuisine reinvented with the locally sourced ingredients. We leave a small part of the menu that changes each month for our regular customers. On most of the special occasions, we create a festive menu or a theme ingredient menu, when it is the right season. For example, the seafood feast we had before was directly sourced from the fisherman of the northeast coast of Taiwan to our table.

Other times, we work a lot with high-end brands, including fashion, cosmetic, celebrities meetings and so on. They rent the entire restaurant as the venue for their PR event, and our chefs deliver any required customized food that is based on their theme. We basically serve any possible kind or format of food if you could name it.

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I once read a sentence it wrote that “A hotel should function as a springboard into the city.”
For sure first stop we recommend spending some time at our rooftop garden, where there is also our reception. You can have a view of the landmark, Taipei 101, and also enjoy a spin on the Heathwicks’ design the ‘Spun chair’ which will change your perception of the sky of Taipei city.

For the local activities, we are at the east end area of Taipei; you could enjoy both major departmental stores to independent shops. It has a vibrant nightlife, with one of the best clubs in the neighborhood and tons of restaurants and bars to explore. Like all our other services, we will try our best to deliver any other requests too.

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hotelpoispois
Address:
No. 168號, Section 4, Civic Blvd, Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan 106
Phone: +886 2 2771 1188
Website: https://www.hotelpoispois.com/