Seclusion and Luxury in Southern Taiwan

Turning into the mountains at the landmark sign for Ken­ding National Forest Recreation Area on Ken­ding’s main street and then traveling 2.7 kilometers into the mountains, you will reach Gloria Manor. From the outside, it looks like a pair of simple, unassuming three-floor dormitories, but as you head inside, you are greeted by a spacious, elegant lobby. To the southwest are huge windows offering unobstructed views of the surrounding lush green pastures, up onto Mt. Da­jian­shi, and out to the beautiful blue expanse of ocean. Looking around, you feel almost immediately calmed, both physically and spiritually.

With some 5,000-plus square meters of floor space over 60 rooms, Gloria Manor strives to provide a “grown up” resort experience, offering only two-person rooms with no additional beds available.

Nestled in the foothills of Mt. Dajianshi, Gloria Manor offers a new way to fall in love with the natural beauty of Kending.

The land on which Gloria Manor is situated is part of Ken­ding National Forest Recreation Area, and thus under the administration of the Forestry Bureau. Restrictions on development have led to the land remaining tranquil and in harmony with nature; at night, if you’re lucky, you might even spot a couple of sika deer roaming the hotel grounds.

The building itself began life in the 1960s as a holiday home for then-president ­Chiang Kai-shek. It was the southernmost of ­Chiang’s 20-plus such homes, and as he would also host important visitors there, it also became known as the Ken­ding Guesthouse.

In 1969, the Forestry Bureau opened the guesthouse to the public. With its status and spectacular views, for many of the younger Taiwanese of the time, it would have been a dream come true if they could honeymoon at the Ken­ding Guesthouse. But as time went by, the age of the building coupled with years of lacking maintenance meant it was closed again.

In 2011, the bureau once again sought to give the old building new life, awarding the Gloria Hotel Group an “ROT” (Rehabilitate, Operate, Transfer) contract to renovate and reopen it.

John Chen, who had become head of the four-decade-old hotel group in 2007, was already in the process of not only shoring up the group’s traditional customer base of Japanese business travelers, but also striving to carve out a place in the high-end hotel market.

In its previous life, Gloria Manor was a holiday home for President Chiang Kai-shek. Now it is a high-quality hotel with a focus on modernized Taiwanese design and aesthetics.

After the company’s design team had undertaken thorough studies of the building and its surroundings, they immediately set about renovating the old structure with an eye toward sustainability and legacy, along with particular attention to preserving the natural environment around it.

Determined not to alter the building’s basic structure or scale, the team spent over a year giving the exterior a facelift and the interior a large-scale renovation, spending almost NT$400 million to achieve the high quality they were after.

In terms of aesthetics, the team aimed for a “modernized Taiwanese” style, making use of woven bamboo, hexagonal tilework, traditional lanterns, gourds, and other elements symbolic of Taiwanese tradition. The main lobby, for example, is floored with large, gray hexagonal tiles, inspired by the “turtle-shell” look of traditional Hok­kien architecture and symbolic of longevity and good fortune. The domed ceiling of the lobby is also traditionally inspired, modeled after traditional bamboo sifters and woven by experienced craftsmen from Nan­tou. “As they watched dozens of people lifting their work up to the ceiling, you could tell those old craftsmen were incredibly touched and felt like their work was being preserved for generations,” says ­Huang Yan­shi, who was in charge of the project.

On top of that, as Ken­ding is buffeted by strong winds blowing down off the mountains between October and March, in front of the hotel is a short wall designed to block the wind, while also serving as a “screen wall,” a traditional element of feng shui said to block negative energies.

Nestled in the foothills of Mt. Dajianshi, Gloria Manor offers a new way to fall in love with the natural beauty of Kending.

The hotel is also home to “­Chiang Kai-shek’s Study,” where President and Madame Chiang’s stationery, books, and furniture from the guesthouse are on display, along with the large table used for meetings on military affairs, a demonstration of ­Chiang’s commitment to always thinking of national affairs even when on vacation.

The team working on renovating the study made an interesting discovery during their work—the room’s fireplace had a mechanism inside it that opened up an entrance to a secret tunnel. The tunnel led out to a field near to the other side of the main building which was big enough to land a small helicopter in. Unfortunately, the tunnel had long since been abandoned and had become blocked with rubble.

Since the group opened the hotel in late 2012, some of their competitors have visited to look through the newly renovated hotel, giving it rave reviews.

One review that left a particular impression on hotel assistant manager James Chung came from Steven Pan, chairman of Formosa International Hotels Corporation. Pan, who was an unexpected guest, ordered some simple European cooking from the hotel’s menu, and exclaimed that the food was the biggest surprise he’d had in Ken­ding and was of a quality on par with Taipei’s five-star hotels.

­Chung says that amongst the services the Gloria Hotel Group focuses on, dining is one of the foremost. Dinners at the hotel use the best fresh, local ingredients, and no fixed menu is used, allowing the chefs to exercise their creativity.

However, Gloria Manor’s lofty aspirations also come with a lofty price tag, with ordinary rooms starting at NT$10,000 a night, and the Presidential Suite going for a massive NT$38,000 a night, putting them in a price bracket well above Ken­ding’s other hotels.

Gloria Manor’s major focus, says Chung, is on wealthy guests coming in from Hong Kong, Macao, and mainland China: “If we can build good word of mouth, we could position ourselves up there with the luxury hotels of Phuket and Bali, and with the help of the government and local residents, we can create a world-class, sustainable tourist destination.”

In its previous life, Gloria Manor was a holiday home for President Chiang Kai-shek. Now it is a high-quality hotel with a focus on modernized Taiwanese design and aesthetics.

Nestled in the foothills of Mt. Dajianshi, Gloria Manor offers a new way to fall in love with the natural beauty of Kending.