7 Best Beitou Hot Spring Hotels in Taipei

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Skip the day-use bath rooms and sleep where the tub is in your room. Xinbeitou, the hot spring stop, sits one stop up a branch line from Beitou station, so you can land and soak the same evening. The walk uphill varies a lot, and the highest hotels run shuttles. Pick the tub first.

Beitou Hot Spring Hotels

Which Spring Water Fills the Tub

The surest proof that a room tub holds spring water is the hotel’s own site. Some sites never say it.

• Beitou Has Three Sulphur Springs: White, green and iron sulphur are the three Beitou types. Green is the acidic water at Thermal Valley, a steaming park with boardwalks, and iron sulphur comes from the Xingyi Road area.
• Three Hotels Pipe Spring Water to Every Room: Hotel Royal Beitou says white sulphur water runs to every room, and The Gaia Hotel Taipei lists an in-room hot spring bath in every room type. Asia Pacific Hotel Beitou does the same for each overnight room type.
• Kagaya and Wellspring Name Their Water: Radium Kagaya Taipei names Mount Datun as the origin of its white sulphur on its public bath page. Wellspring by Silks Beitou names white sulphur on its own site, though the site doesn’t say where the water starts.
• Villa 32’s Room Baths Rest on the Michelin Guide: Villa 32 names white and green sulphur for its public bath, but its own site says nothing about the water in the room tubs. The Michelin Guide says each room has its own geothermal bath.

In-Room Tubs Versus Bath Rooms by the Hour

Several Beitou hotels sell two things that sound alike: a night in a room with a tub, and a timed bath room booked on its own.

• Bath Rooms Are a Separate Booking: Radium Kagaya Taipei keeps its bath rooms on the 5th floor, apart from the guest rooms, and Hotel Royal Beitou keeps its on the 11th floor. Wellspring by Silks Beitou runs more than a dozen bath rooms that you book on their own.
• The Public Baths Are Nude and Split by Gender: Leave the swimsuit at home for the public baths at Grand View Resort Beitou, The Gaia Hotel Taipei, Asia Pacific Hotel Beitou and Hotel Royal Beitou. Their own sites describe nude baths for men and women separately.

Getting to Beitou From Taipei

The hot spring area sits on a one-stop branch of the Red Line. You change trains at Beitou station.

• The Airport Line Meets the Red Line at Taipei Main: The Airport MRT express takes 35 to 38 minutes to Taipei Main Station. From there you take the Red Line toward Tamsui and change at Beitou.
• Xinbeitou Is the Last Stop: The Xinbeitou branch runs between Beitou and Xinbeitou only. Xinbeitou Station sits at the western edge of the hot spring town.
• The Hill Splits Into Two Roads: Zhongshan Road climbs from Xinbeitou Station past Beitou Park to Thermal Valley. Youya Road branches off it, and its hotels, such as Grand View Resort Beitou and Asia Pacific Hotel Beitou, run their own shuttles.

FAQs

1. How far is Beitou from central Taipei?

Beitou is about half an hour from Taipei Main Station on the Red Line, with one more stop on the Xinbeitou branch at the end. That puts the hot spring area inside a normal city stay: you can ride out for an evening soak and be back at a central hotel the same night. Xinbeitou Station is the stop for the area.

2. Where is the best place to stay in Beitou for hot springs?

Stay around Xinbeitou Station, because Beitou Park and Thermal Valley are within walking distance of it. Grand View Resort Beitou and Asia Pacific Hotel Beitou sit further up Youya Road, so they add a shuttle ride to the trip from the MRT. Choose the station side if you plan to ride into Taipei every day.

3. When is the best time to visit Beitou for hot springs?

Winter is the season, and a hot spring festival opens it in Xinbeitou around October or November. Weekends and public holidays fill the hotels first and put queues at the public baths. The springs run all year, so a summer visit works for anyone who doesn’t mind soaking in the heat.

4. Do Beitou hot spring hotels have tattoo rules?

None of the official sites for Grand View Resort Beitou, The Gaia Hotel Taipei, Asia Pacific Hotel Beitou or Hotel Royal Beitou states a tattoo rule for its public baths. Pick a room with its own tub if tattoos are a worry, since the public baths are where a rule would apply. The official sites of Radium Kagaya Taipei and Villa 32 state no tattoo rule either.

5. Does Beitou smell of sulphur?

Yes, much of the town smells of sulphur, and visitors get used to it quickly. Beitou’s springs are spread along the Huangxi Valley, from Thermal Valley to Sulfur Valley, so the smell belongs to the whole area. Thermal Valley sits under sulphur mist all year, so you smell it on the walk up from the station.

6. Can you soak at Beitou Thermal Valley?

No, Thermal Valley is a steaming green-sulphur pool you view from the boardwalks, and bathing in it isn’t allowed. Its water is far too hot and acidic to bathe in, so the soaking happens in hotel and public baths instead. The valley is a short walk from Beitou Park and the Hot Spring Museum.

7. Can you visit Beitou as a day trip from Taipei?

A day trip works, because several hotels sell timed bath rooms to people who aren’t staying. Wellspring by Silks Beitou opens its bath rooms to non-guests, and Radium Kagaya Taipei and Hotel Royal Beitou sell theirs the same way. Each bath room is a private soak booked by the session. Staying the night adds the tub in your room.