Queer travel expert Jack Kenworthy turns 250+ city adventures into your guide for safe, vibrant, and inclusively fabulous global journeys.
While Taipei is mainly famous for its status as the heart and soul of Taiwan’s economic and political sectors, the city is also essential to the culture of its country and region – serving as a beacon of local and international tastes mixed together into something truly wonderful. This colorful and bright open-mindedness has brought Taipei to the world stage as one of Asia’s most queer-friendly cities and certainly one of its most interesting places to visit.
Regardless of whether they are specifically angled toward queer travelers, Taipei’s historical and public landmarks are just as engaging and interesting as they are beautiful and unique.
Activities such as visiting the city’s temples, palaces, and memorials or taking a day tour through the nearby and surrounding nature are top hits with people of all ages, meaning that even the most party-focused of holidayers will be able to soak in and enjoy the individual energy of the city and the distinctness of its different districts and business regions.
On top of its items of general appeal, Taipei has a strong and lasting relationship with the gay community, including having housed Asia’s first queer rights organization Tongzhi Hotline since 1998.
The city continues to strengthen its ties with its LGBTQ+ residents and the international scene to this day, thanks to its yearly Taiwan Pride march, which has been established since 2007 and has constantly grown in numbers and success ever since.
The main queer districts in Taipei are the Ximen and Zhongshan areas, and it is here that visitors to the city are most likely to find gay clubs, bars, and other establishments as they explore the streets, but one needn’t confine themselves to these districts to have a wonderful, queer time.
LGBTQ+ communities and hotspots of gay social activity can be found throughout the city, especially at night and in its colorful downtown in general.
We’re sure you understand just how much of a naturally excellent queer travel destination Taipei is by now, but there is a lot more to the city than simply its specifically queer-labeled locations and establishments.
Although there are some truly amazing queer-centered locations in our world for gay travelers to explore and immerse themselves in, with Taipei being one of them, things that appeal to gay travelers aren’t always necessarily marketed towards them, and therefore we’d like to note that the hotels on this list follow the same logic.
Most of these wonderful hotels have been listed as accommodating and unjudgmental towards queer people in general and highly rated by previous guests and critics.
So, if you’re ready to explore one of East Asia’s more important and most queer-friendly cultural hubs, and if you’re itching for a holiday experience unlike any other thanks to the lively and unique atmosphere of Taiwan’s capital, then get your bags packed and prepare to jet off for the top eight hotels in Taipei!
In this article we will cover...
Hotel Eclat Taipei
Although starting this list of wonderful gay hotels in Taipei with a luxurious and centrally four-star location may seem a bit unwelcoming for those looking to travel with a lower budget in mind, the Hotel Eclat Taipei most absolutely justifies its presence here with its firm status and excellent general-appeal location that even holidayers new to international travel will have no trouble checking in and out of.
Everything about this location screams style, convenience, and ease of accessibility. There’s free parking if you arrive in the city by car or if you have a hire vehicle that you’re planning to use to explore the city, there’s free Wi-Fi to keep you up to date with the rest of the world and able to conveniently plan the rest of your trip, and there’s an excellent in-house dining experience to be had at the hotel’s very own Italian Restaurant, the BELLINI CAFFÉ DunNan.
When it comes to location, visitors to the city planning to visit its queer areas will love to hear that it’s located quite centrally between both of Taipei’s most popular gay districts and that its connection to both is strengthened powerfully by multiple bus stop choices within less than a minute’s walk.
This and everything else about the shiny, well-maintained design of the Hotel Eclat brings it up to par with its regional competitors and certainly to be one of the best hotels on this list.
As we said earlier, the Hotel Eclat’s price tag maybe just be a little higher than is the norm for this list’s hotels in general. Still, the rewards of convenience and international attitude that those extra few numbers bring are priceless. As such, this location is a perfect starter’s hotel to explore Taipei’s gay scene from.
Cho Hotel
The Cho Hotel is a true black sheep of an establishment – holding one of the best review ratings in the entire city and a healthy business with the traveling community, but still relatively small and uncrowded. In truth, however, the Cho Hotel’s size says nothing negative about the quality of its services, rooms, and amenities.
This is a gay hotel that comes out surprisingly modern, well-refined, and stylish when one considers how casual and affordable it is as a hotel and as an accommodation springboard into the rich nightlife and the gay community of Taipei.
Although it doesn’t have any official notes about being queer-friendly on any of its social media or website storefronts, the Cho Hotel most absolutely stands in support of the LGBTQ+ community and has proven it time and time again through outward acts of charity and sympathy.
This location understands its clientele and the district atmosphere it finds itself in very well, and you can trust that your status as a queer person staying here will be anything but a problem.
Comfort and convenience are kings here, and this isn’t just true for the hotel’s common spaces and amenities. The individual rooms of the Cho Hotel are anything but small and provide an uncannily home-like yet still stunning, innovative atmosphere to its respected guests.
Although we’ve focused on its proximity to queer hotspots for now, there’s a lot more to say about the excellent location of the Cho Hotel than just that one factor. The surrounding district that houses the Cho Hotel is famous for its culture and historical sites, and there are important locations nearby, such as the Taipei cinema park, the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, and the city’s highly famous national theatre.
CitizenM Taipei North Gate
Rising tall above the heights of the city around it, spreading both a metaphorical and concretely literal atmosphere of confidence, professionalism and welcome out to the surrounding areas, the citizenM Taipei North Gate is a three-star location with quite a good bit of class and style tucked under its belt, with a sterling reputation and a service-ready attitude to go along with it too.
Straightforward and convenient doesn’t have to mean bland, after all, and nothing speaks for a location in a great gay hotel better than the creative effort it puts into its image.
This fine establishment is the perfect option for gay hotels for those who favor a more business-traveler-sequel approach to holidaying and those who like a strong dose of reliability and casual comfort mixed with their exotic affairs abroad. No matter whether that describes you or if you are more adventurous.
However, it cannot be denied that this hotel is a strong pillar of confidence in its accommodation practices and that its location is just as central in gay Taipei as that of the rest of the hotels in this list.
While a lot of the other hotels on this list set out towards capturing their style and unique brand sense in their own equally unique and successful ways, the CitizenM Taipei is a true trailblazer in a lot of ways, bringing a colorful and queer-friendly approach to inviting both new and returning guests in to enjoy its surroundings and personal in-house offerings.
Some on-paper benefits that the CitizenM holds to its chest include its proximity to public transport and to the Ximen gay district, its private bar and eatery ensemble with plenty of international options, and a large amount of comfortable and luxurious furniture options for its rooms.
GS Gay Hotel
Here it is – the first, the greatest, and the most stylish gay-specific hotel in the entirety of Taipei! This statement may appear to hold little water thanks to the fact that it is also the first and the only solely queer-catering place of accommodation in the city, but we promise that the GS Gay Hotel delivers upon every bit of the glamorous, socially-connected statement that it makes through lip service. This isn’t just a gay hotel in name, but a part of gay Taipei’s heart.
The rooms of the GS Gay Hotel are soundproofed, designed to a relatively top-tier level of modernity, and – surprisingly enough when one considers the nature of many single-niche hotels – not at all at a level that makes guests feel like they were forced to sacrifice maintenance and quality in favor of queer-centric care.
There’s no need to dig too deep in your wallet for this one, as the individual suites at the GS Gay Hotel are as filled to the brim with good value and incredibly affordable ratios between size, convenience, services, and price as they are private and cozy.
Although the GS Gay Hotel is located closer to the second queer district in Taipei that we mentioned at the beginning of this list – Zhongshan than to the Ximen neighborhood that we’ve been discussing for the vast majority of the other locations, this in no way presents a disadvantage for the establishment’s guests, and instead gives them with an entirely new world of opportunities and the same degree of connectedness.
Distances between different areas of the city are covered with little difficulty thanks to its excellent public transport system, and that’s without mentioning the amount of time one can spend exploring even the most relatively mundane section of the city.
Burgary Hotel
If modern services and amenities with a mix of a more traditional and contemporary atmosphere sound appealing, then this is the perfect location for you to kick up your feet and not have to worry about anything except enjoying your time in Taipei and amongst its lively queer community.
The practicality and the excellence of the Burgary Hotel are multiplied tenfold by the incredibly respectable comparison between its asking price and quality, and as such – just as was true for the GS Gay Hotel before it – previous guests seem unable to give anything but their strongest recommendations to this location.
Without money as a worry, one can truly relax and immerse themselves in the innate queerness of the nearby atmosphere and nightlife, and if that isn’t a killer factor in the making of a great gay hotel, then what is?
The Burgary Hotel feels a lot more Scandinavian than Asian in many ways and is a little more separated from the center of the Ximen gay district than the rest of the hotels on this list. This isn’t a worry, however, as Taipei is more than interesting enough to make every corner worth visiting, and there’s no better platform for exploring it than a reputable, comfortable, and stylish queer place of accommodation like the Burgary Hotel.
Besides, the direction that the Burgary Hotel drifts away in brings it marginally closer to the Tamsui River between the new and old parts of Taipei, one of the most important parts of the city and an integral center for its cultural sites.
Some important on-paper benefits of staying at the Burgary Hotel include its daily free breakfast for guests, its free Wi-Fi and concierge services, and – of course – its excellent views out over the Taiwanese capital.
Energy Inn
Inn locations are generally regarded as being somewhat low down on the shelves of accommodation, but this couldn’t be more of an unfair way to begin your impression of the honestly quite charming Energy Inn.
Although it is one of the cheapest and most no-nonsense locations on this list, the Energy Inn does anything but a sloppy job at providing accommodation to its respected guests – instead, going above and beyond at just about every turn to make sure that everyone who walks through its doors experiences a unique blend of hospitality and every shred of convenience that they could need in navigating the streets of Taipei.
The Energy Inn is just as centrally located amongst the Ximen queer district as the vast majority of the hotels on this list, which gives it just about every benefit that we’ve mentioned for those locations district- and surroundings-wise for a much lower price. Money saved for your nights out on the town and perhaps towards making your trip just that little bit longer and more enjoyable!
If the positivity of our opinion here doesn’t succeed in convincing you of the merits this location offers, however, you need only check its review rating from previous customers online.
Guests of the past with all creeds and callings have found it to be an absolute haven of respectable and comfortable accommodation, and LGBTQ+ community blogs all across the internet agree that it is just as welcoming towards and accepting of queer crowds as the more explicitly gay-catering establishments that we’ve shared.
There’s free breakfast every morning for the Energy Inn’s guests, self-made dining options galore thanks to its in-house kitchenette and cooking appliances, and – most importantly – large, convenient, and private rooms for a perfect stay.
Inhouse Boutique
Now this retro café-hotel blend is a location that truly screams modern-Asian fusion! The Inhouse Boutique doesn’t just focus on being quaint and quiet but, instead, also delivers upon just about all the important factors of up-to-date accommodation, bringing itself right up to contend with a quite high tier of nearby establishments.
Although the in-house may not be as outwardly luxurious or exquisite as the rest of the hotels on this list, it nonetheless serves as a perfect fit thanks to its low rates and the no-frills nature of its accommodation and public amenities. Even though the rest of this hotel’s aspects fail to disappoint in any way, the in-house Boutique’s true strongest suit only shows its face regarding location.
The In-house Boutique is located only one or two minutes walk away from the heart and center of the city’s gay neighborhood, and as such, a room at this hotel is well positioned to serve as a priceless advantage for those looking to truly experience gay Taipei.
The Ximen district is also home to a wide range of cultural sites and general-appeal hangout spots, so if you’re interested in socializing, testing new food, or visiting tourist destinations, you will be amazed by the number of opportunities open to you here.
To summarize everything above, convenient, inexpensive, centrally located, and no-nonsense are all taglines of the in-house Boutique, and you can expect even those strong base points to be over-delivered upon while staying here.
The breakfast at the in-house Boutique is also well-rated, with reviews praising the focus and expertise placed into and upon the hotel’s in-house food offerings and drinks, and the individual rooms of the hotel are far larger than one might expect and spotlessly clean.
W Taipei
We needn’t go any further than the name of this hotel to establish just how excellent it will be. W Hotels always provide a home run when it comes to delivering an amazing queer accommodation experience wherever they set up shop, and the franchise’s Taipei location is far from an exception to this rule.
Although it may seem a little late to factor in this list’s very first five-star, truly top-shelf location, our focus so far has been on exploring the truly unique and queer-catering options that Taipei has on offer, and thus it’s only due to the strength of its franchise’s behavior towards the queer community and its excellent location in the gay-centric Xinyi district that the W Taipei finds a place here.
The W Taipei isn’t just officially LGBTQ+ friendly, either. It also has an official queer-accepting mission statement and a truly impressive history of doing the right thing when it matters to help a wide range of local gay spaces.
Other contributing factors towards its sky-high public score include its excellent rooms and wide common areas – the likes of which are exquisite and designed to absolute modern perfection – its free parking on site for those looking to travel the city by car, and – perhaps most importantly for those looking for real relaxation – its in-house spa center.
If relaxing in pools and getting massages isn’t your thing, however, and if you’d rather spend your time in Taipei exploring the queer heart of the city, then you’ll be very glad to know that this hotel is both extremely well connected to the local public transport system and the gay quarter itself. With that said, no matter where you’re looking, W Taipei has the position and services to get you there without fuss.
Gay Hotel Map Of Taipei
Feeling a bit lost while planning your journey to Taipei? No worries, darling! Our detailed LGBTQ+ tailored map is here to guide you. We’ve pinpointed all the vibrant gay-friendly bars, exhilarating clubs, extravagant parties, cozy hotels, relaxing saunas, and soothing massage parlors to ensure you find the perfect spot.
And these aren’t just any spots; we’re talking about the creme de la creme of locations in the heart of the city’s vibrant gay scene. Think panoramic views, easy access to nightlife, and all the amenities to make your stay as comfortable and enjoyable as possible.
But hold on to your feather boas! These hot spots are fabulous; they vanish quicker than a drag queen’s five o’clock shadow. Don’t delay; book now to secure the best deals and locations. Remember, the early bird catches the best deals in Taipei! So, pack your rainbow flag, and get ready to experience the ultimate gay-friendly holiday in Taipei.
