InterContinental Kaohsiung by IHG

English and Chinese are spoken by the hotel team, so you can deal with the practical things without resorting to underwater hand signals. InterContinental Kaohsiung is a city hotel for divers who want a comfortable base with proper food, a pool and the useful machinery of a large international property around them.

Opened in 2021, the hotel has 253 rooms across 16 floors. Its tone is polished rather than rustic: air conditioning, lifts, Wi-Fi throughout the hotel, a fitness room, a sauna, a steam room and several places to eat all point towards an easy return from a day out in the city or on the water.

There is also enough here for a non-diving partner to build a day around. The choice is straightforward: swim, use the fitness room, take the lift down for food, or let the concierge help arrange an excursion.

You are in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on Xinguang Road and a short walk from the city centre. This is an urban base rather than a beach hotel, so the appeal lies in access to the city, restaurants and transport rather than stepping straight from the lobby onto sand.

The hotel is suited to a trip that mixes diving with city time. You can stay close to the centre, return to air conditioning after the heat, and keep the evening flexible with several restaurants and a lobby bar on site.

Drivers have parking available, including nearby parking, and an electric-vehicle charging station is available. Parking height restrictions apply, which is the sort of small detail best known before arriving with a large vehicle rather than discovered at the barrier.

The room choice is broad enough to match the way you travel. Couples can look towards a double room with a double bed, while two friends may prefer twin beds. Larger room categories include options for three, four or six guests, and family rooms and two-bedroom suites give groups more room to organise themselves without turning the sleeping arrangements into a daily negotiation.

Views vary by category: city, water, harbour and river outlooks are all available. If the view matters to you, choose it deliberately rather than leaving the decision to the room allocation. A harbour or water-facing room changes the feel of a city stay more than another decorative cushion ever will.

Selected room categories are equipped for a proper recovery night, with air conditioning, blackout blinds, soundproofing, a fridge, minibar, safe, television, Wi-Fi, tea and coffee facilities, bathrobes and slippers. Private bathrooms, toiletries, hairdryers and towels are available across the room range, although the exact equipment varies by category. The practical winners are the rooms with blackout blinds and soundproofing: useful after an early start, a late dinner or both.

Breakfast is served as a buffet, while the hotel’s restaurants cover Chinese, Japanese, Southeast Asian and Italian cooking. The meal plan attached to your booking determines which meals are included, so this is a hotel where checking the basis of the room matters before you arrive hungry.

湛露 Chinese Restaurant serves lunch and dinner, with Cantonese, Shanghainese and Sichuan influences worked around Taiwanese ingredients. HAWKER serves Southeast Asian food at lunch and dinner, while SEEDS focuses on Italian cooking using Taiwanese produce, seafood and ingredients from local farms. Both are useful options when you want a substantial plate without leaving the building.

WA-RA is the late-running Japanese restaurant, serving dinner and using warayaki, the Japanese straw-fire cooking method, as its defining technique. For a drink, BL.T33 combines bar, lounge and tea service, with afternoon tea, cocktails and a gin selection. It opens from morning until midnight, which gives you somewhere to sit when dinner is finished but the day is not quite ready to end.

Two pools give you a choice between an indoor swim and a conventional pool session. Pool access runs from 07:00 to 21:00, so an early dip or a short evening float can fit around a full day. The sun terrace adds somewhere to sit when you want warmth rather than another length.

For a more purposeful reset, the fitness room is open around the clock and uses PRECOR equipment. That suits the diver who prefers a light session to loosen up, as well as the partner who would rather keep to a normal training routine while you are away. A sauna and steam room provide the slower version of the same plan.

Excursion assistance is available through the hotel, and the concierge can help with arrangements. The facilities also include accessible areas, wheelchair access and an accessible restaurant, making the layout more usable for guests who need step-free facilities.

Check-in is from 15:00 and check-out is by 12:00. Express check-in and check-out are available, while early arrival and late departure can be arranged subject to availability. The hotel also offers luggage storage, room service, concierge assistance and a wake-up service, all useful when your travel day refuses to line up neatly with hotel timings.

An airport transfer is available, and taxi reservations can be arranged through the hotel. Book the transfer with the hotel before travelling. Parking is available, but vehicle-height restrictions apply; cashless payment is accepted for transactions at the property. Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB, China UnionPay, Diners Club and cash are accepted.

The hotel is non-smoking and pets are not accepted, although service animals are allowed. Only registered guests may use the guestrooms. One child aged 11 or under can stay in a parent or guardian’s room using the existing bedding. Taiwan’s rules on disposable toiletries also mean that items such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, razors, shaving foam, combs and shower caps are limited, so bringing your own is sensible.