The Amnis, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Kaohsiung

Art and water set the tone at THE AMNIS, a 29-storey hotel in Kaohsiung with 147 rooms and a contemporary-art identity curated with The ALIEN Art Centre. The result is more considered than a standard business hotel, with interiors designed for quiet reflection and a sense of movement around water.

You need to be at least 10 to stay here, so this is a natural choice for adults travelling as a couple or with older children. English is spoken by the hotel team, alongside Chinese and Japanese. That matters when you are checking a late arrival, asking about dinner or trying to explain precisely how tired you are after a long day in the water.

The hotel belongs to Marriott Hotels & Resorts and combines a polished urban base with space to slow down. There is a library, a spa, pools, a gym and a dedicated bar for sake. Not a dive resort, then; more a city hotel where diving can sit alongside good food, a proper room and a quiet evening.

You are in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, at No 199 Zhongshan 2nd Road in Qianzhen District. The hotel sits around 2 km from the city centre, giving you an urban base rather than a beach address. The sea is not presented as a walk-out-and-swim affair, so plan your water time around transport rather than hotel access.

Kaohsiung International Airport is 6.6 km away. That is a manageable arrival, particularly if you are carrying dive luggage and would rather not begin the trip with a heroic public-transport manoeuvre.

The setting also suits a mixed trip. You can use the hotel as a comfortable base for the city, return to a room with air conditioning and a fridge, then head back out for dinner or stay in and let the day finish at its own pace.

The choice is broad, running from single rooms through double and twin rooms to family-sized options, studios, junior suites, suites and larger categories. For a couple, a double room with a city or harbour view makes the most obvious sense if the outlook matters; twin rooms suit two divers who have long since stopped pretending that sharing a bed is efficient. Larger rooms and suites are the practical route for groups of three, four or six.

Air conditioning, a private bathroom, a fridge, a safe, a television and coffee facilities appear across many of the standard, superior and deluxe rooms. That is the useful part after a hot, salty day: cool the room, put water in the fridge and keep your essentials secure. Some higher room categories add soundproofing, blackout blinds, a desk, bathrobes, slippers, a minibar, tea-making facilities and Wi-Fi.

Several room and suite categories bring city, harbour, ocean or water views, while the larger suites add toiletries and more space to spread out. The room cards below give the exact dimensions, occupancy and bedding for each category; the sensible way to choose here is by view, sleeping arrangement and how much room you want around your bags rather than by getting lost in the hotel’s long naming parade.

In-Jade Lounge covers breakfast, lunch and dinner, with harbour views and a format that moves from breakfast and brunch to evening cocktails. It is the straightforward place to start the day or sit down properly once you are back from the water. Breakfast is available, although the exact board arrangement depends on the room booking.

Ukai-tei Kaohsiung serves lunch and dinner, turning seasonal ingredients into a deliberately theatrical, multisensory meal. That gives the hotel’s dining offer a more distinctive edge than a single all-purpose restaurant, particularly if dinner is part of the evening rather than simply fuel between dives.

There is one bar: Dassai Bar. Its focus is sake, so the post-dive drink here leans towards Japanese precision rather than a generic poolside lager. Room service is available, and the hotel also has coffee and tea facilities, bottled water and kettles for the less social moments when your legs have had quite enough of the day.

The hotel gives you several ways to spend a non-diving afternoon without turning the place into an activity camp. There is an indoor pool, an outdoor pool and a further pool area, along with a sun terrace for those who prefer to read rather than perform another sport. The library is a useful retreat when the weather is doing too much or your energy is doing too little.

The spa offers massages, facials and couples’ massages, with a spa restaurant attached. Sauna and steam-bath facilities add the more traditional recovery options, while the gym and fitness equipment cover anyone who still has unfinished business with their muscles.

For couples, the appeal is simple: one person can book a treatment while the other uses the pool, gym or library, then both can meet for dinner without having spent the whole day marching around the city. An on-site medical service is also available, with a doctor on request.

Check-out is at 12:00. Early check-in and late check-out can be arranged on request, with an additional charge. The hotel is non-smoking and accepts guests from the age of 10. A lift, step-free access and accessible rooms make the building easier to navigate when you are travelling with heavy luggage or simply prefer not to negotiate unnecessary stairs.

Wi-Fi is free throughout the hotel. You also have concierge support, luggage storage, a safe at reception, laundry and dry-cleaning services, vehicle parking and valet parking. Electric-car charging is available on site. Cash and major cards including Visa, Mastercard, American Express and JCB are accepted, alongside other listed payment methods.

The airport is close enough for a short road transfer, and the hotel has transfer services listed among its facilities. Parking and vehicle hire are useful alternatives if your plans extend beyond the immediate city. The concierge and excursion assistance can help organise the land-based part of the trip, leaving you to concentrate on the bit involving fins, masks and not forgetting where you put the room key.

The hotel has guest-room recycling and electric-car charging. These are practical measures rather than a grand sustainability manifesto, but they are easy to understand and use during a city stay.

Taiwanese hotels are also limiting disposable toiletries, so items such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, razors, combs and shower caps are being reduced. Bring your own travel kit if you prefer not to rely on single-use bathroom products.