Taipei Accommodation | Great Roots Forestry Spa Resort | Great Roots Forest Park | Taiwan's National Treasure Low-Altitude Primeval Subtropical Rainforest
Within the Great Roots Forest Park there is a resort where visitors can enjoy both hot springs and the phytoncides of nature — the "Great Roots Forestry Spa Resort." Besides the forest park trails, the grounds also offer facilities such as barbecue areas, a playground, outdoor hot springs and private spa rooms, plus a café — making it a great spot for a relaxing two-day, one-night getaway.
📜 Information
- Stay date: 2022-01-29
- Room type: Autumn Harvest & Winter Storage One-Night Two-Meal Package - Great Roots Suite
- Package price: $9,240
- Payment: Credit cards accepted; company tax ID invoice available
- Address: No. 79, Sanxia District, New Taipei City 237
- Phone: +886266212000
- Booking site: https://www.booking.com/hotel/tw/greatrootsresort.xt.html?aid=8003516
📍 Location
The Great Roots Forestry Spa Resort is about a 20-minute drive from Sanxia Old Street. The mountain road isn't too difficult to drive, though a few sections are a bit narrow — and since buses also use this road, take extra care when passing oncoming vehicles.
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| When you see this sign, you've arrived! |
By car:
- Exit National Highway 3 at the Sanying Interchange, follow Provincial Highway 3, then turn onto County Road North 114 — about a 30-minute drive
By public transport:
- From MRT Fuzhong Station take Taipei Bus 910 to Sanxia Old Street, then transfer to Taipei Bus 807 and get off at Chajiao (Great Roots) stop
- From MRT Yongning Station take Capital Bus 916 to Sanxia Old Street, then transfer to Taipei Bus 807 and get off at Chajiao (Great Roots) stop
Parking:
The Great Roots Forestry Spa Resort has plenty of parking, mostly open-air, including several large lots
- Staying in the resort hotel area: you can park in the underground indoor car park
- Staying at the Prince Hall: drive straight into the grounds and park in the outdoor lot near the hall
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| The ramp on the left leads down to the indoor car park; the right leads to the lobby entrance |
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| If you're staying at the Prince Hall inside the grounds, you can drive straight in |
🏢 Resort Facilities
Resort Hotel
The resort hotel sits at the entrance to the whole complex and serves as the main pedestrian entrance as well as the check-in/check-out counter. If you're driving, you can park briefly out front to check in first, and if you're staying at the Prince Hall inside the grounds, then drive on in.
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| The lobby reception desk |
Forest Park Entrance
The grounds are fairly large. Besides the resort hotel where the lobby is, accommodation also includes the Prince Hall and Great Roots Hall in the rear half of the grounds, as well as standalone cabin-style Phytoncide Rooms and Scenic Rooms. To reach the rooms in the back section, you have to walk down the palm-lined avenue inside the grounds and pass through the forest area entrance.
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| The palm-lined avenue inside the grounds |
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| Map of the grounds (from the official website) |
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| The forest park entrance |
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| Cats fed at the entrance (the caretaker said there are 15 of them) |
Xunfeng Hall
Xunfeng Hall was converted from a Japanese colonial-era building. Here you'll find a gift shop, a tea history museum, an open-air hot spring area, and some guest rooms too!
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| Tea History Museum |
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| Here you can learn about the history of the tea industry in this area |
The gift shop stocks all kinds of souvenirs and snacks. Our package this time included one mug and one face mask per room, which also had to be redeemed at the gift shop.
Also, the Great Roots forest trails have six stamp stations — collect all the stamps and you can redeem a Great Roots exclusive postcard for free at the gift shop!
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| Head out on the forest trails and collect all six stamps! |
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| The open-air hot spring area accessed from Xunfeng Hall |
Great Roots Convenience Store
Since there isn't much around the Great Roots area, the on-site convenience store becomes the most important supply stop! It sells plenty of drinks, snacks and instant noodles, plus a small selection of alcohol — perfect for guests who fancy a late-night snack. (Open until 10 pm)
Great Roots Prehistoric Giant Beasts Exhibition
As it happened, during our stay the whole complex was hosting the "Great Roots Prehistoric Giant Beasts Exhibition." Besides displays of dinosaur bones, there were dinosaur models tucked into every corner, some of which were sound-activated to roar or move. Kids would probably find it great fun and love taking photos with them, but I felt it clashed a bit with the natural scenery of the grounds...? 😅
🏓 Games Area
On B1 of the Prince Hall there's a games area with all sorts of arcade machines and video games, table tennis, billiards, basketball shooting machines and a children's play area. Some cost extra, while some are free for hotel guests upon registration.
🛏 The Room
This time we stayed in two rooms at the Prince Hall, each configured with one double bed and one single bed. For three guests there's an extra charge of $1,800, which includes forest park admission for both morning and evening.
The room size was just right and the bed was comfortably firm, but the facilities and amenities were only so-so — the TV, for instance, looked rather old and was small. It felt roughly business-hotel grade, a bit worse than I'd expected (the resort hotel building seems to be better), but at least it was clean with no major drawbacks.
🍽 Dinner / Breakfast
Breakfast is served for everyone at the Prince Hall restaurant, while for dinner this time we chose the Western restaurant at the Prince Hall, which serves a buffet on weekends. Because of the pandemic, there was a full-body disinfectant spray at the entrance, and masks and gloves had to be worn at all times when serving yourself; staff patrolled nearby to remind guests who weren't wearing gloves.
I won't say much about breakfast — I thought it was pretty ordinary with nothing outstanding. Dinner, on the other hand, had a decent spread, including some dishes rarely seen at buffets, like the DIY spicy mala soup station, which was quite fun: you pick your own ingredients and cook them yourself, a bit like braised snacks shops outside.
There was also a good variety of desserts and they tasted good; another fun option was making your own peanut brittle ice cream rolls. Compared to breakfast, dinner was the memorable one — if you stay here, consider having dinner on site.
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| DIY spicy mala soup station |
🌲 Forest Park
The Great Roots primeval forest area is divided into three trails: Loop 1, Loop 2 and Loop 3. Loop 1 is the easiest and shortest — at a normal pace you can complete the whole circuit in just half an hour. Loops 2 and 3 are somewhat tougher going; it happened to rain during our visit, and the front desk staff advised against walking Loops 2 and 3 on rainy days.
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| Loop 1 is mostly flat stone-paved path |
Every day at 09:30 and 14:30 there's a guided tour lasting one to one and a half hours. The guide introduces the history of the grounds, the facilities and the plants, then leads everyone around Loop 1. This time we joined the afternoon tour just before check-in — if the timing works out, I'd recommend following the tour and listening to the commentary.
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| The national-treasure giant buttress-root tree |
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| The Great Roots Rainbow Bridge |
The Great Roots area was once home to the Atayal people. According to ancient legend, from a young age the Atayal had to build mutual trust and cooperation with their kin, diligently learn the disciplines and skills of life, protect the mountains and forests, respect the ancestral spirits, and strive for personal honor until the end of life — only then could they cross the Rainbow Bridge and reach the realm of the ancestral spirits.
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| Rainbow Bridge (Spirit Bridge) |
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| Ending with a shot of the carp pond that looks straight out of a horror film |
It was great to have the chance to stay here — the grounds as a whole are quite pleasant, but the Prince Hall rooms weren't as nice as I'd imagined, likely because they're getting on in years. They're acceptable and by-the-book, but for the price it feels a bit expensive; overall the value for money is a little low.
That said, you don't have to stay overnight to visit the Great Roots Forest Park — you can simply buy an admission ticket. If you want to soak up some forest phytoncides, why not just buy a ticket and visit the forest park!
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