Taiwan Science Park Opens Int'l Five-Star Hotel

<B> Taiwan Science Park Opens Int'l Five-Star Hotel</B>

By Judy Jacobs

With the opening of the Hotel Royal Hsinchu earlier this year, those doing business in Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park, Taiwan's most important center of high-tech manufacturing, no longer have to commute to Taipei to stay in an internationally managed five-star hotel.

Since its establishment in 1980, Hsinchu Science Park, the destination for many business travelers to Taiwan, has developed rapidly as a major business center and the engine driving much of Taiwan's economic growth. Extensive research and development facilities, as well as more than 400 companies make up the park, which is located on the outskirts of Hsinchu City, about a 90-minute drive from Taipei.

Following the growth in companies and business at Hsinchu, the hotel infrastructure has been steadily developing, with about six properties in the Hsinchu area providing slightly more than 1,000 rooms. Not only is the Hotel Royal Hsinchu the first internationally managed five-star property, but it also is the closest to the park.

Located just five minutes from the park, the Royal provides daily complimentary shuttle service to the various companies there and to downtown Taipei in the evenings and weekends.

The hotel has been designed for business travelers, its main clientele, with a fax machine and an extra line for Internet access in each guest room. The Royal also caters to meetings. "We can handle up to 350 people," said Evan Pavlakis, the hotel's vice president and general manager.

Hotel Royal Hsinchu is a member of Taiwan's Hotel Royal Group, which currently owns six hotels and a golf course. Four of these properties are located in Taiwan, while there is one in Mauritius and another in Nicaragua.