THE AMNIS Kaohsiung Review: Taiwan's First Luxury Collection

Guest room with a full-height window and Kaohsiung towers outside — A city-side guest room window. The official album does not name the floor or room type.

THE AMNIS Kaohsiung review, starting with three things no other hotel in town has: 168 moving metal spheres suspended over water in the lobby, a smallest room of 59 square meters, and an owner whose art museum sits in the 1967 building where soldiers waited for boats to the front line. The 29-story tower opened in 2017 as Silks Club and became Taiwan's first Luxury Collection hotel in August 2025.

Thirteen pages, one facility per page, about forty minutes. Page 5 sets four rates for the same night side by side and works the points price in too. Only one group can skip ahead: anyone traveling with a child under 10, because children that age cannot stay.

The last page has a checklist you can tick, twelve things. Three of them are free, and most guests never hear about them.

中文版：THE AMNIS 然一酒店，十三頁 →

01 · BASICS

Five minutes from the metro, and the old name on the wall

Stone entrance facade carved with the words SILKS CLUB — The entrance in the official album still reads SILKS CLUB. The photo is undated.

From Exit 2 of Sanduo Shopping District Station on the red metro line, the walk takes about five minutes. The entrance is understated enough that one guest walked right past it. A doorman takes your bags at the door and checks your name first; there is a convenience store downstairs.

For the night of December 13, the advisor rate matches the public flexible rate at about US$236.74 and adds breakfast for two plus a US$100 hotel credit. It is about US$35 less than the member rate with breakfast. Check my dates Fora independent advisor · California SOT #2151995-50 · Room charges paid directly to the hotel · I have never stayed at this property

Three numbers59 square meters, the smallest room, inherited from the Silks Club years when every room was built as a suite. 168 metal spheres over the lobby pool, also the number of hours in a week. 11.86 US dollars, the gap between the advisor rate and the member flexible rate, which comes back as two breakfasts and a US$100 credit.

History	Opened in 2017 as Silks Club Kaohsiung; renamed THE AMNIS on August 1, 2025, joining The Luxury Collection
Size	29 floors, 147 rooms, 6 to 10 rooms per floor
Owner	YUIMOM Group, which also runs the ALIEN Art Centre (page 12)
Address	No. 199 Zhongshan 2nd Road, Qianzhen District, Kaohsiung 80661, Taiwan
Phone	Main line +886-7-973-0189; reservations +886-7-973-0111
Check-in / out	3:00 pm / 12:00 noon
Age policy	Guests 10 and older only
Getting there	Metro R8 Sanduo Shopping District, Exit 2, about 5 minutes on foot; light rail Kaohsiung Exhibition Center or Software Technology Park stations, about 10 minutes; Kaohsiung International Airport 6.6 km, about 15 minutes and roughly US$7 by taxi (January 2026); the hotel car to the airport or Zuoying high-speed rail station is about US$87 one way
Parking	Marriott lists free self and valet parking for guests, a 2.1 m height limit and EV charging

All prices in this article are in US dollars. The hotel bills in New Taiwan dollars; conversions use 32.20 per US dollar on October 14, 2026 (Bank of Taiwan spot mid 32.20, XE mid 32.18). Any figure marked "about" is a conversion.

Check before you go: another report puts the formal opening on December 22, 2025; the Marriott booking page also says "adults only" and Expedia says 18; the hotel's transport page lists two free parking hours with about US$47 of spending and about US$2 per 30 minutes otherwise, which does not match Marriott's "free for guests."

How to plan it

Before bookingIf anyone in your party is 9 or younger, pick another hotel. The rule is printed on the hotel and Marriott sites, the front desk will not bend it, and you would be finding a new room on the spot.
From the airportTake a taxi: about US$7 and 15 minutes. The hotel car is about US$87, more than ten times as much.
By carAsk whether guest parking is free when you book. At the visitor rate on the hotel transport page, 24 hours comes to about US$112, half the room rate.

02 · LOBBY

A five-star hotel with no lounge and no ballroom

The lobby belongs to a kinetic sculpture called Dancing Particles, designed by ART+COM of Berlin and built by Hüttinger in Germany: 168 metal spheres suspended over a pool of water, rising and falling into shapes. It started running on July 15, 2017, before Silks Club even opened, and it was the first ART+COM piece to work with water.

Scene After check-in, if the clock reads twenty to the hour, wait before going up. Above the pool in the lobby hang 168 metal spheres, and 2025 reports say they start moving at 45 minutes past each hour. The spheres rise and fall above the water and form shapes, and the number is the hours in one week. If you miss it, the next show is an hour away; the hotel website also lists a show every half hour, and the lobby staff will know which is right.

Art	About 250 works across public spaces and rooms. Olafur Eliasson's Lunar Watch is on the 28th floor; a work by the owner, Shao Yung-tien, hangs in the lobby
Art tours	Daily at 11:00 (Chinese) and 17:00 (English), 10 people maximum, sign up by 18:00 the day before, free for guests
Not here	Club lounge, ballroom, rollaway beds and cribs

With no ballroom, the lobby is never full of wedding guests on a weekend afternoon. With 147 rooms and 6 to 10 per floor, three Trip.com reviews credit the quiet to exactly that. The cost is space: beyond the lobby, the only shared floors you will use are the 28th and the 16th, covered on pages 6 and 8.

Check before you go: the hotel art page and a 2017 report say the spheres run every half hour; 2025 reports say at 45 past the hour.

03 · ROOMS

Every extra dollar buys either height or space

Living room of a high-floor suite with windows facing the port — The top of the ladder: a high-floor suite living room facing the port side. The official album does not name the room type.

The entry-level Deluxe is already 59 square meters. What decides your view is the floor: Deluxe rooms, city-view Junior Suites and Deluxe Suites are all on floors 6 to 12, while Premier, Studio and harbor-view rooms are on 17 to 27. So when you pay more, know whether you are buying space or height.

The upgrade ladder (advisor rate, all-in, night of December 13)

Deluxe King	About US$236.74. 59 m², floors 6–12, city view
Premier King	About US$17 more. The same 59 m², moved up to floors 17–27
Premier Harbor	About US$50 more. 59 m², floors 17–27, a corner window with city and harbor together
Studio King	About US$50 more. 63 m², floors 17–27; Marriott lists 25 cm walls
29th-floor twin	About US$82 more. The only room of its kind, with 120 cm beds and a harbor view
Junior Suite, city	About US$102 more. 80 m², but back on floors 6–12
Junior Suite, harbor	About US$135 more. 80 m², a corner on floors 17–27
Deluxe Suite	About US$168 more. 90 m², floors 6–12
Executive Suite	About US$2,152. 122 m², floors 26–27, six in total, with Mercedes-Benz transfers to Zuoying station or the airport

The ladder turns at US$50. For that, the Premier Harbor gets you both height and a corner window; the city-view Junior Suite and the Deluxe Suite above it add space but drop back below the 13th floor. A December 2025 English review said an upgraded large suite had "not much view," while a Japanese guest in June 2026 was moved to a Premier corner room at the end of the 22nd-floor corridor, with windows on two sides. The difference was the floor.

Scene A doorman takes your bags at the door and checks your name. A guest in January 2026 was handed a mango tea as a welcome drink, and found a handwritten letter waiting on the desk. Soft drinks and juice in the minibar are free; alcohol is charged. There are four Nespresso capsules. You will not find bottled water, because the tap beside the sink is your water. If you booked a Deluxe, the curtains open onto floors 6 to 12.

In the room	FALOMO bed (200 × 210 cm), Nespresso, BOSE speaker, both 110V and 220V outlets
Extra beds	No rollaways and no cribs anywhere in the hotel
Accessibility	The Marriott rooms page says no accessible rooms; the Marriott overview lists roll-in showers and grab rails. Call +886-7-973-0189 and confirm before booking

How to plan it

At bookingIf the view matters, book Premier at minimum. About US$17 buys floor 17 or higher; book Deluxe and hope for an upgrade, and if it does not come you are on floors 6 to 12, possibly facing the next tower.
Eyeing a suiteCheck the floor before the size. The city Junior Suite and the Deluxe Suite are both below the 13th floor, so paying US$102 to US$168 more may get you a worse view than the Premier Harbor.
Three peopleNo rollaways, no cribs. Book two rooms or confirm occupancy on a Junior Suite or larger; finding out at the desk leaves three people with one bed.

04 · BATHROOM

A cast-iron tub and a tap you can drink from

Freestanding tub in the middle of a marble bathroom with blinds behind it — The freestanding tub sits in the middle of the bathroom. Google's review summary lists bathrooms as the feature guests praise most.

Every bathroom has the same kit: a KOHLER freestanding cast-iron tub, a GROHE rain shower, a TOTO bidet toilet and a Villeroy & Boch basin; guest accounts mention double sinks. Beside the sink is a drinking-water tap fed through filtration. That tap is why the hotel dropped bottled water.

Layout	Tub and shower separate (Korean account); the Premier Harbor bathroom has a window toward the port
Toiletries	A January 2025 hotel notice says Byredo in large bottles
Disposables	Toothbrushes, combs and razors are sold at the front desk. An April 2026 review says there were no slippers either
Hot water	A January 2026 Japanese account says it took a while to run hot

The short amenity list has two separate causes. Since January 1, 2025, Taiwanese law bars hotels from handing out toothbrushes, toothpaste, combs, razors, shaving foam and shower caps unless asked, and toiletries cannot come in bottles under 180 ml; that part applies to every hotel in Taiwan. Bottled water and slippers are not on the legal list. Dropping them was this hotel's own decision, tied to its filtered water. Pack a toothbrush, a comb and slippers; anything you forget is sold at the front desk.

Check before you go: 2025 rebrand coverage named Damana of France as the toiletry brand, and an October 2025 Japanese account praised the slippers, so the policy may have changed.

Worth slowing down for Run the tub. The hot water takes a minute, which is about how long it takes to dim the lights. Cast iron holds heat, so the water stays warm once you are in. The lights of Kaohsiung are outside; the glass in your hand came from the tap by the sink.

05 · RATES

One night, four rates and a points price

This hotel is on the Fora Reserve list and books through Marriott STARS, the advisor program. Below is one night checked on one day: Sunday, December 13 to Monday, December 14, Deluxe King, two adults, one room. Every figure is the all-in nightly total, including the 10% service charge and 5% VAT.

Advisor (STARS)	About US$236.74. Taxes in, breakfast for two included, plus a US$100 hotel credit; free cancellation until 23:59 on December 12. Net cost after perks about US$89.50
Member flexible	About US$224.88. Taxes in, no breakfast, refundable. Net about US$224.88
Member with breakfast	About US$272.11. Taxes in, breakfast for two, refundable. Net of breakfast about US$224.87
Prepaid, nonrefundable	About US$222.39. Taxes in, no breakfast, no refund. Also the lowest rate Google Hotels showed that night
Points	56,000 points. No breakfast, and the stay earns no points. That works out to about 0.40 US cents per point against the member flexible rate

Checked October 14, 2026, for check-in December 13 and check-out December 14; Deluxe King, two adults. Exchange rate 32.20 New Taiwan dollars per US dollar (Bank of Taiwan spot mid, same day; XE mid 32.18). The public flexible rate was also about US$236.74, with no perks.

Channel verdictBook this night through an advisor. It costs about US$11.86 more than the member flexible rate and adds breakfast for two (about US$47 at the hotel's own price) plus a US$100 credit; against the member breakfast rate it saves about US$35.37 and still adds the credit. The one exception is a Bonvoy Platinum or higher member who would choose breakfast as the welcome gift: breakfast overlaps, and what remains is the US$100 credit and upgrade priority, still more than the US$11.86.

The two closest numbers on that table are US$224.88 and US$236.74. Through an advisor, the US$11.86 between them turns into two breakfasts and a US$100 credit. Cash stays still earn points and elite nights, because Marriott treats these bookings as qualifying stays. Price my own dates Fora independent advisor · California SOT #2151995-50 · Room charges paid directly to the hotel · I have never stayed at this property

For your own dates, a rule you can take with you

The advisor rate usually equals the public flexible rate, and the member rate usually sits about 5 percent below it. That makes the decision portable:

You eat breakfast	Book through an advisor. Two breakfasts are worth about US$47, far more than the gap to the member rate
No breakfast, but you will use the credit	Still the advisor. The US$100 credit covers the gap on its own
Neither	Book the member rate yourself. If plans are fixed and a prepaid rate appears, save about US$2.50 more
Platinum or above	Your status already covers breakfast, so weigh the US$100 credit against the roughly US$12 gap
Sitting on points	56,000 points stand in for about US$225, about 0.40 US cents each. A points stay has no advisor perks and no breakfast; if you value your points above 0.40 cents, keep them and pay cash

How the net figures work: breakfast is valued at the hotel's own spread, member breakfast rate minus member flexible rate, about US$47.24 for two. At the walk-in price (about US$43 per person, about US$85 for two) the net would be lower still. The US$100 credit counts at face value; anything you leave unused goes back onto the net. Check the math: Deluxe before tax is about US$204.97, times 1.155 equals US$236.74. Points prices move: guest accounts from October 2025 to June 2026 show the same room at 28,000 to 50,000 points.

Perks	Daily breakfast for two, US$100 hotel credit (once per stay, scope set by the hotel), a personalized amenity, a welcome from management and a note from the general manager. Early check-in, late check-out and upgrades depend on availability
Cancellation	Free until 23:59 the day before arrival; about US$215 after that
Hotel packages	The same night also offered breakfast-inclusive packages: Pierre Hermé afternoon tea (about US$288.76), a SWISSPA treatment (about US$357.11) and dinner at Grill UKAI (about US$380.40)

Why this price: December 13 is a Sunday, usually the softest night of the week for a city hotel. At the rebrand the general manager said rates had risen about 10 to 15 percent over the Silks Club era, with an occupancy target of about 50 percent, up from about 40. The lowest rate announced at the rebrand was about US$267. With a refundable booking, if the same room drops in price later, it can be rebooked.

How to plan it

By Dec 12Stay on a refundable rate until plans are firm. Cancelling after 23:59 on December 12 costs about US$215, close to a full night.
Platinum+Ask what the welcome gift options are. If your status already covers breakfast, take points instead so you do not end up with two breakfasts.
At check-inAsk where the US$100 credit can be spent. On a one-night stay, whatever you do not use is gone at check-out.

06 · IN JADE LOUNGE

One floor, four uses a day

The In Jade Lounge on the 28th floor is the hotel's only large shared space, in use from breakfast until midnight. It is open to anyone, with different rules for each time slot.

Breakfast	06:30–10:30. Order one main; salad, fruit and yogurt are self-serve. About US$43 per person for walk-ins including service; Bonvoy dining discounts do not apply
Brunch	11:30–14:00
Afternoon tea	15:30–17:30 with Pierre Hermé, about US$65 for two including service, limited each day, no discounts
Bar	20:00–24:00, last entry 23:00, last order 22:30. Minimum spend about US$19 per person, including a hot platter. Smart dress, no slippers
Elite happy hour	Platinum and above only; a January 2026 account says 19:00–20:30, with few snacks

Scene At 06:30 you walk into the 28th floor without a queue; staff told one Japanese guest the rush comes around 08:30. Order one main, a Taiwanese set with sesame flatbread and egg crepe or a very large omelet, and help yourself to salad, fruit and yogurt. There are about ten kinds of bread. Once you choose, they take it back to the oven to warm it before it comes to the table. The mains are big, so go easy on the bread. Breakfast ends at 10:30.

Breakfast praise is unusually consistent: at least four independent sources, from September 2025 to August 2026, single out the bread. The complaints land on single dishes, one about tough, bony eel rice and one about a fried-egg set that was badly seasoned. The hotel site also lists braised pork rice from Hung Chi, a Michelin Bib Gourmand shop; the original is in Zuoying, and page 10 shows how to get there.

Check before you go: the hotel calls breakfast a set menu while some reviews and booking sites say buffet; 2025 launch coverage placed Din Tai Fung soup dumplings at brunch, yet two October 2025 Japanese accounts ordered them at breakfast; an April 2026 review puts the elite happy hour at 19:30 for about an hour.

How to plan it

Before 08:00Go up. The rush is around 08:30 and service ends at 10:30; the breakfast in your rate is worth about US$43 a person, and oversleeping forfeits it.
At check-inBook afternoon tea if you want it. It is limited each day, and asking that afternoon often means it is gone.
After 20:00Change your shoes for the bar. Slippers from the room get you turned away at the door, and last entry is 23:00.

07 · RESTAURANTS

Three UKAI restaurants from Tokyo, and a sake bar

Every full restaurant here comes from Tokyo's UKAI group: Ukai-tei teppanyaki, Ukai Kaiseki and the charcoal-grill Grill UKAI, plus a Dassai sake bar. Ukai-tei's interior is by Japanese designer Yukio Hashimoto, with tens of thousands of glass mosaic pieces laid out like spreading ink.

Ukai-tei	38 seats. Lunch from about US$102, dinner from about US$149, drinks extra. Dinner 17:30–22:00, last order 19:40. Listed in the Michelin Guide, no star
Ukai Kaiseki	36 seats. Lunch from about US$53, dinner from about US$118. Closed Tuesdays from October 19, 2026
Grill UKAI	30 seats. Lunch from about US$47, dinner from about US$62. Not listed in the Michelin Guide
Dassai Bar	Hotel site: 18:00–21:00

The most useful thing on this page is a gap between a name and a fact. Marriott.com sells a breakfast package called "Experience Michelin-starred Dining," and the dinner in it is at Grill UKAI. The 2025 and 2026 Michelin Guide Taiwan lists include no UKAI restaurant among Kaohsiung's one-star restaurants, and Grill UKAI does not appear in the guide at all. The hotel site says the group's teppanyaki once held a star; the package name borrows the group's record.

For value, look at lunch. Grill UKAI lunch starts about US$15 below dinner, and kaiseki lunch costs less than half of dinner. One January 2026 Japanese account had beef noodle soup for dinner: good broth, weak noodles and meat. That is a single report.

Check before you go: the Marriott site lists Dassai Bar hours as 12:00–15:00 and 18:00–22:00, which differs from the hotel site, so call before going.

How to plan it

By 19:40Be seated at Ukai-tei. Dinner runs to 22:00, but last order is 19:40, and late arrivals eat elsewhere.
TuesdayDo not plan kaiseki. From October 19 it closes every Tuesday.
Before buyingRead what "Michelin" means in a package name. For a starred meal, Kaohsiung had six one-star restaurants in 2026.

08 · WELLNESS

Water on 16, hands on 5

Pool, sauna and gym are on the 16th floor; the spa is on the 5th. The pool is semi-outdoor and long enough for laps, and at night it looks out over the lights of Kaohsiung. Reviews split on size and temperature and agree on the view.

Pool	16th floor, 06:30–22:00, closed for cleaning 13:00–13:30 daily
Sauna	16th floor, 06:30–22:00, separate for men and women, dry and steam, no swimwear. Full at three or four people (pre-rebrand account)
Gym	16th floor, 24 hours, Technogym, trainers bookable
SWISSPA	5th floor, treatments 10:00–19:00, +886-7-973-0116. Prices are not published; a package with breakfast and one 60-minute treatment was about US$357.11 that night
Every October	The pool closes for facade cleaning: October 12–16 in 2026, when the women's sauna opened only after 18:00

Scene It is 9:00 pm on the 16th floor. The pool and the sauna both close at 22:00. At the sauna entrance, staff hand you a key and a towel; men and women are separate, and swimwear stays off. One guest had it to themselves for an hour. Afterward, walk out to the semi-outdoor pool, which at night is the place for the lights of Kaohsiung. Put the wet swimsuit through the spin dryer and it will not drip on the way back to the room. The gym on the same floor is open 24 hours.

Three facilities share one floor, and with only 147 rooms the peak load is light, but so is the capacity: three or four people fill the sauna, and some guests found the pool cold. That is the physics of a 29-story tower giving one mid-height floor to facilities. If you want to spend a whole afternoon by the pool, this floor will not hold up; if you want to sweat before a late bath, it is right.

Check before you go: media and guests disagree on whether the pool has an infinity edge.

09 · REVIEWS

What past guests say, in five questions

First-hand accounts since the rebrand are thin: four Japanese blogs, eight Tripadvisor reviews, about fifteen on Trip.com, and almost nothing on Chinese-language forums. Google shows 4.6 from about 2,900 reviews, which include the Silks Club years; Marriott.com shows 4.6 from 91.

What gets praised most?

Quiet. Few rooms per floor and the age-10 rule come up in three Trip.com reviews and a Japanese account
Breakfast bread, rewarmed before serving, in at least four independent sources
A quiet, often empty sauna; the kinetic sculpture and the art
Many staff speak Japanese; one guest said over half of the happy-hour crowd was Japanese

What gets criticized most?

Fewer amenities: no bottled water, slippers and toothbrushes on request or for sale (three sources)
A small pool and limited facilities; some found the water cold
Process slips: a prepaid two-room booking read as one room (September 2025), a TV ordering system that took about 20 minutes to fix (May 2026), a requested check-out gift that was not ready (March 2026)
Upgraded suites smaller than expected, or without a view (two reviews)

Which score is lowest?

Value, at 4.0 on Tripadvisor, with every other sub-score at 4.8 or above. Two guests rated value 3 out of 5. Page 5 is written for exactly that score.

How do upgrades and elite benefits go in practice?

A Titanium member reported a suite of about 90 square meters every night of a stay (April 2026). A Platinum member who used a Nightly Upgrade Award found the suite poor, moved back to a base room, and spent more than three weeks getting the award and a points error fixed (March 2026, single source). Platinum and above can choose points or breakfast as the welcome gift.

What changed most with the rebrand?

The hardware was in place in the Silks Club years: the bathrooms, the room sizes and the art all get praise. Where the scores sag is process: amenities, billing, upgrade handling. A hotel that changed brands in August 2025 is still working through that stretch.

Human factorsNearly all the praise is about things; nearly all the complaints are about handling. Set your expectations on space, bathrooms and quiet. If something goes wrong, ask the duty manager to fix it on the spot and put it in writing; the March 2026 upgrade dispute was handled after check-out and took three weeks.

10 · NEIGHBORHOOD

Kaohsiung, starting from the front door

The Asia New Bay Area around the hotel was once port land, an export processing zone and an arsenal. Several of the public buildings put up over the past dozen years are within walking distance: the Kaohsiung Exhibition Center (completed 2013), the Main Public Library (2014), the Kaohsiung Music Center (2021) and the Kaohsiung Port Cruise Terminal (2023).

On foot

Xingzhong Night Market	On Wenheng 2nd Road beside the R8 station, about 5 to 8 minutes. From 16:00 daily; each stall keeps its own hours
Menya Xiang	No. 214 Sanduo 3rd Road, about 5 minutes. Hokkaido-style shoyu ramen, about US$6 to 8. 11:30–14:00 and 17:30–20:30, closed Wednesdays
Hi-Lai seafood buffet	17th floor, Far Eastern Department Store, No. 21 Sanduo 4th Road, about 8 to 10 minutes. Weekday lunch from about US$28 per person; dinner and weekends cost more
Caizong Li	No. 159 Chenggong 1st Road, about 12 to 18 minutes. Michelin Bib Gourmand 2026, 06:30–18:30. Its caizong, a rice dumpling filled with peanuts, is a classic Taiwanese breakfast: eat one plain first, then add the sauce and peanut powder, with a bowl of miso soup
Landmarks	Tuntex Sky Tower (the 85-story landmark) about 7 minutes; Main Public Library about 6

A short ride

Hung Chi Rice Shop	Red line to R14 Kaohsiung Arena, No. 96 Liwen Road, Zuoying. Bib Gourmand braised pork rice with a soft-boiled egg. Cash only
Ruifeng Night Market	Also at R14 Kaohsiung Arena. Closed Mondays and Wednesdays, open the other evenings
Pier-2 Art Center	Light rail from Kaohsiung Exhibition Center, four stops to Dayi Pier-2, about 10 to 12 minutes, about US$1
Cijin Island	Ferry from Gushan pier, about 5 to 10 minutes across the harbor, about US$1
ALIEN Art Centre	About 15 minutes by car, free for hotel guests (page 12)

The hotel has also sold Kaohsiung as part of the room: a Brompton harbor ride of about 5 km from the Exhibition Center to Pier-2, and a BMW i4 self-drive. Both have ended, the Brompton package on March 31, 2026 and the BMW package on January 7. A 2025 source also lists a hotel-guided Cijin tour on alternate Saturdays, 15:00–17:30, about US$23 per person including the ferry; whether it runs in 2026 does not appear on the hotel site.

Other choices that night

On Google Hotels that night: Hotel Indigo Kaohsiung about US$201, InterContinental Kaohsiung about US$183, and the in-family Kaohsiung Marriott about US$167. The Marriott takes children, so with a child under 10 its roughly US$70 discount is a clear win. If you want a large room, quiet, and a night in a building that hangs art in every corridor, that difference is what you are paying for.

How to plan it

Sunday nightDo Hung Chi and Ruifeng on December 13. Ruifeng is closed Monday, so leaving it for check-out day means a closed market.
Before leavingBring cash for Hung Chi. Cards only means you queue and still cannot order.
For CijinAsk whether the hotel tour still runs and on which Saturday. December 13 is a Sunday, so take the ferry yourself; the crossing is under ten minutes.

11 · BACKSTORY

Eight years as Silks Club, and the name AMNIS

Round dining table under a pendant light in a large suite, city view outside — The dining area of a large suite. The official album does not name the room type.

YUIMOM Group built the tower and still owns it; its chairman is Shao Yung-tien, and the architects were CT Design and PU Architecture Association. Reports say it took more than ten years to plan and cost about US$78 million (converted at today's rate). Taipei's Regent group ran it under the Silks Club name.

When it opened in 2017, every room was built to suite proportions of at least 56 square meters, which is where today's 59-square-meter Deluxe comes from. The start was rough, with occupancy reportedly dipping to 9 percent. It went on to become what local media called the most expensive hotel in Kaohsiung, and reports at the time said its presidential suite was the largest in Taiwan; today that suite is 685 square meters, a whole floor.

In April 2025, YUIMOM signed a brand license with Marriott. In June, Regent chairman Pan Sy-liang said publicly that the operating contract ran to 2032 and that early termination would require compensation; neither side has explained the split. On August 1 the building took its new name, which is why the official photo on page 1 still shows the old one carved at the entrance.

AMNIS is Latin for "stream," which the hotel ties to Kaohsiung as a city that grew up around its port. The Chinese name, Ran Yi, gets different readings, from harmony of heaven, earth and people to following nature and being one of a kind. The name is open to interpretation; the water theme in the hardware is not: multi-stage filtration, 304 stainless steel pipes, a drinking tap in every room, and the pool in the lobby under 168 metal spheres.

Who stays here? At the rebrand, the general manager said guests from Korea, Hong Kong and Macau made up about 60 percent. Japanese accounts add that staff speak fluent Japanese and that the happy hour was more than half Japanese. For Taiwanese readers, this is a hotel in their own country whose main guests come from abroad, and the staff languages and UKAI's Japanese kitchens are aimed at them.

Check before you go: another report says rates did not rise much after the rebrand; another gives December 22, 2025 as the formal opening.

12 · BACKSTORY

From a troop transit hostel to a contemporary art museum

The Kinmen-Matsu Hostel was completed in 1967. Kinmen and Matsu are small islands just off mainland China that Taiwan still holds, and for decades they were the front line. Soldiers posted there checked in at this building and waited for their boat; on the way home, their families waited for them here. The military left in the 1990s, the building became the command center for Kaohsiung's railway undergrounding project, and it sat empty after that office moved out in 2012.

In 2016 the city's Urban Development Bureau put the site out to tender. Competing bids proposed a youth hostel and an elder-care facility; YUIMOM's art arm won. It reopened as a contemporary art museum in November 2018. The English name, ALIEN, comes from Alian, the founder's hometown, and the permanent collection includes a work by James Turrell. The address is No. 111 Gushan 1st Road, at the foot of Shoushan, near the Shoushan Park light rail stop.

Scene At half past three you are standing at the ticket booth of the old hostel, waiting for the museum tour to begin. The building went up in 1967, and soldiers bound for Kinmen and Matsu checked in here to wait for a boat. After the railway project office moved out in 2012 it stood empty for years, and it reopened as a museum in November 2018. Hotel guests enter free with a voucher from the hotel. When you are done, call a car; the ride back is about 15 minutes.

The museum explains something about the hotel: why a 147-room building hangs some 250 works in its corridors and rooms. Same owner, same collection, which is why hotel guests get into the museum free.

Check before you go: the hotel site says the museum tour meets at the ticket booth at 15:30; a 2025 source lists a hotel shuttle tour leaving at 13:30, touring 14:00–15:00 and returning at 16:30, about US$8 per person and free on Tuesdays. Ask the front desk for that day's shuttle time. One source gives 1998 as the year the military left.

Worth slowing down for Stand in a corridor of the old hostel and picture it in 1967: young men with their orders in hand, checking in, waiting for a boat to Kinmen. Half a century later, the same building holds a work by James Turrell.

THE AMNIS Kaohsiung Review: Taiwan's First Luxury Collection

Five minutes from the metro, and the old name on the wall

A five-star hotel with no lounge and no ballroom

Every extra dollar buys either height or space

The upgrade ladder (advisor rate, all-in, night of December 13)

A cast-iron tub and a tap you can drink from

One night, four rates and a points price

For your own dates, a rule you can take with you

One floor, four uses a day

Three UKAI restaurants from Tokyo, and a sake bar

Water on 16, hands on 5

What past guests say, in five questions

What gets praised most?

What gets criticized most?

Which score is lowest?

How do upgrades and elite benefits go in practice?

What changed most with the rebrand?

Kaohsiung, starting from the front door

On foot

A short ride

Other choices that night

Eight years as Silks Club, and the name AMNIS

From a troop transit hostel to a contemporary art museum

How to spend the night, and who this hotel is for

Good fit

Poor fit