Your Room Key Doubles as a Museum Ticket: Le Méridien Taipei Banqiao Turns an Entire Tower Into a Livable Gallery

At the check-in counter sit nine different room key designs, letting guests pick one the way you'd choose a postcard. What's actually interesting comes next: beyond unlocking your door, that same key card can be exchanged for a ticket to the New Taipei City Art Museum. Le Méridien Taipei Banqiao sits inside a 31-story tower in the Xinban Special District, now open for bookings, just steps from Banqiao MRT Station and the Circular Line's Banxin Station, within walking distance of the Banqiao transit hub and the Fuzhong shopping district.

The lobby's suitcase installation and leather seating make up the "Arrival Art" that every Le Méridien property is known for — a deliberate pause point for rushed travelers the moment they walk in. Everything the tower does from here on out circles back to one idea: art isn't wall decoration for photo ops, it's the narrative logic of the entire building.

Arches, Red Brick, and Courtyard Roofs: Banqiao's Memory, Translated Into Interior Language

"Le Méridien" takes its name from the concept of longitude lines, and as Marriott's French-rooted brand, this property weaves Banqiao's local history into that French aesthetic. The arches that appear throughout the building echo Banqiao's own origin story — a place named for bridges built to connect trade and travel — while also symbolizing the meeting of East and West. The ceiling of the 4th-floor Chuang Yi lobby draws inspiration from traditional courtyard-house rooflines, and the lobby's glass partitions incorporate the visual language of Banqiao's red brick. These aren't abstract gestures toward "local connection" — they're tangible, touchable material translations.

15 Artists Turn Even the Elevators Into Gallery Space

The hotel commissioned 15 artists for the project. Inside the elevators, artist Mu Ran drew on the four seasons to create "Dream of the River," "Steeped in Three Thousand," "Rouge Falling," and "Playing With New Snow," while Hayakawa Katsumi used paper as his medium for "Floating City," a metaphor for New Taipei as a "floating city" navigating fusion and exchange amid modern urban life. For the story behind each piece, the hotel's official website has a dedicated art page to browse.

Views From the 19th Floor Up — Sleeping, Swimming, and Drinking All Included

236 high-floor rooms with city views span from the 19th to 31st floors, starting at roughly 40 square meters, all fitted with custom Simmons mattresses. Pillow options run the gamut from down and hypoallergenic synthetic fiber to buckwheat and memory foam. Bathrooms feature GROHE rainfall showers with rotary controls paired with ergonomic curved tubs, MALIN+GOETZ amenities, plus a Dyson hair dryer, Nespresso capsule machine, and BRITA water filtration — with floor-to-ceiling windows bringing the city skyline straight into the room.

The 18th floor is the tower's sky level: a heated pool framed by expansive floor-to-ceiling windows opens onto the skyline, its surface shifting with the daylight. The same floor houses a 24-hour gym fitted with Technogym equipment. LUMI Bar, the rooftop lounge, also sits on this level — from golden-hour sunsets to the layered night view of Taipei 101 against the mountains, it's all visible from the terrace. On the lobby floor, Latitude 25 leans into daytime coffee and afternoon dessert service with live piano, its "La Vie" set featuring rosé, ruby oolong milk tea tart, and honey-scented black tea egg salad brioche — all local flavors woven into the tea time menu.

Dining splits into two distinct concepts: Chef Lee Tsung-ta helms JASMIN, serving modern Cantonese cuisine under a name drawn from the local memory of jasmine flowers tied to Banqiao's Fuzhou area; Executive Chef Lin Wei-chung oversees Belle Époque Brasserie, the all-day dining restaurant organized around five live stations — seafood, market, hot dishes, island, and dessert — leaning into French and Italian influences.

The hotel has also launched a "Future Postcard Project," inviting guests to jot down their current mood or a message to their future selves, to be mailed out on a chosen date — arguably the only part of this art-filled stay that actually requires guests to pick up a pen.

Le Méridien Taipei Banqiao is located at No. 220, Section 1, Zhongshan Road, Banqiao District, New Taipei City. Phone: (02) 6620-5788. Booking information available through Marriott's official website.