Grand HiLai Taipei

The lobby ceiling at Grand HiLai Taipei climbs high enough to make you forget you're in a business hotel, which is probably the point. Steel, glass, and neon on the outside give way to marble, mirrors, and curved neo-Deco furnishings that actually invite sitting down. It's in Nangang, Taipei's quieter eastern flank, which suits the crowd here: polished, purposeful, equally comfortable filing expense reports or planning a hike into the hills.