Westin Yilan Spa Hotel: Family hotel review. Is it worth it?

Asia • Destinations • Family Travel • Hotels

September 9, 2026

The boys drop their bags in the entryway of the Westin Yilan and let out a “Bro! Look at this room!” Then they slide open the door to the balcony and yell, “It has its own pool!”

Close, boys. It’s a stone tub, not a pool, and it was empty (so clearly not a pool).

We booked the cheapest room with two queen beds (with views of the resort’s restaurants) and were upgraded to a suite nearly double the size. No matter what room you book, though, all of them are spacious and come with a hot spring tub in the room (some have two).

What if you feel like leaving your room? The rest of the resort includes a free-for-hotel-guests hot spring with a few caveats (all the details are below), 2 restaurants and a bar that doubles as a third, a pool, a fitness center, a kids’ space, and a spa.

We stayed two nights in March 2025, paid cash, and got upgraded based on status. Below is what that room included, what the communal hot springs asked of us as a family with two boys, and whether it’s worth booking on purpose instead of hoping for the same luck.

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Table of Contents

• Location: The Westin Yilan in Yuanshan
• The Upgrade: What We Booked vs. What We Got
• Rooms
• The Hot Springs (and the Rule Nobody Tells You)
• Beyond the Resort: Whisky, Coffee, and Scallions
• Amenities
• Is the Westin Yilan Worth It for Families?
• The Bottom Line
• Frequently Asked Questions

Location: The Westin Yilan in Yuanshan

The Westin Yilan sits in Yuanshan, on the outskirts of Yilan City, not in the middle of it. A few things sit close enough to walk to, though we never tested that ourselves. We drove everywhere, simpler if you’re already driving to the property. It’s about a 1-hour drive from Taipei without traffic.

This location suits a family that wants the hot springs and the quiet, and is fine driving to everything else. It’s the wrong pick if you want to walk to dinner or nightlife without a car. You can see current room rates and photos on the Westin Yilan’s official Marriott page. If you’re still working out the long-haul leg with kids before you ever reach Yilan, our flying with twins guide covers the flight itself.

The Upgrade: What We Booked vs. What We Got

We booked a Premium Guest Room, two queen beds, Water View (18,832.28 TWD for 2 nights, roughly $590 USD at recent exchange rates). “Water View” at this resort means the center of the resort: the restaurants, the walking paths, the parts of the property other guests pass through.

Because of our Marriott Bonvoy status, we were upgraded to a Premium Garden Suite, plus given breakfast and what was referred to as “club lounge” access. That last one is worth clearing up before you picture a proper Club floor: it’s a two-hour window in one of the hotel’s bar-restaurant spaces with free snacks and drinks, not a dedicated lounge with its own space or staff. The two-hour window was pleasant, a nice time to unwind, and great to give the kids a snack before dinner, but overall it’s smaller than the name implies.

None of this was something we paid extra for or requested by name. It came with our status, not our reservation.

Rooms

The practical question first: room categories run from a Premium Room up through Garden and Water View suites to a Two Bedroom Villa that sleeps six, so a larger family isn’t stuck splitting rooms. We skipped asking about connecting rooms since several categories fit 4 people; if you need more than one, confirm with the hotel before booking (or take the chance… we do that often).

The Premium Garden Suite

The room opens into an entry hall with a wall bench, leading into a sitting area with a TV. Continue back past the two queen beds to the sliding doors and the private outdoor space, including one of the hot spring tubs. The bathroom has a double sink vanity, a fully enclosed Toto toilet, and an indoor tub sharing space with the shower. Both tubs fit two adults with room to spare: 2 adults + 1 kid, or 1 adult + 2 (or 3) kids. Our 2 adults + 2 kids in one tub was crowded but possible. Three-plus adults? Maybe, if everyone’s willing to get cozy.

What the Water View Room Would Have Given Us

Every room has at least an indoor hot spring tub, and many have both, Water View included. The difference is what the outdoor tub faces. Garden View backs into a private, enclosed garden. Water View sits closer to the restaurants and paths at the resort’s center. If outdoor-tub privacy matters, request Garden View. Don’t count on an upgrade to do it for you.

What This Meant for Us

Two adults and two nine-year-olds fit in that suite without anyone on a pull-out or floor mattress, and the outdoor tub fit all four of us after a day out and about in Yilan. Book Garden View, and treat any suite upgrade as a bonus, not a plan.

The Hot Springs (and the Rule Nobody Tells You)

Separate from the tub(s) in your room, the Westin Yilan’s hot spring facility is free for every hotel guest. It’s split into two sides, and each side is single-gender. No clothing or swimsuits, which is standard practice at hot springs across Taiwan (and most of Asia), not something specific to this resort. If nude communal bathing isn’t something you or your family are ready for, the tub in your room is the built-in workaround. Nobody requires you to use the public side at all.

Kids are welcome, but they go in with the parent who shares their gender. For a family like ours with two boys, that meant Dad took both kids to the men’s side while Mom got some much valued alone time (finally 🥳). The hotel swaps which side is designated men’s and women’s each day, so a two-night stay can mean experiencing both layouts.

Inside, expect indoor springs at a few different temperatures, a cold plunge pool, a steam room, and a sauna, with one larger outdoor pool per side. The springs run until 10 p.m., which makes them a good way to end a day, not only a novelty to check off.

Beyond the Resort: Whisky, Coffee, and Scallions

The Kavalan Whisky Distillery runs tours through the making of Taiwan’s award-winning single malt, and the tasting room doubles, oddly, as a Mr. Brown coffee shop: the same company, King Car, owns both brands, so you can go from a whisky sample to a cup of coffee without leaving the building. Kid-friendly as a stop, not only for the whisky-curious adults in the group.

Closer to Sanxing, there are scallion-picking farm tours. We let our boys pull (attempt to pull) their own scallions from the ground. I don’t think they’re cut out for farm work. After touring the farm you can roll the scallions into dough for scallion pancakes, then eat them hot off the griddle. Sanxing’s scallions are giant, and the ones Taiwan is known for. You may go home wondering why your scallions are so minuscule. The DIY pancake step is a hands-on activity that lands better with kids than another temple or museum stop would. We bought our scallion-picking tickets on Klook, but you can also book Kavalan day tours out of Yilan (or Taipei) on KKday so you don’t have to worry about having a DD.

Amenities

The resort has a pool, a gym, and a kids’ space on-site. The kids’ space exists, but it was either unstaffed or quiet enough during our stay that it didn’t hold our kids’ attention. We visited in March, and the pool ran cold enough that our kids swam for a few minutes and called it done.

In the parking garage basement, there’s a small track with electric ride-on cars for kids. Sized for younger kids, roughly ages 2 to 6 by our best guess looking at them. Our nine-year-old twins didn’t fit, including the smaller of the two, so don’t build your kids’ expectations around this one if they’re already in elementary school. They tried hard to shrink themselves small enough to fit anyway, but alas. Small touches like kid-sized slippers are a nicer, more universal fit. Themed kids’ rooms exist as a bookable category; we didn’t stay in one, so we can’t review it.

Is the Westin Yilan Worth It for Families?

It depends on what your family wants out of the stay. For a hot-spring-first, slow-down trip, the Westin Yilan is a great fit, and the in-room tub setup makes that experience accessible even to a couple or family that skips the communal side entirely. Where it’s thinner is active kid entertainment past toddler age. The kids’ space and the parking garage car track are both built for younger kids, and ours had aged out of both.

The Bottom Line

The stay delivered exactly what we wanted from a hot-spring-first trip: two private tubs, a communal hot spring experience most Western travelers never get to try, and enough quiet to unwind between day trips. The Marriott Bonvoy status upgrade wasn’t something we could request by name or count on repeating, so treat any suite upgrade as a bonus, not a plan. The one piece worth booking on purpose: request Garden View if the outdoor tub’s privacy matters to you, since that’s the one variable in this whole stay that wasn’t left to luck.

Stayed as Marriott Bonvoy elite members. Complimentary upgrade, breakfast, and lounge access included with status.

Keep Reading

More Hotel Reviews:

• Sheraton Grand Taipei Hotel: our Taipei base, and the city counterpart to a quieter Yilan stay.
• Le Meridien Taichung: further south, a different Taiwan city entirely, same brand family.

Planning a Family Trip?

• Flying with Twins: The Complete Survival Guide: everything we learned flying with multiples.
• 14 Unexpected Things I Pack on Every Trip: our actual packing list after years of trial and error.

It wasn’t a swimming pool, it was a stone tub big enough for all four of us. We planned for a standard two-queen room and a Water View, but the version we got is the one worth requesting on purpose next time: Garden View. And let the rest of the upgrade stay a surprise.

Frequently Asked Questions