Although Hello Kitty was invented in Japan, locals of Taiwan are obsessed — evident by their Hello Kitty Castle in Hsinchu, Hello Kitty Maternity Hospital in Yuanlin and currently-under-renovation Hello Kitty Restaurant in Taipei. Luckily, I was privy to the unique cultural experience of spending time in the Hi-Lai Plaza Hotel’s Hello Kitty guestroom, said to be the world’s dreamiest Hello Kitty themed room.
Awash in wall-to-wall pink, the hotel features a Hello Kitty bedspread, Hello Kitty curtains, a Hello Kitty-square bed headboard, a Hello Kitty shaped bathroom mirror, Hello Kitty bathroom amenities, Hello Kitty artwork and even a Hello Kitty radio that plays Hello Kitty music. You can also have breakfast with a live Hello Kitty, ride around town in a pink Hello Kitty car and ride around on a Hello Kitty bicycle. For a truly luxury experience, head to 7-11 for some Hello Kitty Lychee Rose wine, (which I’m sure is rated by Wine Spectator). Ironically enough, you may need to call 7-11 and make a special reservation for the wine, as it’s not always in stock. If you like super-sweet hot pink drinks that take you back to the good old college days when you would drink battery acid if it had alcohol in it, then this libation is for you.
For a visual of my Hello Kitty-immersed experience, check out the photos below:
Step inside the sumptuous Hello Kitty suite
Peering into the Hello Kitty room
Nothing but Hello Kitty from wall-to-table
Riding around in the Hello Kitty mobile
Taking in world-class artwork in the Hello Kitty guestroom
Hello Kitty amenities
This Hello Kitty radio plays Hello Kitty music from the hit cartoon
Sipping Hello Kitty out of a Hello Kitty wine glass on Taiwan’s high speed train
Jessica Festa is the editor of the travel sites Jessie on a Journey (http://jessieonajourney.com) and Epicure & Culture (http://epicureandculture.com). Along with blogging at We Blog The World, her byline has appeared in publications like Huffington Post, Gadling, Fodor’s, Travel + Escape, Matador, Viator, The Culture-Ist and many others. After getting her BA/MA in Communication from the State University of New York at Albany, she realized she wasn’t really to stop backpacking and made travel her full time job. Some of her most memorable experiences include studying abroad in Sydney, teaching English in Thailand, doing orphanage work in Ghana, hiking her way through South America and traveling solo through Europe. She has a passion for backpacking, adventure, hiking, wine and getting off the beaten path.
