Remember how we all swooned when we learnt that Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu’s husband is naming his new hotel in Taipei after her?
Now Hotel S is in the spotlight again for operating without a licence.
Taiwanese media reported that the hotel – Chinese businessman Wang Xiaofei’s latest venture – was recently fined TWD$500,000 (S$23,000) for opening for business before its official launch on April 15.
According to Apple Daily Taiwan, Hotel S’s website was found to have accepted online room reservations.
A spokesperson from Taipei City’s information and tourism department told Chung Tien Television in a phone interview that it was alerted to the incident by members of the public.
She said that the authority will impose the maximum fine of TWD$500,000 on the hotel for operating without a licence.
However, Hotel S’s public relations officer Jesse has denied the allegations and said that the hotel has not received notification of any offence.
According to Jesse, the hotel had been conducting trial runs of services such as room reservations and food tastings while waiting for its operating licence to be approved.
Hsu has declined to comment on the incident, saying that she is unfamiliar with Hotel S’s operations.
minlee@sph.com.sg
