10 Best Sun Moon Lake Hotels, Taiwan — Stunning Lake Views

We open the Sun Moon Lake list with the most luxurious, best-located pick on the Shuishe side — Hotel Del Lago. It is a 4-star property that backs up its quality with a World Luxury Hotel Award and a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence 2015. The location is the headline: it sits right at Shuishe Pier and near the bus drop-off, so you step off and you are there. Rooms are styled in a clean, modern way and look straight onto the lake, and almost every category has an in-room tub — which is why this lands as a romantic-trip favorite. Prices do run a little higher than the rest of the list, but for a trip you do not take often it earns its keep. Real guest scores sit around 8.4, with rooms from about $143 a night. For couples who want a luxe lakeside base, this is where we would start.

Our #2 pick is the hotel with lake views almost as good as the #1 for a much friendlier price — Shui Sha Lian Hotel on the Shuishe side. It trims the luxury a touch: the lobby is simple rather than grand and there is no big soaking tub. What you keep is the view, and at $100 a night versus the 4-star prices nearby, that is over a hundred dollars saved for a window that still frames the whole lake. The location does a lot of the work — it sits on Zhongshan Road, a 3-5 minute walk to Shuishe Pier and just a few steps from the Taipei-Sun Moon Lake bus drop-off, so you are not dragging bags through multiple transfers after the 3-hour ride from Taipei. Rooms hold 1-4 people, which makes it work for both families and groups of friends. Real guest scores land around 8.5.

Coming in at number 3 is the easy-decision pick on this list: Harbor Elite Hotel, a 3-star on the Shuishe side that guests keep praising for two things in particular — a varied, tasty breakfast and rooms that run bigger than the price suggests. The location does a lot of the work: it's a 3-minute walk from Shuishe Pier, with the bus stop from Taipei only a few hundred metres away, so you can drop your bags and be on a lake cruise within minutes. Rooms sleep 1 to 4, which makes it a natural fit for families. Real guest scores land in the 7.5 to 8.5 range, and rates start around $86 a night with breakfast included. If your priority is a wide room and a good morning spread without paying 4-star money, this is the simplest yes in the area.

Our #4 pick crosses the lake to the Ita Thao side, and it is the one that earns the highest guest score on this entire list — a small boutique called Ming Yue Hu Hotel. The whole place is built around the view: every room is designed with floor-to-ceiling glass facing the water, so you get a panoramic stretch of Sun Moon Lake from your own bed. It sits right on the Ita Thao shopping street, next to the pier, and a few minutes from the Sun Moon Lake Cable Car station. Staying on this side means a short ferry hop, but that is no real cost — anyone spending the night at the lake ends up here anyway to ride the cable car. Rooms come with an in-room hot tub, real guest scores run as high as around 9.3, and prices start near $86 a night. We recommend it hard for anyone who wants the best lake view they can get.

Our #5 pick has the single best lake outlook our team has stood in front of anywhere around the water — The Richforest Hotel - Sun Moon Lake. It is a 4-star over on the Ita Thao side, so if you arrive by bus you ferry your bags across, though a taxi will also bring you straight to the door. The whole building, inside and out, is made of Taiwanese Hinoki cypress, which gives the lobby a soft resinous scent you simply do not get in a newer hotel. Rooms wear a Classic wood look and come with an in-room tub; the property sits up on a rise, so the water, Lalu Island and the green hills read clear with nothing in the way. Facilities run resort-deep — a top-floor panorama restaurant, gym, cypress-wood sauna and a meeting room. Real guests score it around 9.0; rates start near $145 a night. We send couples here who want the best view in the quietest setting.

Our #6 pick is the one where you can stop worrying about which room to request: Hu Yue Lakeview Hotel sits right at Ita Thao pier on the quieter side of Sun Moon Lake, and every single room faces the water. Hop the 15-minute ferry over from Shuishe and you walk straight in. Rooms run spacious for this tier, with a 42-inch flat TV, good bedding, and an ensuite that splits the soaking tub and the shower into separate zones. From the door it is a short walk to the Ita Thao night market, the food stalls, and the Sun Moon Lake cable car station, and there is free private parking if you drove in from Taipei. A buffet restaurant and a 24-hour front desk round it out. Real guests score it around 9.2 — high for a 3-star — with rates from about $86 a night. Good value for couples and families who want the view without the luxury price.

Our #7 is the pick for travelers who want to cycle the lake at sunrise — the Sun Moon Lake Hotel, a 4-star that sits right on the water on the Shuishe side. Step out of the lobby and a wooden boardwalk runs along the lake; the lakeside cycle path that CNN rated one of the world's most beautiful is under a minute away, and the hotel lends bikes free (time-limited) so you can ride out to Xiangshan Visitor Center and be back for breakfast. The modern 8-storey block has Lake View rooms from 32 sqm with balconies facing the water, where the sun comes up over the mountains opposite and lays gold across the surface. There's a Lulu Spa, a 24-hour gym, and a lake-view restaurant doing a Western-Chinese-Taiwanese breakfast. Real-guest scores land around 8.6, with rates from about $114 a night.

Our #8 pick is the easy budget call: Love Home Lake Hotel, a small family-run guesthouse on Zhongshan Road on the Shuishe side of Sun Moon Lake. It skips the polish of the luxury places and leans into a warm, stay-with-relatives feel instead — the headline draws are the low price and the wide lake view. The location is genuinely handy: about a 3-minute walk to the Taipei-Sun Moon Lake bus stop and roughly 5 minutes to Shuishe Pier, with a convenience store and restaurants on the same street. Rooms run from a 22 sqm double for two up to a 40 sqm family room that sleeps 6, so families and groups of friends can share. The one catch to plan around: there is no 24-hour reception, so late arrivals should give notice ahead or look elsewhere. Real guest scores sit around 7.8-8.4, with rooms from about $71 a night.

Our number 9 is one of the most popular stays our team ranked here — Tanhui Modern Hotel, a small design boutique on the Shuishe side of Sun Moon Lake. The rooms go for a clean, Modern Asian look in light wood and pastel tones, with a few room types fronted by a feature wall painted with the lake and its surrounding mountains. The location is one of the easiest in the area: the Taipei bus stop is a 2-minute walk and Shuishe Pier about 5 minutes, so onward travel is simple. There is also a 7-Eleven right beside the hotel — handy for late-night snacks and drinks in a town where restaurants close early. Room rates include breakfast, and rooms sleep anywhere from 1 to 6 people depending on size and dates. Real guest scores land around 8.0 to 8.6, with rates from about $54 a night — the lowest starting price on our list at this quality. We recommend it for travelers who want a good-looking, well-placed room without paying much for it.

We close the Sun Moon Lake list with the most wallet-friendly pick that still covers all the bases — Harbor Resort Hotel. This 3-star sits on the Shuishe side and is the leisure building of Shui Sha Lian Hotel (our #2), sharing some check-in and services but priced almost $29 a night less. The location handles everything you need on arrival: the bus stop from Taipei is a 3-minute walk and Shuishe Pier a 5-minute one, so you are not dragging bags far after the 3-hour ride in. Rooms sleep 1 to 4, and Lake View units look out over Sun Moon Lake with boats crossing and green hills behind. Real-guest scores land around 8.4, and rooms start near $77. We recommend it for travelers and families who want a handy location and good value to wrap up the list.