The World’s Highest Starbucks

Seattle is home to the very first Starbucks in the world, but Taipei is home to the highest Starbucks in the world.  Located inside the Taipei 101 building, it is also known as the Secret Starbucks on Floor 35.  If you google Starbucks Taipei 101, you will likely find results for the Starbucks that is located on the first floor, but the one I visited requires an advance reservation and a staff member to lead you from the lobby of the Taipei 101 financial tower to the coffee shop.

Prior to traveling to Taipei, I had read about needing to call up to the Starbucks from the lobby of the Taipei 101 building.  When we arrived to do that, we discovered Starbucks wasn’t even listed on the info board.  Thankfully, a lady at the info centre directed me to a small little sign that listed the instructions on how to make reservations.  The process had recently changed and now requires you to phone the coffee shop to make reservations at least one day prior.  For anyone planning on visiting, make sure to call 8101-0701 at least a day beforehand to make a reservation!

We ended up with a 3:00pm reservation on a Sunday afternoon and due to some confusion on the metro, we ended up at the lobby probably a minute before 3:00pm.  We were nervous because when we made the reservation, they had specifically reminded us not to be late.  When we entered the lobby, we didn’t see anyone else so I asked the guards and they pointed us to an area to wait.  People slowly started trickling in and it turns out we were actually one of the first couple of people to arrive.

After a few minutes, one of the employees finally showed up to take roll call and lead us up to the coffee shop. 

We were required to order a minimum of one drink and one pastry per person. We overheard someone asking if they could order two drinks instead of a pastry and they were denied.  Service was extremely slow due to there being about 40 or 50 customers but only 3 staff members.  Perhaps this was why they weren’t allowed to order an extra drink instead of a pastry.

We had a time limit of 1.5 hours to spend up there and during that time we could freely roam around the entire floor.  We were politely asked to leave at 4:30pm and I felt really bad for the girl who had to deliver this message to us.  Everyone left at the same time, but some people went to use the restrooms first, so she had to wait around and gather people to make sure they all entered the elevator to leave the 35th floor. 

The experience of having a coffee at this Starbucks is second to none.  If you get the opportunity to visit Taipei, I would highly recommend this!  The cost of the food and drinks were the same as any normal Starbucks in the city, but you get great views from the 35^th floor of the Taipei 101 building without having to pay the admission costs involved with heading up Taipei 101.