enya FASHION QUEEN

EDITOR Annie Chien｜TRANSLATOR Aurora Lin｜PHOTOGRAPHER Wade Wu

從台北出發，不過一小時的車程，卻像換了一個時區。金山的海風、慢下來的步調、還有從地底湧出的溫泉，讓人很快忘記剛才還在高速公路上。

IHG 洲際酒店集團在台首間溫泉奢華度假村——新北北海溫泉洲際酒店，就在這裡靜靜落腳。這間坐擁北海岸天光水色、211 間客房全數配有私人溫泉湯池的飯店，掌舵人是台灣洲際酒店集團首位女性總經理林欣怡（Sarah Lin）。她來自宜蘭，畢業於澳洲伊迪斯科文大學酒店管理學系，二十多年來從前線服務一路做到總經理，沒有跳級，也沒有捷徑，只是清楚知道每一個位置的重量。

初來金山，她第一個拜訪的不是里長，而是分局長。這個細節，說的不只是她的處事方式，更是一種態度——她想讓新北北海溫泉洲際酒店真正成為金山的一份子，而不只是一間開在金山的飯店。在她的字典裡，管理者不是站在前面發號施令，而是把複雜問題快速拆解、讓不同背景的人找到共同目標、在每一個細節裡維持品質的溫度。

Sarah Lin, General Manager of InterContinental New Taipei Hot Spring
From a Cup of Tea to a Private Hot Spring Bath—Where a Hotel Absorbs the Warmth of Place

Less than an hour from Taipei, yet it feels like crossing into another time zone. The sea breeze of Jinshan, the slower rhythm, the hot springs rising quietly from beneath the earth—together, they dissolve any trace of the highway you’ve just left behind.

This is where IHG’s first luxury hot spring resort in Taiwan—InterContinental New Taipei Hot Spring—has found its place along the coast. With 211 rooms and suites, each featuring a private spring-fed bath, the property opens out to the shifting light and tides of the North Coast. At its helm is Sarah Lin, the first female General Manager of InterContinental Hotels Group in Taiwan.

Originally from Yilan and a graduate of Edith Cowan University in Australia, Lin has spent more than two decades in hospitality, moving steadily from frontline service to the general manager’s office. No shortcuts. No leaps. Just a clear understanding of what each role carries—and what it demands. When she first arrived in Jinshan, the first person she chose to meet was not the village chief, but the local precinct head. A small detail, perhaps. But it reveals everything.

For Lin, the ambition was never simply to operate a hotel in Jinshan, but to become part of Jinshan itself. Leadership, in her view, is not about standing at the front and issuing direction. It is about breaking down complexity, aligning people with different backgrounds, and holding a consistent standard—while never losing the warmth that defines hospitality.

二十年旅宿前線，走到台灣洲際酒店集團首位女總經理

從宜蘭到澳洲讀書，接手新北北海溫泉洲際酒店之前，也曾走過在中國籌開競爭品牌飯店的歷練，Sarah 的職涯版圖比大多數人想像的更完整也更立體。她說，這一路走來最大的收穫，是「清楚知道每一個崗位的重要性，和每一個崗位需要被怎麼支持」——飯店業從來不是獨角戲，是一場需要所有部門協調配合的團體演出。

「我一直以來都很去性別化，對我來說如何成為一位有效領導者，那才是更重要的。」台灣飯店業裡女性管理者並不罕見，但坐到總經理位子的仍屬少數。這句話不是刻意的謙遜，更像是她二十年實戰提煉出來的工作哲學——問題拆解、安定人心、標準一致、保持溫度，這四件事，放在任何一個性別身上都成立。

From Two Decades on the Frontline to Taiwan’s First Female IHG General Manager

From Yilan to Australia, and later to China where she took part in launching a competing international hotel brand, Lin’s career has unfolded with a quiet completeness—layered, deliberate, and deeply grounded.

“What I’ve gained most,” she reflects, “is knowing how important every position is—and how each one needs to be supported.” Hospitality has never been a solo act. It is, and always will be, a collective performance. “I’ve always approached my work in a gender-neutral way. What matters is how to be an effective leader.” In Taiwan’s hotel industry, female managers are not uncommon—but few reach the general manager level. Her words are not modesty. They are method.

Break down the problem. Steady the team. Keep the standard. Preserve the warmth. Four principles—entirely indifferent to gender, entirely essential to leadership.

清朝茶農、回鄉青年，新北北海溫泉洲際酒店「比在地更懂在地」

接手新北北海溫泉洲際酒店，對 Sarah 來說，最大的課題不是硬體，而是如何讓一間國際品牌飯店真正融入金山。她以「比在地更懂在地」這個想法，真正去理解金山的季節、風土與居民日常，那種走進早市才感受得到的人情味，讓飯店成為一個窗口，讓各地旅客透過住宿慢慢認識金山。「共創，而非取用」也是她特別在意的——新北北海溫泉洲際酒店進駐金山，帶來超過 200 個工作機會，她希望飯店能成為這個社區真正的長期夥伴，和在地職人、農漁業者、文化工作者一起，把這裡的故事帶給更多人。

實現這些想法，她一一付諸行動，透過分局長的牽線，拜訪了石門阿里磅的傳承五代的茶農，從清朝至今，從日據時代的紅茶外銷到鐵觀音轉型，每一杯茶裡都是說不完的歷史。如今這些茶葉進了飯店，季節到了還有採茶體驗，旅客喝到的不只是一杯茶，是一段真實存在的時間。她也聊到金山街頭回鄉創業的年輕人們——離開、再回來，在故鄉開甜點店、做藝術創作——這些「在地創生」的故事，在新北北海溫泉洲際酒店裡繼續被看見。

一路聊下來，不難感受到，相較於過去用硬體堆疊出來的奢華，Sarah 對「體驗設計」有更清晰的主張。度假型飯店的客人在意的，是身心狀態的真正切換——空間感、動線節奏、服務溫度，以及每一個部門提供給旅客的體驗是否前後連貫。從迎賓、泡湯、用餐到入睡，每一段都要精心安排，卻又讓人感覺不到「被安排」的痕跡，只有人情味的溫度——就像新北北海溫泉洲際的氯化物硫酸鹽泉，保溫保濕，又鎮靜療癒。

Tea Farmers Since the Qing Dynasty, Returning Youth—Becoming ‘More Local Than Local’

For Lin, the real challenge of leading InterContinental New Taipei Hot Spring is not the building itself, but how an international brand learns to belong. Her approach is simple in words, demanding in practice: to understand the local—more deeply than the local itself.

That means stepping into Jinshan’s seasons, its textures, its everyday rhythms. The kind of warmth you only encounter in a morning market. The kind that cannot be designed, only understood. The hotel, she hopes, becomes a window—one through which travelers begin to know Jinshan, slowly, and on its own terms.

“Co-creation, not extraction.” It is a phrase she returns to often. With more than 200 jobs created through the hotel’s arrival, Lin envisions it not as an isolated destination, but as a long-term partner—working alongside local artisans, farmers, fishermen, and cultural practitioners to bring the region’s stories into view. And she has acted on it.

Through introductions from the precinct head, she visited a fifth-generation tea farming family in Alibang, Shimen—whose history stretches back to the Qing Dynasty. From black tea exports during the Japanese era to the evolution into Tieguanyin, each cup carries its own lineage. Today, those teas are served within the hotel. In season, guests can take part in the harvest. What they encounter is not just tea. It is time—steeped, held, and shared.

She speaks, too, of the younger generation returning home—opening dessert shops, creating art, reshaping their hometown from within. These stories of return and renewal now continue, quietly, within the hotel’s own narrative. What emerges, over the course of the conversation, is a shift in how luxury itself is defined. For Lin, it is no longer about material accumulation, but about the precision of experience. A resort is not simply a place—it is a transition. A recalibration of body and mind. The sense of space. The rhythm of movement. The warmth of service. And above all, the continuity—how each moment flows into the next without interruption.

From arrival to bathing, from dining to rest—everything is considered. And yet, nothing feels staged. Only a quiet, human warmth remains. Much like the hotel’s chloride-sulfate springs—heat-retaining, restorative, and gently grounding.

總經理的旅遊私房清單，金山說走就走 Little Getaway

從事旅宿業多年，工作之餘 Sarah 更是旅行愛好者。她笑說自己是個「不追景點」的旅人，比起打卡，更想感受一個地方真實的生活樣貌。和家人出遊她會選洲際旗下的品牌，「Take care of everything」的安心感，對家族旅遊來說剛剛好；但一個人旅行，她更偏好 Airbnb，為的是那種真正融入在地的可能性。回想疫情前飛往希臘的長途獨旅，從自己搭渡輪、排行程，到住進一對自雅典建築師領域回到聖托里尼老家經營民宿，步調慢了下來的老夫妻家裡，看著他們的日子，她說：「那就是我退休想要的生活。」

但在那之前，她有更實際的私房推薦——就是金山，不是業配，是真心話！她最私心推薦的時刻，是早上六點多，趁人還不多，從飯店步行到早市，再走到慈護宮拜拜，沿途看到老人家拿著自家種的蔬菜擺攤，那種純樸的人文感，在台北城裡確實難找。中角灣那頭，她最常去一家叫「靠北過日子」的咖啡烘焙店，老闆的斯康是她的心頭好：「真的很棒！」說這句話的時候，Sarah 露出純粹的雀躍。磺港漁村裡「阿嬤家漁村料理」也是她的口袋名單，阿嬤的料理、阿公自製的魚露，那種從日常生活裡長出來的味道，是金山最真實的模樣。

走完早市、吃飽喝足，回到新北北海溫泉洲際酒店的私人湯池，讓氯化物硫酸鹽泉的熱度從腳底慢慢暖上來，Sarah 說，很多台北旅客回饋，來到這裡有一種久違的感覺：可以說走就走，好好放鬆。這大概是一間度假飯店能給人最好的禮物——不是記住了什麼，而是那段悠遊的時光，在腦海裡輕輕住了下來。

A General Manager’s Personal Itinerary—Jinshan, A Little Getaway

Outside of work, Lin remains an instinctive traveler. “I don’t chase landmarks,” she says. “I look for how people actually live.” With family, she chooses IHG properties—the reassurance of having everything taken care of. But alone, she turns to Airbnb, drawn to the possibility of stepping into a place, rather than simply visiting it.

She recalls a solo journey to Greece before the pandemic—ferries, improvised itineraries, and a stay in a guesthouse run by a couple who had returned from Athens to Santorini. Watching their slower, more grounded life, she found herself thinking: “That’s the kind of life I imagine after retirement.” Until then, she offers a more immediate recommendation. Jinshan. “Not a promotion,” she smiles. “Just genuinely worth it.” Her favorite hour is just after dawn. Around six. When the town is still quiet.

From the hotel, she walks to the morning market, then onward to Cihu Temple. Along the way, elderly vendors lay out vegetables they have grown themselves. A simplicity that feels almost rare. Near Zhongjiao Bay, she often stops at a small coffee roastery—Kao Bei Guo Ri Zi. The owner’s scones, she says, are her weakness. “They’re really good.” And in that moment, her composure gives way to something lighter, almost childlike. In Huanggang Fishing Harbor, “Grandma’s Shop” remains another favorite—home-style dishes, house-made fish sauce, flavors that belong entirely to this place. And then, back to the hotel. Into the private bath. Letting the mineral-rich water rise, slowly, from the feet upward. Many guests from Taipei, she notes, say the same thing: that coming here feels like remembering something they had almost forgotten—the ease of leaving, the permission to rest. Perhaps that is the true gift of a resort. Not what you remember, but what stays with you—quietly, long after you’ve left.

新北北海溫泉洲際酒店
InterContinental New Taipei Hot Spring
地址：新北市金山區環金路210號
電話：02-24983399