This section would be on the hotels we stayed at in Taiwan. Leaving out the hotel we stayed at in KaohSiung, National Citizen Hotel. Room-wise it was pretty normal, clean. Worth mentioning is the service from the staff, which was excellent, going all out to cater to our requests and queries. Without them, we might have never survived our night adventure around KaohSiung =P
Alrighty, first up. The Posh.
The Posh-est hotel we stayed at would be the Sunworld Dynasty Hotel Taipei
Personally, I felt that the layout of the hotel is quite similar to that of Pan Pacific Singapore.
It is a posh place, serving the widest selection at its breakfast buffet, and with major shopping centres near its vicinity. Comfortable beds and huge bathtub, big enought for two. Excellent service from the staff with prompt response. Too bad we didn't have the time to explore all of its facilities.
Next up, The Unique
This would definitely go to Master Bear Resort in Taitung.
There, we had the opportunity to live in one of the caravan homes parked at the resort, normally reserved for drivers and tour guides.
It is a small cramp space, well designed so that it meets the basic necessities. Personally, I felt it was cozy, and practical. The back of the caravan is the living space, a nice sitting area with a flat screen tv.
Separated by the small toilet (with a shower, no tub) and the wardrobe, is the sleeping corner at the front of the caravan.
And yes, there is even a flat screen tv for the bed.
Personally, I felt that the only thing lacking from making it a complete home, would be the lack of a cooking space. However, for holiday go-ers, the cozy environment is inviting. A down-point would be the amount of mosquitoes in the resort, and so you have to rush in, when opening the door. The electric repellent installed in the caravan worked well too and contributed to a good undisturbed rest.
The Recommended
My favourite hotel, would be our stay in TaiChung, Debao Business Hotel
Not as spacious as posh-er hotels, but it does nicely. And there is even a nice comfy armchair with leg-rest
Sleek bathroom, with a tub big enough for one.
One of the key features is the its smart-home feature. Everything less the heater can be controlled via the remote, allowing you to adjust the air-con and lightings perfectly while lazing around in bed. Perfect.
Initial looks of the hotel really looked shoddy, but it proved to be really under-rated. Personally, I also feel that Taichung is a cheaper shopping area as compared to Taipei for youths like us, and if you do visit Taichung, give this hotel a try!
The Bad
My worst hotel experience during my trip would be my stay at Golden Coast Union Hotel in Hualien.
Initially, we were living in Room 516
A note to all going to Taiwan in future. Their toilets clog very very easily. Gross as it may sound, always throw your used toilet paper in the bin provided by the side. And, if you are bombing the whole of Hiroshima and Nagasaki , do flush in between, as the waste may also clog up the small exit of the toilet bowl. Which is what happened. And we got changed to room 518.
Room 518 is much bigger than 516, most probably being an unused suite. Big as it may look in the picture (yes, it is very very spacious, with a full sofa set within. But no bath tub, just a shower.), the air-conditioning system actually sucks. Took like 5 hours for it to cool the whole freaking room. And the air-con runs on the same system as the lights, meaning, if you remove the door-card and leave the room, the air-con does not function. Wonderful.
And maybe its the fact that it is not used for quite some time, there were a number of mosquitoes floating around the spacious room. Didn't get much sleep that night =(