Choosing a right place to stay is one of the most crucial part in planning your trip. I’ll be nice by listing out some of the better place to stay in Taipei (and around Taipei). Basically there are four types of accommodation in Taiwan and I’ve tried them all. :p
1) Hotel
Most Malaysians love to stay around Ximending area but I would recommend hotels around Taipei Main Station for convenience sake. It is so easy to move around the island by taking MRT, rail train or high speed rail train. The plus point is you can leave your luggage with the hotel before travel down south. Here’s some of my personal favourite especially a,b,c,d and g.
a) Ambience Hotel – http://www.ambiencehotel.com.tw/ starts from NT 2990
b) City Inn & City Inn 2 – http://www.gocityinn.com/ starts from NT1300
c) Dandy Hotel Tianjin – http://www.dandyhotel.com.tw/info_eng.html starts from NT2080
allie: I like Dandy Hotel! Stayed there during my last trip. The hotel staff is friendly and hotel is clean. Although it might be a bit pricey for backpacker
d) Hotel 73 – http://www.hotel73.com/ starts from NT3000
*Hotel a,b,c and d are related
e) Lio Hotel – http://www.liohotel.com.tw/index.php
f) Orangeone.Forte (guan qian branch) – http://www.forte-hotel.net/ starts from NT2800
g) See You Hotel – http://www.taipeionestarhotel.com.tw/index.html starts from NT1980
2) Hostel
Hostel is cheap, you meet a lot of interesting people and it can be a memorable experience. BUT to be frank, I don’t really enjoy my stay in a hostel, even though it’s an individual room. We paid NT100 for it, but I would prefer to top up a little bit of money and stay at one of those suites or hotels around Taipei.
a) Camel’s Oasis – http://camelsoasistaipei.tripod.com/index.html starts from NT350 for dorm room
b) Eights Elephant Hostel – http://www.eehostel.com/ starts from NT490 for dorm room
c) Taipei Backpacker’s Hostel – http://www.taipei-backpackers.com/hostel/index.php starts from NT500 for dorm room
apple foodees: I don’t recommend visitors staying at Taipei Backpacker’s Hostel given the fact that for a little bit extra, you can get a better room somewhere near there.
d) Taipei Hostel – http://www.taipeihostel.com/index.html starts from NT500 for dorm room
e) Taipei Home Stay – http://taipeihostel.blogspot.com/ starts from NT800
kbcg: Superb location, complete with basic necessities but dodgy surrounding because it is located at the end of some smelly alley.
f) Taipei Teacher’s Hostel – http://www.tth.url.tw/index.html starts from NT1400
g) YMCA (Y Hotel) – http://www.ymcataipei.org.tw/room_ch.php starts from NT 1800
3) Minsu (B&B)
A minsu in Taiwan is like a Bed & Breakfast kind of inn where you established a close relationship with the owner. Even though most daily rent suites/rooms claimed themselves as minsu but I beg to differ because you hardly interact with the owners. There are a lot of nice minsu outside Taipei such as Windsor @ Jiufen and Rottenburg @ Yilan.
We have become best friends with the Windsor B&B owner. The warmth and kindest of the owners have melted the hearts of many too.
When they came to visit last week, we met up and the other Malaysian guests who have stayed in the B&B before were there. We had fun catching up with each other over a bakuteh dinner.
4) Daily Rent Suites/Rooms
Strongly recommended especially when you are traveling in a small group. Some suites come with living hall, kitchen and even washing machine. However, some suites are actually apartment divided into parts so privacy can be an issue.
1. Taipei York – Longshan Temple Station (apartment divided into suites)
2. Julie Home Stay – Ximen Station
3. Baby Home – Shida or Ximen Station
4. 不小心的鳥 – Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall Station (individual suite)*
5. gofortravel – Zhongxiao Dunhua Station (individual suite)*
*personal favourite
Gofortravel apartment is just 30 seconds walk to the nearest MRT station and we like the security feature that come with it. The owner gave us a pass code prior to our departure so we can just “check in” anytime. For payment, we received the invoice (NT1400 per night) in soft copy. We just need to print it out and make the payment at any convenience store in Taiwan. However, the room can only fit a maximum of 3 person and this is the only suite that owner has. Here’s some pictures of our apartment.
security feature
It took us only 2 minutes to reach the 24 hour Elite Bookstore.
Please share with us your experience . We’ll quote your comments in this post and hopefully we can compile a list for our readers. It’ll be very useful for those who are visiting Taiwan soon. 🙂
I like Dandy Hotel! Stayed there during my last trip. The hotel staff is friendly and hotel is clean. Although it might be a bit pricey for backpacker 😛
.-= allie´s last blog ..Maa Roy Restaurant : Authentic Thai Cuisine =-.
rm200+ rite? but the room is so nice
I don’t recommend visitors staying at Taipei Backpacker’s Hostel given the fact that for a little bit extra, you can get a better room somewhere near there.
I would recommend City Inn though.
.-= Apple Foodees´s last blog ..Roasted Chicken Thighs Recipe =-.
thx thx. i’ve included ur comment in the post
Useful post this one. Thanks for this. I’ll be needing your guidance if I’m ever going to Taiwan.
I am so tempted. 😉
.-= J2Kfm´s last blog ..Krabi/Phuket 2010 (Part 2) – Patong Beach, Red Light District & Thai Seafood in Phuket =-.
u shud! conquer taiwan!
Thanks a lot for some of the recommendation. Me and my wife will be visiting Taiwan in September, still looking around for accomodation, so this post is really handy!
have fun with ur wife! n ur new born
this list is great. but i have another great idea. bring tag along when you guys are going to taiwan again. hehehehe. great idea hor?! i can have great tour-guide-couple too 😛
.-= ai wei´s last blog ..Snowflake Taiwanese Dessert @ Pavilion KL =-.
if u pay for our expenses la. we’ll be the tour guide
weii, thanks for the tips lei..will be traveling to tw july…definately will look back here..:D
.-= taufulou´s last blog ..CNY Menu, House Of Tang @ One Bangsar =-.
hehe np 🙂
hve fun ya
Any chance you’ve such a list for Bangkok?
.-= tummythoz´s last blog ..UP up and Away (again) YAHOO! =-.
haha bangkok no need la
plenty of nice boutique hotels around ;p
ooo nice write up.
the last time i went is stay at hotel, but totally forget the name of it d :p
.-= samlee860407´s last blog ..Super Hokkien Mee @ One Corner Cafe Penang =-.
Hiiee!!
How come i dun get notified if u/anyone reply to my post on ur website one? i just read ur previous reply on the taiwan accomodation in ur taiwan trip. Thanks a lot!! i’ll be going in less than 1 month!!
Ya, booked and paid deposit for Suite.Apartment liao. hopefully it’s as good and clean as the pics loh. i also booked the airport transfer from them for NT$1150, less hassle coz other cab drivers may not know where Suite.Apartment is. Apparently i have to go to another place to check in, then only they’ll send me to the room. i had to use google translator to do all the corresponding mails to the person in charge!! ahhaha… i also booked Jiufen’s Windsor room for 1 night, but havent pay deposit coz he say Ms Chan is coming to Malaysia to open account? haha.. guess u met up with them when they’re here!!
U’ve been a great help! Love your blog!!
Hi Ivy
You can clink on the “Notify me of followup comments via e-mail” button. Actually its quite easy to go to suite.apartment from the mrt. The bus to town will cost about rm 12 to 15 person. NT1150 is not too bad if theres a lot of you.
Ms Chan dun get to open an account in Msia, too bad. Maybe u can pay her when ur there. Based on trust 🙂
Hi Ivy,
I’m going to Taiwan as well and am looking at booking an apartment from suite.apartment. May I know how was your stay there and which apartment did you stay in? Was your experience enjoyable and most importantly, can we believe their photos? 🙂
Yik Wen
hi yik wen we did not stay there. but frens who stayed recommended it, hence we put it in our site
Hi, thanks for the assurance of taipei york then hehe! I’ve stayed in TaipeiYork B room for a week, and the room is exactly as the pictured showed. Except that the shower area is quite moldy. But overall my family was very happy with it. Really greatful of your recommendation! =D
Hi… I e-mailed you regarding the gofortravel apartment, but I thought I’ll post a message here in case you didn’t notice it…
I wanted to ask if you have the contact number for the person-in-charge for gofortravel apartment as I couldn’t find the number on their website and they haven’t reply my e-mail…
Thanks! =D
Hi, kindly check your email. Have a pleasent trip!
Hi KBCG!
I would like to ask for the contact list for gofortravel apartment too! Is it possible you can email me to contact number as well?
Thanks alot!!
hi evelyn, i think they r closed for reno
Hey guys,
Thank you for the useful informations on the taiwan trip. I gone through all your makan list and travel list. Its fruitful!
We are having our 8d7n honeymoon trip to taiwan on early of july, mainly focus on taipei and northen. Since it is my 1st time to taiwan, i m scratching my head to finalise the accomodation and itinerary.
We might need your help to lighten our itinerary, will you willing guild us with an interesting lunch? hahahaha………
Well, I do not have a blog but my makan-historical list might attract you. If yes, email me.
cheer
andy
Hi Andy, congrats!! Unfortunately, we are busy shifting house, so it’s a bit hard to meet. however, u can alwiz email me, and I will try my best to help with ur planning.
give me ur makan list PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i’m desperate to try out new places.
Hi Andy, can share ur list as well?
Envisage06 at yahoo.com.sg
hi, i will going taiwan this end of June. can you email me the list of home stay at taipei, jiufen, and others that provide cheap and comfortable home stay ?? thank you…./
Hi we have only stayed at one of the hostels so can’t really comment on others. you can also refer to http://www.eastbnb.com/eastbnb/result.php?Key=台北&gclid=COHrs6-DrLACFUYb6wod0iP3VQ or tripadvisor for the list of hostel.
I can say most of my place of foodie are chinese cuisine, from fine dining to semi fine dining and hawker stall.
But the most exciting part is the amount of money we spend, should it worth? Try Wai Kee at Old Klang Road and Jun Kee at Tmn Midah. Simply delicious and worth.
My previous message means # will u free to meet up to exchange an fabulous lunch?#
cheer
Hi, I am planning a trip to Taipei in early August this yr. Is Ambience hotel far from the nearest mrt station? And, is Aug a good month to visit Taipei? Heard alot of typhoons in aug. TIA!
I like this post, really informative and useful!
can share ur itinerary list as well?
nicolelee_cute@hotmail.com
can share ur itinerary?
Nicolelee_cute@hotmail.com
Stayed at Eight Elephants Hostel. The girls who run the hostel are very friendly and pretty and that probably explain why many foreigners (especially guys) enjoy their stay there very much. If you like to meet backpackers around the world, this hostel is the best. It’s a pretty comfy and clean hostel. And it’s very near the train station too, 3min of walking distance.
hi qian. thanks for ur opinion. it’s of great help!
tks for sharing your travel adventure. We are planning to stay at taipei homestay but a bit worried about the dodgy alley. We r 3 girls and safety is important. Is the alley safe?tks for yr advise
hi safety is not a problem. its just that the alley is smelly hehe
hi thanks for the assurance.
We will arrive in taipei at around 8.30pm.
Do you think we can still get an airport bus to taipei homestay?
If we take a bus, where will the bus stop?
Is it near to taipei homestay?
How much is airport bus per person?
what company of airport bus would you recommend?
We are 3 persons travelling.
will it be better to take a taxi?
how much is taxi fare from airport to taipei homestay?
thanks again.
hi
thanks for the assurance.
We will be arriving at around 8.30 nite.
Do you think we can still get an airport bus to taipei homestay?
If we take bus, where will the bus stop?
Is it near to taipei homestay>
How much is airport bus per person?
what company of airport bus woud you recommend?
We are 3 persons travelling.
Will it better take a taxi?
How much is taxi fare from airport to taipei homestay?
Thanks again.
Hi
We will be booking the cheapest room twd 800 – Unit D. How is the condition of the the unit?
Is is clean and well kept?
Thanks again.
Hi
We will be booking the cheapest room twd 800 – unit D. How is the condition of the unit?
Is it clean and well kept?
Thanks again.
sorry i have no idea. we stayed at the nt1200 room 🙂
it was clean
can share ur itinerary?
hi u can find it here – http://kampungboycitygal.com/2009/07/executive-summary6d6n-taipei-yilan-taiwan/ 🙂
Thanks for the information, it really useful. I stayed at Sogo Cheers (Angel), and the suite very nice and convenience, just less than 1 minit walk from MRT station (Zhongxiao Fuxing). The only thing to complaint is we have to collect keys at their office (near taipei station).
hi ekwei, thanks for sharing ur experience here. it is very helpful to others 🙂
HI
We are thinking of instead of carrying cash around, we are thinking of using our debit cards to withdraw money form ATMS in Taipei city. What do you think of this idea???
Really appreciate your view because we are leaving next week for China.
erm im not sure about this. its still easier to carry cash, coz its very hard to find money changer in tw
thanks.
Hi,
Really thanks for your post, I’m in the midst of planning a 6d5n trip in Taipei and there are 7 of us. Apartments or homestay will definitely be our choice in oder to cut down the cost in accomodation and spend in on food!
Thanks for the * remarks of your personal favourite homestay! Really helps a lot in my planning :p
hi charliz, no problem! glad that I can help 🙂
Wonderful Blog! Looking forward to more and keep it updated.
You guys are a great couple!
Cheers!
Quality hotels are carefully looked for. Blog well describes accommodation possibilities. I can point your attention to Slovakia. Another country where can be reached new adventures especialy in mountains.
Hi Kampungboycitigal,
I enjoyed your blog…i’m preparing for my taiwan trip…but notice that the gofortravel website is no longer exist…do u have their new website?
Thx!!!
hi kitty thanks 🙂 i think they r no longer available. u shud try city inn hotel located near taipei main station
Appreciate both of you sharing you research and experience from your Taiwan trip with us.
Hope to hear more on your adventurous trips. Thanks again.
Hi kelly, no problem. glad that u like it, hope u enjoy ur trip too 🙂
Hi,
Enjoy reading your blog =)
but i would like to ask, how to book the hotel (Danny Hotel)? is it charge by per person or pernight?
Welcome to visit my blog too =)
.-= chewyinc´s last blog ..Love & Travel – Sipadan, Mabul, Sabah =-.
Hi chew, its by night. 🙂
Is the photos you posted above is 不小心的鳥 or Gofortravel? Btw, Gofortravel website no longer available.
How to i contact 不小心的鳥 PIC? i cant seem to find any email address on their website. Is 不小心的鳥 very near to the MRT station? Thanks.
Dear KampungBoy & CityGal
We need urgent help from you both. Me and friends are going to Taiwan this coming weekend, 6 Nov 2011. We all have booked Windsor minsu (Juifen) for one night stay on 8 Nov 2011.
Unfortunately we fail to make payment to them via Paypal due to lack of details on the account name etc. It is very confusing ??. Since you have been stayed there twice, wonder you could kindly guide us on how to make payment to them and also the methods that you used to pay them . My friend has been corresponded with them via email exchanges but yet they fail to guide us on the payment method. They suggested us to pay them via their S’pore OCBC account??
Would appreciate so much for your prompt reply and thanks in advance.
You have a nice day.
Regards
Shawna
Hi shawna, i paid upon arrival last time. if its a urgent matter, i would advise u to call them and request to pay upon arrival. regards, kbcg
Got your message. Thanks heaps 🙂
This is Cassie from Taipei-Vacation.com. We are working as freelance Taipei travel advisor, aiming at planning and designing personalized Taiwan tours for overseas travelers. 🙂
We come across your blog and found it is full of useful information for people who are interested in visiting Taipei! Currently, we are trying to invite some great bloggers like yourself, who have experiences in Taiwan expat life to be our guest bloggers. Every posts you made will be link directly to your website (e.g. http://www.taipei-vacation.com/blog/taiwan-accommodation/). After viewing your site, we know there will be plenty of opportunity which we can develop together.
And of course – we are also looking for advertising opportunity on your website too!
We are open-minded for any suggestions and potential cooperation from you!
If you don’t mind, please follow us on twitter or FB, and let’s talk about Taiwan!
Looking forward to your feedback! =)
Best regards,
Cassie
Dear KampungBoy & CityGal
We are going to Taipei this May and we want to go to jiufen and yilan though I wonder whether from yilan do you two know how to go to Hualian and cingjing? We are not sure about the railway networks. Please advise us, thanks 🙂
hi doro, we’ve never done that but i think you can take a train from luodong to hua lian.
Hi, my daughter is planning to study mandarin, can u recommend a place where we can stay for a month?
hi rose, u can try http://saclub.cc/
my colleague stayed here before, its a service apartment with long stay packages
H.
Great and informative site! Would like to know if it is better to hire a driver throughout our vacation or take a cab at individual places? We are travelling with kids aged 5-13. Any kids friendly places in hualien? Thanks
hi it is better to take a driver if you have kids on toll. I can recommend you to this driver by the name of tony. if ur interested i can pass u his contact. i’m using him next month 🙂
Hi
Appreciate your prompt reply. Would like to ask do you pay for the accomodation and food of the driver. What is the average cost?
Thanks again.
hi we paid about rm 200 per night for normal hotel and 300 plus nice b&b. and we did not hire driver
Hi kampungboycitygal,
Based on the website you have posted above, CityInn Hotel has a few branches. There are Taipei Station Branch i.ii. iii, CityInn Hotel Plus Ximending Branch & CityInn Hotel Plus Taichung Station Branch. Which two are those you mentioned above, City Inn & City Inn 2?
Lynn
hi when i first wrote this, theres only city inn. but now they have expandede and you can just book anyone depending on where u prefer to stay 🙂
Your favourite hotels came in a same chain or you try to promote it? Kinda cheeky ya..
dear marc, if it sounds cheeky to u, i would have gotten free stay from the same chain of hotels in taipei. in fact, i’ve never stayed at city inn/dandy hotels. friends/readers who went gave good reviews hence we put it down here. 🙂
Hi guys,
Love your blog and enjoying reading your post! Appreciated your sharing…
I’m travelling to Taipei soon, planning to stay at Taipei Backpackers Hostel nearby XiMen..
A bit worry that the actual room will not displayed as the pictures shown on their website.. and worry about the cleanliness.. Though the pictures shown are sound comfortable.
Do you have any ideas about this hostel?
Hi sandy, we have never stayed there but base on reader comment (as u can see from the post), cleanliness seem ok 🙂
Hi guys,
I am travelling alone to TW next month and was so glad to see your informative travel blog. However, there’s a couple of questions here.
I am interested to visit Green Island but is it advisable to go in mid dec? say 10th Dec week? Will 1N be sufficient in Green Island and 1N in Taitung? Would I be able to rent motonike if I’ve no experience at all? Sound fun to travel on bike around the island. Afterwhich, I would like to proceed to either Hualien or Yilan. Also, I saw your Yilan post, was that a day trip? I wanted to do leisure cycling and explore more on scenic view. Which do you recommend?
Sevondly, I wanted to book cheap hostel in Taipei and found that Camel’s Oasis a good choice since for me but the website, email and contact are not available as stated. Are they not available? Would be great if you could help here.
Thanks alot in advance!!
Fee
Hi Fee
Thanks for reading our blog. Unfortunately, Green Island tourist season is from May to October for weather reason. Nobody goes there during the winter, and the last typhoon in September has cause a big damage to the island. They are currently reconstructing it so that tourists can visit them again in May 2013.
You would not want to stay 1N in Taitung as you travel so far from Taipei and there are so much to see. Yilan is recommended to stay 1N as well. You must take into consideration your travel time.
I’m not too sure about camel oasis, can’t find their contact either as I wrote this post few years back. Maybe you can try taipei backpackers?
Hope you have a good time in Taiwan! 🙂
Thanks for the information.
Do you recommend Kenting for Green Island? Or is there any nice scenic and relaxing place to stay at least 2-3 nights?
Thanks
Fee
Hi Fee, kenting and green island is NOT recommended for winter. if u wana spend 2-3 nights, then u can go to ChingJing, it’s a popular winter destination in Taiwan
It’s hard to find knowledgeable people with this theme, but you look like you understand what you’re talking about! Thanks
When I initially commented I may actually have engaged the -Notify me when new responses are added- checkbox and from now on each time a comment is added I get 4 messages using the same comment. Perhaps there’s a means you’re in a position to remove me from that service? Thanks!
An exciting discussion is definitely worth comment. I really believe that you just have to write more on this subject matter, it might not be considered a taboo subject but usually people don’t talk about these issues. To the next! Cheers!!|Hello! I simply need to give a massive thumbs to you up for your great information you have got right here with this post. I’m coming back to your website for more soon.
Reflexologías aplicadas al quiromasaje Personas que quieran ampliar y enriquecer su desarrollo personal y aplicar el masaje en su entorno familiar.