Just thought I'd post this separately from my other travelogue posts as this is focusing on the hotel that I stayed in!
Before searching on any hotels, you can start asking yourself certain questions or have a list of criteria to help you better find a good hotel! Here are some criteria of ours:
- Not more than SGD120 per night
- Will be good if it's near Ximending
- Good staff service
- Good environment (low noise level, soundproof walls etc.)
- Good facilities (comfy bed, proper toilet facilities etc.)
- Room space to be at least 15m square
- Will be good if there's windows for view
What I'm asking for seemed to be a bit impossible, almost like a 5-star hotel, right? It's also obvious that their buildings here are much more rundown as compared to Singapore. I've been searching for hotels for weeks, and almost all hotels did not meet all my criteria! It's very annoying to know that bathrooms are not very secured; they have glass windows for their bathroom and a curtain outside the bathroom which obviously don't make any sense!
However, I was very lucky enough to be able to find one hotel which meets ALL my criteria. Believe it or not!
A SIMPLE PLACE is the hotel that we stayed in. It's just a 3-minute walk from Ximen Station, which means it's also very near to the shopping heaven Ximending!
(Good location - checked!)
Our room was about 18m sq which was slightly bigger than many others which are 15m sq. only. There's also a TV attached to the wall and our bed is really comfy!! We've windows for a view too!
Note: No lock for the toilet.
However, bathroom door is translucent so you can only see the silhouette of the person inside the bathroom! Also, when bathing, there's the curtain to cover you. Double protection, good enough?
Almost everything you need for daily bathroom use are provided already :)
Note: Slippers provided are disposable kind as they'll be changing for you everyday.
Our room is at 5th floor (the top floor for rooms) and on the 6th floor, there's an open space for public use (meaning for all hotel users). Check out what I saw when I first went up by stairs!
Here's the balcony which I supposed is for smokers!
There is also an area for you to wash and iron your clothes. No worries, all facilities are of very good condition and looked pretty new (or at least not old at all).
A Simple Place is, by far, one of the most furnished and modernized hotel I've ever seen. Colors painted on walls are so vibrant and the interior designs are very pretty too! It really feels like home and I love that cozy feeling I got when I first stepped into the hotel entrance. Its hotel lobby is a very narrow and small space which can hold just 3-4 people with luggage.
What I love most about this hotel is that, apart from all the good facilities and pretty room and everything met my requirements, their staff service has gotta be the BEST!
The only staff we're very close to was Nheo, a Filipino guy who can speak 3 languages (English, Chinese, and his own language of course). When we first got there, I was afraid he couldn't understand Chinese so I spoke to him in English. But he went "来到台湾了还说英语! 要说华语!" which means to tell us to speak in Chinese instead of English since we're already in Taiwan! Very cute of him.
He then went on to help us settle our hotel room, took the initiative to pull my luggage (I wasn't even expecting to receive any help with my luggage) while bf pulled his own, told us where to go for good food and good places for tourists etc.! On the very first night, bf and I went to buy cakes and I thought, why not buy one for him too? And yeahhhh he was so damn happy and even bowed 90-degree down to thank us!!! So much sincerity!
Not only Nheo, even the auntie who helped us tidy our rooms was very friendly and helpful too! Another lady staff whom I suspect was also a Filipino, was also very friendly too! She'll greet us when we go off, or whenever she sees us around in the hotel.
Ask me if I would come back again, and I would say YES OF COURSE LIKE DUH?! I think this will be the only hotel I'll come to when I'm in Taiwan!