mini west hotel 小西城旅店 — Hotel in Taichung

I stayed at this location for 4 days and 3 nights and booked two rooms, one for myself and another for my parents. Originally one of the rooms was not going to have a window but the staff made it so both rooms had windows and we were actually next to each other. The hotel consists of three floors: the lobby is in the 7th floor, the dormitory or bunking space was on the 8th floor and the private rooms were on the 9th floor.||||One thing to note about the elevator switch from the 9th floor is that when you press to go down the accessibility button lights up as going up vice versa and we kept pressing the wrong button each time because the switches might have been connected wrong.||||Rooms: Each of the private rooms have their own separate bathrooms and there were moderate in size but to not have a crown or a door for the shower so be careful when you use it and not splash. The toilet refills with water quite slow so if you have two people going to the bathroom consecutively you might have to wait a bit for the next person to flush. Both the bathroom doors in the to rooms made a large click when it unlocked the hinge when you try to close the door and we can hear it from each other's room since we're next to each other. The bed was big I'm pretty comfy what memory foam pillows. There was a mini fridge and two complimentary water bottles. Other free toiletries include slippers, toothbrush, razor, cotton swabs, floss picks and I think a comb? There was quite a lot of surfaces to store all your goods so that is appreciated. There are light switches for your bed but in my room it was only on the right side closer to the window which was a little bit awkward because I got in bed from the left side of the state on the left side more. ||||The hotel staff was phenomenal though there was a little bit of a confusion during check-in put those resolved quickly. I'm not 100% sure how the breakfast works here because by default I think everybody has access to toast and some spreads as well as congee and some condiments. However my first morning the staff/host/receptionist was physically making a hearty breakfast for specific folks. I have a hunch that this is reserved only for those who booked private rooms versus those living in the dorms. Though my Mandarin is not good I barely picked up some people who asked if they can have breakfast you and sheets serve them so I'm not a 100% sure how this works. The the breakfast that she made was an unexpected good surprise though I didn't have the first day because I didn't know how it worked. Instant my parents both got the breakfast dish and it looks really tasty. The next morning I came in early and she cook me the same breakfast meal and it just made me feel a little warm inside thinking just how much work she has to do because not only does she have to cook these specific meals unlike the last hostel I stayed at where you'd have to wash your own dishes, guests just need to leave their dishes in the sink and SHE washes them. I almost feel like they need to implement a rule where guests is up to wash their own because we want to upkeep this place together. To top it off she's supposed and understood some Cantonese which was a surprise because nobody really understands Cantonese here so +100 to her! I swear sometimes it's really just the staff that makes the experience that much more better.||||The only big major issue and the reason why this is a 4-star and not a 5-star review was that there was some cleanliness issue with the room... at least in my room and I wasn't sure if it was something I could have called out or if it was just something that was "normal" being in Taiwan and all. There was a issue with some tiny critters in my room in the form of itty bitty ants that occasionally come and go. They were sometimes on the desk, sometimes near the window which is not a surprise and a few other places. I wanted to deliver and just killed them as I saw them because they were really tiny anyways but I hate bugs so whenever I saw them you'll know what went down.||||All in all a good experience except for what was just...

Cannot recommend this place due to the following: The AC doesn't work properly - changing the temperature doesn't do anything. There's mold behind the sink. When I arrived they told me that they charged a day before already. This was nowhere written o when booking! Then, they asked me to confirm the amount - after charging my card?! It says non-smoking but there was cigarette smoke for many hours on the hallway. The receptionist didn't even go into the rooms, just knocked and asked without people opening the door! There are no windows in the rooms, which isn't obvious from the booking page since it's not written anywhere. They say breakfast is at 8am but it still wasn't ready by 8:20am, and I had to leave by 8:30am. The hostel doesn't provide any invoices. I asked for it when checking in and the receptionist said she'd give me one tomorrow. 24h later I went and asked - suddenly, they told me they aren't providing any?! In 2023, where everybody can just go to Word and create an invoice, this shouldn't be an issue. Especially in a country like Taiwan, that deals so much with foreign businesses! Anyway, no invoice in sight, I went back to my room. 10min later, I got the shock of my life: the police was in front of my door. I still don't know until today why they came - all I asked for was an invoice. When someone smokes and goes against property rules, it doesn't matter. But, when someone requests an invoice, the police it's being sent. On day 1, I was promised a refund by the receptionist - that's never...

We stayed for one night here, in a 2 persons window room. The price was really really low, so I thought the comfortable bed and shower do their jobs well already. The location is good for ppl who take bus, but for car it takes time to find a daily rated parking lot in first time. The lobby is on 7th floor, and rooms on 8th-9th floors. It located in an old elevator building if you have specific concerns in risks like fire or earthquake better ask details before you pay. You might hear sounds all night outside from room door or window, and we suggest you spend more time experiencing Taichung rather than the room loh. The breakfast serves in simple which means like you can't expect for milk or coffee because it serves only tea, but we enjoyed the atmosphere more than the meals. It is definitely not what for ppl who used to stay in chained-brand hotels, but for backpackers this could be listed in their travel...