Backpackers' Hostel Taoyuan Airport — Hotel in Taoyuan City

Add on reply after the boss's reply :

For context; the hostel was squeezy without much space to walk, much less pack my luggage. And the only space avail was near the recep area.

I told him I'm going to shift the items back. I told him I only need 5 more minutes. Would waiting 5 more minutes kill him? His impatience was really a turnoff. Look at the boss's reply, it speaks volumes about his attitude. For those that don't read Chinese, the last sentence in his reply read "Please don't come again!" Woahhh... Hahaa... Beat that.

If you read through some of the other reviews here, you'll know that I'm not alone. I'm not the first and I'm not the last but I hope you'll not be the next. Staying somewhere else or even at the airport is better than staying here!! Nuf said. Think wisely before you make your booking here. Don't be the next victim.

Original Message :

I had asked for directions to the hostel and they mentioned to "Go to Taipei Main Station and transfer to the bus bound for Tao Yuan airport and alight at Shuzipo station." DO NOT HEED this advice!

I did as told and went to the Kuo Kuang bus terminal to take the bus. The bus does not stop at Shuzipo station. It is a straight bus that goes direct to the airport. I ended up taking the bus to Tao Yuan airport Terminal 1 and then take a cab from there. It costs NT 175 and is about a 7 minutes ride.

This is a rather inconvenient location and there's probably no public transport to get to this hostel and the only / easiest way is to take a cab from somewhere to here. The only good thing about this place is that it's near the airport, about 7 minutes taxi ride away.

I booked their transport to go to the airport as my flight was at 8am the next day. It costs nt 250 cash payable to the hostel, and they'll arrange a driver to bring you there. It might be cheaper if you book your own Uber.

Factor in an additional nt 200 to get here and another nt 250 to go to the airport and you might realise that you are better off staying somewhere else or at the airport.

There are plane sounds ALL THE TIME. Do not book here if you're a light sleeper. This place is only good for people that can sleep like a log even when the sky falls.

There were a lot of pitter patter sounds coming from the ceiling all the time. Not sure if it was the rain or people walking on second level. The walls were quite thin and you can hear people talking at the corridor too. It was pretty noisy and hard to sleep well.

There is no lift here as like many Taiwan hotels. Good luck to you if you're carrying a big 28" luggage. You can try asking for the entrance level dorm. But that room is pretty noisy with people talking, walking up and down the corridor, opening and closing the main door etc.

The pillow was quite flat and uncomfortable. Had neck aches the next day. The quilt had lots of "balls" on it too.

The boss was super rude and scolded me at the TOP OF HIS VOICE for using his recep area to pack my stuffs. I didn't want to pack my stuffs in the room as I would be disturbing other guests and there was no other space around. Besides, it wasn't exactly critical to use the recep table space since there were tables out at the front area.

I told him I'll just need 5 more minutes and he kept on berating me nonstop and even threatened to refund me the money and asked me to go back to the airport. It could be my fault that I used his precious space, but his attitude and impatience was by far, the rudest and most obnoxious Taiwanese person I've ever met on this trip. He really gave all the nice and friendly Taiwanese people a bad name. This would definitely be my first and last time ever, staying at this hostel.

Recommend...

I recommended this hotel because this is the closest one to the airport that offers a bed or private room. I had an overnight layover and the staff was friendly and kept in touch with me via the booking.com app. I didn’t take them up on their taxi/pick up service because I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to contact them, and the timing can be off. My flight arrived an hour late and going through customs and exchanging money took a lot longer than expected. They were still kind enough to offer to pick me up but I didn’t get their messages because my cell service was terrible. I took a taxi instead so I could compare rates and the hotel’s rate was cheaper by 30NTD than the taxi I got at the airport. I barely arrived at the hotel in time before closing.

Things to consider: The address of the hotel listed is not actually where I stayed. It’s still part of their hotel because I waited at the lobby for their driver but if I’d known that another car would come pick me up to take me to another building in a residential zone, I would’ve purchased some snacks at the store that was a block away like a cup of ramen because I was starving. It was near midnight and nothing else was open or nearby at the building where I actually slept.

The room: It was clean (Asia standards) and spacious. It was decked out in Ikea furnishings. There is a water dispenser offer hot and cold water in the hallway which was convenient so I made tea. Even though there was a few small snacks in the room, I wished there was a vending machine in the building where I can purchase more food/snacks. Again, I was starving and it was past midnight.

Overall I felt safe here and the staff was courteous and polite. I am glad I booked when I checked in, for a taxi back to the airport for the early at 5:00 in the morning because there’s no way I could’ve gotten one on my own with the language barrier, terrible cell coverage, and no staff working that early when it was...

We booked a bedroom with private bathroom months ago. However, when we arrived, they said there's a system issue, the room we booked has been taken, and there's only room type with shared bathroom. It was a bit late at night, we felt being forced to take whatever's left (I wonder if they over-sold what they have).

It felt even worse since we called them for pickup. They could have told us that they didn't have our room. We would have choices and plan for ourselves (personally, I think they should have informed us when they found the "system issue"; by the way, they checked us in with pen and paper notebook. Even though we booked online, they should have noticed if there was any problem).

We followed the instructions on their website (terminal 1, Departure hall, China Airline, before 11:00pm). It's a free pickup according to their website but the driver said they'll charge us NTD 150.

Eventually, they didn't charge us for pickup as an apology for their system issue (now I don't understand how many system issues they have). We were still charged of the room with shared bathroom which was of course a bit cheaper.

The room was clean, with enough space just for two. The driver and the host were polite. Open areas were lovely. On the other hand, you can hear clearly airplanes taking off and landing, and people talking in the open area.

We are sorry to give such rate. For backpackers, this place can still be a nice and economic option. We will not choose this place again. We are not asking for compensation or sort. This comment means no revenge.

We just want to share our experience so that people can be prepared that they might not get what they booked.

Well, you'll know that when you are checking in,...