Great choice for a budget friendly hotel - Quarantine Edition
2021-01-24
There appears to be 6 rooms per floor (A to F) and the one I was assigned to was room A, which is room type 2, class double twin. Photos of the hotel room from the hotel website and other publicly posted photos are good representations of the actual room. But room A does not have any views except for an office building. Luckily, there is one big window which can be opened. Road noise is negligible when the window is closed, but the wall in between rooms are pretty thin. So when people talk next door, it can easily be heard. My room was clean in general, although the carpet seems a little dated with stains, but generally acceptable. I do need to mention that the house cleaning team did miss two almond nuts under the desk area, left by the previous occupant. There was ample room between the TV to the end of the bed where I was able to stretch and do a little bit of exercising when all my belongings were stored properly. I liked that my full size suitcase was able to be tucked nicely in the corner without it sticking out. My other suitcase and carry on was able to be stored in the open closet area. The consensus from Google’s reviews were that the bathroom was small. I’d thought the size of the bathroom area, specifically referring to the toilet and shower area, was quite comfortable and generously spacious by metropolitan standards in Southeast Asia. The water pressure from the shower was decent. It’s not the best, but the water pressure was not anywhere close to wimpy. Towels were clean and relatively soft. I had 4 bath towels and one of them was on the rougher side. I had a double twin bed and it almost felt like sleeping on a king size bed (although I did not measure the dimensions of the bed). The mattress and pillow was acceptably comfortable to sleep on, but the single blanket did not provide enough warmth with the AC on. I had to request for a second blanket (of the same thickness) to be able to sleep comfortably with or without the AC on. The second blanket they gave me was only half the size, and I’m guessing it would be for a twin bed. But I was able to fold it up to use it as a cushion for the metal chair during the day time, where it was uncomfortably cold to sit on. In summary, the linen looked and felt clean. LINE App is the preferred method of correspondence with the hotel. The ‘butler’ as they are referred to in the LINE App is quick to respond and have a superb customer service. I have to say that they are even better in response times than the hotel customer service from the Marriott app. Some notable things about this hotel as a designated quarantine hotel: The hotel referred @VIPCAR (on the line app) as their preferred transportation partner from Taoyuan Airport. For NT$1000, I was greeted with a BMW 520D. So I’d highly recommend pre-ordering their pick up service from the airport. Upon arrival at the hotel which was around 10pm, I followed the quarantine check in protocol and I helped myself up to my floor. They provided that evening’s dinner as well. The room door was already partially opened prior to my arrival. There was a cleaning kit package with toothbrushes and alcohol spray, amongst other small items. There was also a case of bottled water. Light switches inside the room are wrapped with plastic wrap, but hopefully they do change the wrap in between occupants. I chose the NT$3000 per night room, which includes 3 meals. There are no choices for meals, but they come as a surprise for me every time, as I do not ask what kind of meal beforehand. The hotel’s selection is decent and it has not repeated during my stay. Disposable chopsticks and utensils are provided with every meal, but drinks are not. However, anything can be ordered via Uber Eats or Food Panda deliveries and the hotel has designated delivery times and guidelines. There is a clean tray that is elevated from the ground on the outside of the room for item deliveries, such as meals and replenishment requests. They have good garbage and recycle pick up schedules. In summary, I highly recommend this budget friendly hotel during and after the pandemic era. Please bear in mind that I am unable to review what are available nearby this hotel, as I am not allowed to step outside of my room during the 14 day quarantine period. Minor Cons: Air conditioner in my room is just way too cold and even setting the thermostat to any temperature above my preferred temperature of 22 deg C (e.g. 26 or 28 deg C), it’s still freezing in the room. Adjusting to Fan mode doesn’t help with the cold temperature either. I’m guessing the occupancy is very high as all quarantine hotels are very difficult to book as of January 2021. So, the WiFi internet speed can be really slow at times. At times when it’s good, the download speed is 8 Mbps and upload speed is 4 Mbps, as measured on Speedtest.net. There is an RJ45 internet jack, and the plugged in speed is faster most of the time, but can crawl at certain times of the day. During my stay, the noise from next door was hardly a concern. But when someone speaks loudly next door, it can be heard easily. Tip: Bringing a 2 prong USA style extension cord will definitely help with plugging in devices that you want connected to the TV as there are no outlets right beneath the TV.