Accommodations in Taiwan '15 Review

Read: Jetting off to Taiwan Part 1 (click!)

      Jetting off to Taiwan Part 2 (click!)
      Jetting off to Taiwan Part 3 (click!)
      Jetting off to Taiwan Part 4 (click!)

Taiwan is known for their minsu (民宿), or also known as guest house/ BNB/ home stay. Thus, throughout our trip there, we stayed in 3 different minsu at different cities.
There are a few reasons why we booked minsu, but mainly its because of the pricing as its so much cheaper than hotels. Also, the locations are really good (if you find good ones) and the hosts that we had met are very humble and friendly!

25th Oct - 27th Oct

The first minsu that we stayed in Taichung is called '逢甲嘉云的家'. Sourced around Feng Jia night market as we will be spending most of our nights there and we chose this place its due to the type of rooms they have, pricing and location.

The room that I had booked is 純真年代二人房 (click). Every room has a electronic lock, free WIFI, mini-bar, disposable toiletries and even hair dryer!
Cost: TWD 1800 (S$82.10) for two nights (required to transfer at least 20% deposit through paypal)
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/逢甲嘉云的家-391059744353657/
Line ID: s1967317
Best to contact her through Line app.

How cute! Doesn't these stickers make you feel more cosy and home-like?

The bed was soooo comfy!

Although this is the first minsu I have stayed Taichung, but I highly recommend this place. The host, 嘉云, is very friendly and makes us feel very welcome! Before our trip, I have been contacting her through Line and she's very prompt in replies, asking her quite a lot questions as its our first time there and she never fails to answer my questions and even called me through the app to have a better conversation (I guess because my mandarin is too lousy haha).

The best thing about this place is that her minsu is just below Feng Jia night market, although we need to walk an alley but no worries, its pretty safe and just a short 1-2 minutes walk in. She's even glad to help us to plan a last minute day tour on the following day without extra charges and recommending the famous street foods in Feng Jia night market. 

27th Oct - 28th Oct

Anticipated stay at 'Star Villa' minsu with a beautiful landscape scenery :) So glad that we got the room we wanted haha!

Booked a double room with balcony (click) through Agoda.com as the pricing (at that time) is more cheaper than the ones they had quoted me. 

Cost: S$132.10 w/ free breakfast

Website: http://star-villa.tw/

Email: star.villa@msa.hinet.net

Lobby area

'Scorpio' room

At about 5pm, not able to see the scenery due to the clouds~ And its turning dark real fast!

The next day mooooorning~

Had a really pleasant one night stay at Star villa! I have been contacting Terry regards to the stay and shuttle service and he is able to converse in English really well. If you're heading to Taichung, I would really recommend you to at least have a 2D1N stay at Star villa! The staffs are really helpful and nice, the room is so spotless clean and the view is just splendid. A very good place to relax yourself and awesome experience to wake up with a mountain view~
Their villa have two themes; Constellation and the Solar system! Choose Constellation themed rooms if you want better view of the scenery (seen in 2nd pic). Solar system themed rooms are behind the row of buildings, nothing much to see but they are well furnished and feels more comfortable.

At noon, go visit famous attractions, such as Green green grasslands (青青草原) where you'll be able to interact with herds of sheep, Carton King where the entire place is made up card boards and also, go around Small Swiss garden (小瑞士花園) to see and take many beautiful pictures of the scenery. Then early evening, make your way to Star Villa minsu for check in! They also provides steamboat dinner at around 7pm? Or you can make your way down (~ 10 minutes walk) to the restaurants but the road are really dark, so just use your phone's flashlight if needed.

Star villa also do provides shuttle service from Taoyuan HSR/TSA/Airport or FengJia minsu to their minsu, do click here. How convenient! The ride from Taichung HSR to their minsu is roughly 2 hours.

28th Oct - 1st Nov

Browsed through airbnb.com.sg and managed to see Tom's BNB listing. Sourced around XMD area as its cheaper than Taipei main station, and most of the BNB are just minutes away from XMD station! So convenient and price is really reasonable too :)

He has quite a few listings around XMD area and I chose 優質挑高雙人獨立套房 (click) as I really prefer the design of the room and the amenities.
Cost: S$67 per night. Total (including cleaning fee + service fee): S$309
Tom's BNB listings: www.airbnb.com.sg/s?host_id=5841083

Where we met Tom's friend to bring us up!

Don't really like these kind of tiles :X Looks dirty haha!

Though the toilet looks really classy but you're only able to flush and not wash your butt.

Its our first time booking an BNB apartment and its a pretty nice experience. Although to be honest, it was difficult to get in touch with Tom as he doesn't seems to reply or see his whatsapp, line or email, unless I call him through whatsapp's call. After getting the prepaid SIM card, I used whatsapp and line to let him know my taiwan number and asking him where to meet, etc but he doesn't reply till I am in HSR on the way to Taipei, called him and then, he answered me.

Back to the review on his BNB~ Tom's BNB is situated about 7-10 minutes walk from XMD station, a lot of food stall are just below and opposite his BNB, food mart and 7-11 is just 3 mins walk away. The building looks like an office kind of building, there's even a piano at the lobby! Also, its pretty safe as there's a security guard 24/7. The apartment is clean and bed is comfy, but do note that basic toiletries are not provided. The reason why I chose this BNB is because of the washer and dryer! Located right outside our apartment, beside the lift standing. It is cheaper than outside washing service and it cost TWD 30 for 30 minutes and drying cost TWD 20 for 20 minutes, add another TWD 10 for extra 10 minutes (keep a number of TWD 10 so the maching only accepts that). Do bring your own detergents/ softener as it is not provided too, so we went down to the family mart and got some.

Thanks for reading!
K, Bye.