Accommodations in Taipei

by Hall Houston

Updated 2009!

NEW! Accommodations in Taichung, Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, and Pingtung.

Hostels

There are a number of youth hostels in Taipei that newcomers can stay at cheaply. These include Taipei Hostel, Happy Family Hostel, Taipei Amigo Hostel, and the International House of Taipei. For a list of other hostels in Taiwan, try the Worldwide Hostel Database.

Hotels

Unless you have friends waiting for you in Taipei, you will probably spend your first few days in a hotel. Here is a list of hotels for the train station area in Taipei. This is where you will get off the bus that you take from the international airport. The prices included are the ones that I was told for the cheapest room. As you could probably guess, a higher price usually indicates higher quality.

City Inn

Huai Ning Street, #7

(02) 2314-8008

$1560 N.T. a night

Royal Hotel

Huai Ning Street, #5-1

(02) 2311-1668-5

$1250 a night

Keyman's Hotel

Huai Ning Street, #1

(02) 2311-4811

$1560 a night

Taipei YMCA Hotel

Hsu Chang Street, #19

(02) 2311-3201

$1800 a night

S Love Hotel

Chung Hsiao E. Road, Sec. 1, #72, 3F

(02) 2388-0808

$1380 a night

Hope Hotel

Chung Hsiao E. Road, Sec. 1, #72, 4F

(02) 2381-4755

$1100 a night

In addition, this page will take you to pages information for many hotels throughout Taiwan.

Finding an apartment/room

Finding a good place to stay in Taiwan can be a big problem. The local English newspapers, China News and The China Post occasionally have some ads for (usually overpriced) apartments or rooms. The bulletin board at the Mandarin Training Center also has some ads for places, some of which might be great, and some that are downright ripoffs. You could also contact an agent who will show you a few places.

In my experience, the best source of all are the posting boards scattered around parks and universities. These boards are easily recognizable, because they are covered with bits of red paper, which are actually small ads for apartments or rooms. I found some really great places to stay on these boards. If your Chinese is not too good, you might want to get a Chinese friend to help you. Some landlords are really tricky about trying to get you to move in ("You'd better hurry there was someone here this afternoon...if you don't move in today, he's going to take it").Don't let anyone pressure you into making a decision. Consider all your options before signing anything. I stayed in a room (not apartment) with shared bath for about US $100 a month (although US $150 a month is more common, and a really comfortable, spacious pad could run you US$200 to US$300).

In addition, these sites might have information about apartments worth taking a look at.

Taiwanted
ESL Island - Classified Ads
Forumosa.com - Housing in Taiwan
Tealit.com Classifieds - Apartments and Roommates
Taiwan Fun Classifieds

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