Taiwan Panda Hostel

The receptionist was very polite and handled our issues over the phone, so the service was good. The bathrooms and rooms were another story. Bathroom: 0, room: 2.5, service: 3. In room 202, with two single beds, the bathroom smelled overpoweringly like urine in a public restroom. It was awful. I was constipated and just couldn’t make myself use it, physically or mentally. Room 201 had two double beds and a bathroom that was fairly clean and didn’t smell, but after seeing 202 I was horrified. The air conditioner in 201 turned into a little waterfall, and the double bed was completely useless. We’d been promised a first-floor room by phone, but got a squat toilet instead. Hilarious! This was a tragic night in rooms 201 and 202. Bring your own towels. I had no idea if theirs had been washed, and found hairs stuck to the towels despite them being neatly folded.

On our check-in day, the owner even texted to see whether we’d reached Hualien. The next morning we ran into him as we were heading out, and he kindly offered us two more bottles of water. There’s boiled drinking water downstairs to refill bottles. We stayed in a suite for more than two days, and the room wasn’t cleaned during that time. I actually prefer the privacy, and it’s environmentally friendly not to change the sheets every day. The check-in contract said toiletries weren’t provided, though it seemed that applied only to the backpacker rooms. Our suite had some. I bought a double-suite voucher at a travel fair. Breakfast wasn’t included, but I thought the price was reasonable. I’m taking off one point because there was no booking confirmation, on paper or by email, which was a bit unsettling. The phone number on the official website went unanswered, so I had to email. Later I realized the number on the voucher seemed to be the owner’s. He was very nice.

I’d read the negative reviews beforehand and was ready for problems, but I didn’t run into those issues and found the stay okay. There were a couple of small hassles: the air conditioner remote didn’t work, so I had to switch it on directly, and the washing machine they said was available didn’t respond when I pressed the button. I stayed two nights on a travel fair ticket. They initially provided toiletries for only one day, but brought more after I complained.

The best practical bits were the stable, plentiful hot water, shared kitchenette on the first floor, washing machine, and location near Hualien Railway Station. The housekeeper was fairly friendly, though absent-minded. They forgot to collect the extra charge, then called that evening to ask if we’d registered with the travel agency. The check-in process felt poorly handled. There were a lot of room problems. The double room had poor soundproofing, especially around the bathroom, and the hotel says not to use hair dryers after 11 PM. None of the rooms had outward-facing windows. The bedside nightlight was broken, the air conditioner performed very poorly at what felt like ordinary household intensity, and the TV remote sometimes failed. The bathroom hadn’t been cleaned properly and had lots of hair left behind. The sink had no usual overflow protection, so you had to be careful not to overfill it. There was no room refrigerator, only one in the first-floor common area. The two toilet paper rolls were left loose without a holder or place to store them, so you had to turn them by hand. The blue and white indoor slippers were kept in the shared entrance area, and it was impossible to tell if they were clean. The shower bags provided weren’t enough for anyone with thick hair. There were no parking spaces, and it took repeated calls to reach the housekeeper and service hotline. Breakfast was included, but when we asked about it at 7:30, the housekeeper was still asleep and said they wouldn’t go buy it until 8:00. We checked out right away so our plans wouldn’t be delayed. We used a travel fair voucher for $1,000, plus another $500 on the weekend, so $1,500 altogether. My friend and I thought that total was reasonable. At the original price we wouldn’t have considered the guesthouse, so the voucher didn’t really feel like a discount.