Sunrise Business Hotel - Tamsui

I’ve stayed here several times. The price is good, and aside from the WiFi, which needs improvement, it seems fine to me.

We wanted somewhere secluded and reasonably priced, away from crowds, so my wife and I booked this place for a short stay in Taipei. Agoda and Booking.com removed my negative review and, it seemed, negative comments from most other guests too. We arrived at 11.30pm. The lobby felt depressing, humid, and smelled of sweat. The staff were sweaty too, and there was no AC. On the third floor, the room immediately smelled of cigarettes and something odd from the carpet. There were stains on the carpet, wooden chair, and pillow, plus old furniture. The bathroom had a glass window instead of a wall and a pull-down blind, but there were gaps between the two, so people outside could see someone showering. We left our bags and went out for supper at the nearby 7-11, after turning on the air conditioner. At 11.40pm, my wife and I discussed changing rooms or moving elsewhere, but since it was only a short stay, we decided to put up with the three nights. We came back at 12.30am and gave the hotel another chance. The AC fan ran, but there was no cool air. Heat was coming from it, and with the strange smells in the room, things felt even worse. We packed and checked out. The receptionist was surprised that we’d spent only around 10 to 15mins in the room and asked what was wrong. Then another guest came down and asked that same receptionist to change rooms because her AC wasn’t working either. I asked for a refund since we hadn’t used the facilities or amenities, apart from turning on the basin to check whether the water was yellow. The receptionist called the “Supervisor” about it. The hotel seemed poorly maintained, if maintained at all. We left at 12.45am and booked “Long View” hotel, about a 7-minute walk from the Sunrise Business Hotel. I got my refund within one week. Thanks to the staff at Sunrise Business Hotel Tamsui for processing it, but I won’t stay here again.

The staff were really helpful, and room service made the beds very clean with what they had to work with. I was satisfied with my stay. This is an old-style business hotel, and it’s best to take it as it is. It must have been top-notch when it first opened, but time seems to have stopped here, which I actually liked. As a traveler who wants to feel the spirit of a place, I found this one had plenty of spirits 😉. The smell is heavy, like in any old establishment, and repairs often seem to mean putting duct tape over whatever can be taped. But hey, punk isn’t dead yet, is it?

In Sunrise Hotel room 206, the crooked bedside lamp and the mini fridge that didn’t work were annoying. The cabinet wouldn’t open all the way because of the table. There wasn’t room to move the table, since shifting it an inch would block the doorway. The room smelled of cigarettes as soon as we opened the door. The controls were so outdated that the system shut off, but the room was still 16• colder than when it had been running. The shower door was jammed and water ended up all over the place. The lighting controls were complicated too 🙄.