Pumori Guesthouse

The location is convenient for Paper Church and Chocolate Castle, and FamilyMart is within walking distance, with some restaurants nearby. It is remote, though, and very dark outside at night, so girls should avoid going out then. The rooms don’t block sound well either. We heard two other groups checking in and talking in the corridor. People really should speak more quietly in shared spaces. 😮‍💨 We arrived on a typhoon day as the first guests. Our car was first parked outside a coffee shop that had closed, and we had to walk around the side to the homestay entrance. The entrance looked messy. When I opened the door to ask about check-in, I heard the owner tell someone, maybe a staff member, to take us to the last room on the second floor. That was all. No one spoke to me or mentioned the charges. I’d never had that happen before. The younger brother who showed us the room was polite and explained the key card, then left us to figure things out. Once inside, we saw a big fly and then the babies found two small bugs. The small ones were dealt with, but we couldn’t kill the fly all night. There were four pairs of slippers. Two were unwashed, with very dirty soles, and the other two were ordinary plastic slippers that had just been washed and were soaking wet. They were still wet at bedtime, so none were usable indoors. I don’t understand why there were four pairs. Were they just for decoration? The quilt isn’t thick, so don’t set the air conditioner too cold. The bathroom curtain was poorly designed. You could see out from the side, and people outside might see in, so we used a bath towel to block it. The shower was hard to adjust: the water was too hot, but lowering the temperature left too little water, so I had to shower quickly with lukewarm water. There was nowhere to put shampoo or body wash except on the floor. We only had bath towels, no small towels. Everything felt very basic. Sound carried from other guests, and then at 9:30 pm someone suddenly knocked on our door and startled us. It was the owner collecting the room fee. At 9:30 at night! Couldn’t they come earlier? What if a family with small children was already asleep? I really can’t understand it. 🤬🤬🤬 After taking the payment, they said to check out the next day by leaving the key on the first floor, then left. When I opened the first-floor door to check out, the person inside looked at me without saying anything. I had to ask if I was checking out. He said the key was on the shoe cabinet, then turned back to his video game. I was speechless. 🙄 The Sunday night rate was $2350, which was indeed cheap. But knowing what the stay was like, I would have gone home through the wind and rain…

I booked one room for four and another for two. Both were clean and comfortable, and the air conditioning worked well. There was an issue with my original room, so I had to move, but the owner explained it politely and was courteous when we spoke. I didn’t find the attitude to be as bad as some reviews suggested. For the price, it’s very good value.

We paid 5000 per night for each of three rooms, nearly 15,000 altogether, so the service we got was infuriating. We booked the three four-person rooms for our families through Eztravel.com on November 2nd, expecting to use the nice common areas to chat and have drinks in the evening. Instead, from the moment we arrived, we were asked to move our car two or three times just to park. Only then were we told the common areas weren’t open to guests. We were completely dumbfounded. 🙄 That restriction wasn’t in the booking information, so we don’t know whether the guesthouse failed to tell Eztravel.com. What made it worse was seeing the owner or manager watching movies in those areas with a projector and high-end sound system. We had to pass through when taking the kids to the playroom, and they acted as if we weren’t there. When we asked for tables, nobody offered to help; we had to get them outside ourselves. After countless stays in guesthouses and hotels, this was the most arrogant treatment I’ve encountered. This was a one-time experience for us. Travelers, think twice before booking. I’ve written quite a few reviews, and it’s rare for one to be this bad. I also posted on ezTravel after the stay. I was too angry to take photos, so I can only include screenshots of the official images from ezTravel. Thanks for the owner’s reply. When I asked for a table, I was told it was outside, as if I could move it myself. The reply said the common area wasn’t opened because of concern about disturbing other guests. Then shouldn’t it have been fully closed, instead of being unavailable to guests while your own people used it? How would you feel if you were the guest?

There are plenty of food options close by, which is handy after a long day when you don’t want to drive out. The best Italian pizza in town is a two-minute walk away, FamilyMart is five minutes away, and One Cup Go is also about five minutes on foot. The guesthouse is family-friendly and conveniently located in Puli, close to the main road. Rooms are well soundproofed, though the outdoor area can be noisy. The most popular well in Puli is right next door, and a water truck comes 24 hours a day, so light sleepers may be disturbed. The family room has very spacious bunk beds, a well-ventilated bathroom with a window, and a TV with Netflix. There are no clothes hangers or mini-fridge, and the empty balcony makes it hard to dry wet, smelly clothes. Shared spaces have a refrigerator, water dispenser, and children’s playroom, but no washing machine. The area beside the refrigerator feels wasted; a dining table in the living room could let guests eat there and keep food smells and litter out of the rooms. After parking and checking in, walk around to the back of the room. You’ll see two huge trash cans, and the door beside them leads to the living room where the housekeeper is. He’s introverted and doesn’t talk much, and usually stays in the living room with the cat. He’ll help if asked, but his presence can make it a little awkward to use that space, which is a shame. Outside, there are simple chairs, and the seating area faces a sloping main road, so it’s a bit noisy. Taller trees someday, or some background music outdoors, might help take the edge off. I’d definitely come back.