Oldmancaptain Hostel

Fine if you’re just passing through, as I did for one night. It’s very close to the local train station, the staff were helpful, and detergent was available for doing laundry. At first they gave me a bed where the curtain wouldn’t close all the way, leaving a big gap by my head (see photo). Luckily there was another bed, and I asked to move. The shower room wasn’t the cleanest. Also, one shower’s drain was in the other shower, so it didn’t drain properly.

The entrance is inside FamilyMart, just a few steps from Taiwan Railway Station. The owner is super friendly and organized fun activities, including showing us how to make Taiwanese and Korean honeycomb toffee (Squid Game fans will know 😆) and roast coffee beans from scratch. I came to Tainan without doing any homework, but his recommendations helped me have a really great time and make wonderful memories.

I wouldn’t recommend staying here. On my first night of a two-night stay, a couple of bed bugs, maybe more, chose my bed. Reception closes at 21, but luckily I found a guy cleaning the corridors at 22.30. He was helpful and gave me keys to a new room and bed. I keep wondering what I’d have done if I hadn’t found him. The next day I told the reception guy, “you might want to check out the bed bugs situation in my bed, room 5, bed 11.” He just said, “thank you.” No apology, and no offer to wash my clothes. It felt like I was doing them a favor. The cleanliness is bad, though not desperate, and the price doesn’t justify it. Cheap shouldn’t mean dirty, and I found several cheaper options in Taiwan that were WAY better. Breakfast was slices of bread with very low-quality spreads. The little money spent on that would be better put toward cleaning the place, especially the kitchen, where there were hairs in the fridge and an open garbage big can in the cooking area.

It’s 1.30am and I’m writing this because the stay has been that bad. I needed somewhere close to the station for an early train to Taichung, and wasn’t expecting luxury, just a clean, decent place. I’d seen the 8.6/10 rating from 6,809 guests on Agoda and booked without checking Google reviews. This place didn’t meet basic standards. I’ve spent four days traveling around Taiwan and stayed in several hostels. This is the only bad experience so far, but it’s enough to ruin the mood for the day. It’s 450 TWD a night, but basic cleanliness is a MUST!! I was in Room 2, Level 2, right by the bathroom. There’s no clear signage. I had to ask the tourist information center where it was, and they said it’s inside the Family Mart. Dirty, possibly unwashed slippers were scattered on the floor. The room smelled strongly of salt and sweat as soon as I entered. The bed had a bloodstain and a thin mattress, and guests have to make their own beds, something I’ve never experienced at another hostel. The pillow and blanket were stained, the blanket cover was torn, and everything felt dusty and unclean. Less than an hour after showering and lying down, I got rashes. The soundproofing was poor, too. Being next to the bathroom, I could hear a hair dryer, shower doors slamming, and guests walking in the hallway at 1.30am. The bathroom was cramped, with the toilet and shower squeezed into a cubicle-sized space. The only positive is that the train station is a few steps away.