TopL Hotel

Comfortable and affordable place to stay. The staff are good and can understand English.

A short stay of a day or two is okay here, especially if you've rented a motorcycle. Getting to the hotel from Tainan Station takes 10-20 minutes by U-bike, and it's quite a ride, so I'd recommend paying extra for an electric scooter. It's far from the train station. The area around the hotel is convenient enough. There are parking spots downstairs, a U-bike station in the park across the street, and another one a short walk from Gangxianglan. The room has enough space for two large suitcases, and they clean daily, though I don't think that was necessary. The soundproofing is poor, so noisy neighbors partying at night will be a problem. The Wi-Fi, a Xiaomi brand setup, wouldn't connect with either of my phones, Samsung or ASUS, so I had to use mobile data. That could be a hassle without an unlimited plan. The hairdryer is Daxin brand, and you have to hold the button down for it to blow. After about 3-5 minutes of pressing, the switch stopped popping back, so it basically turned into an automatic dryer, I guess. The bathroom water is hard, which isn't the hotel's fault and is common in southern Taiwan's geology. I'd bring my own shampoo and conditioner. The shower was a little unusual too, and that toilet seat was the heaviest I've ever encountered in a hotel.

The room was a decent size, but the facilities were awful. The building felt very old and run-down, and light even came through the walls. There were yellow stains on the bathroom towels, and the phone for calling the front desk kept cutting out for no reason. The front desk felt like a pawn shop, and the staff were robotic and impersonal, like even Siri would be better. They charged another $100 for an extra blanket at night, on top of the already high $5680 room price for the Lunar New Year booking. I don't recommend staying here.

The stay was a good experience, and I'm grateful a kind front desk staff member called back to let me know a room was available in Tainan. We paid 3080 for two adults and one child in Room 1001. When the parking lot was full, a male staff member kept checking the camera screen for spaces to help us out. The bathroom was huge, almost like one designed for disadvantaged groups, but there were no shelves for toothpaste or toothbrushes. There were no meals. The bed and pillows were the hotel kind, and sleeping on one left me with a stiff neck 🤣