SleepBox Hotel - Ximen

The staff showed very little initiative, and the service felt sloppy. I was traveling alone with three bags, plus a large bag and a suitcase for check-in. To use the lift in the next unit, guests had to ask staff. At first they told me that if I needed it again, I'd have to come upstairs to tell them, then go back down. There was a small step up into the unit with the lift. Normally I could pull luggage over it or carry it, but my hands were full. A staff member saw me struggling and stood there impatiently. I asked her to lift the suitcase while I handled another check-in bag. She hesitated, then pulled it up by its handle. The next day, a different staff member said I could just use the lift, so the earlier instruction had been unnecessary. I still had to get my suitcase down that step. The building guard was right by the door, but impatiently refused to help and told me to ask Sleepbox staff instead. Fair enough, it wasn't his job, haha. I asked the staff member, who was rushing around and impatient all morning. She said, “I havw no strength,” even though I was holding the suitcase while carrying three other heavy bags. Thankfully she did eventually help and tried her best.

Clean, cozy, and very good value for the price. SleepBox Hotel is in a great spot, close to MRT stations, Ximending, Taipei Main Station, places to eat, and convenience stores. I'd highly recommend it if you're visiting Taipei.

Check-in was easy, and the place was neat, clean, and spacious. It's an easy walk to Taipei Main Station, Ximending night market, and local food shops.

The affordable price and decent location weren't enough to make me want to stay again. This was our first hostel, so I can't compare it with other hostels, only with inexpensive hotels I've stayed in. We booked the larger superior double room, 12b. Several rooms seemed to be in the basement, but ours and some others were on the first floor. The location worked well: about a 15-minute walk to Taipei main station, around 10 minutes to the Ximending walking district, and near convenience stores, restaurants, and the Taiwan National Museum. The place was pretty clean overall, and the private bathroom had a toilet and shower. There was also luggage storage during counter hours, before check-in or after checkout, which was handy, though it was just an open rack in the lobby and didn't feel secure. There were no towels provided, and you had to pay for them. The toilet had no lid, and the plumbing smell filled both the bathroom and bedroom. It was disgusting and unsanitary. The room had no soundproofing, so we could hear people in the hallway and other rooms, as well as the laundry machine. I only managed to sleep because we were so tired from being out all day. Light from the hallway shone through the gap in the sliding door straight onto the bed all night. The bed and pillows were very hard, maybe that's normal for a cheap stay. The whole place had a “landlord special” look: paint only halfway up the walls, tape over a door they didn't want guests to use, with paint over the tape, and a cockroach in the bathroom. The TV turned on but we couldn't get it connected to anything, despite trying everything.