Tanxiang Hostel Sun Moon Lake

The host was very welcoming during my one-night stay. We talked about his family and his love of Vietnamese culture. It's a good spot for getting around SML, close to shuishe wharf and shuishe visitor centre, so I'd recommend staying here.

Affordable and well located. The beds creak, which was my only drawback.

The hostel is clean and spacious, and the staff member was really kind and helpful. We could leave our belongings before check-in and after checkout. There's hot water in the bathroom, lockers, and free water refills. The bus drops you right beside the hostel. It's not very social, and the town itself doesn't offer much to do, but you can rent bikes just downstairs and ride around the lake. Really recommended!

The lake itself feels overly touristy. People weren't very nice and seemed to see visitors as walking wallets. I'd suggest making it a day trip from Puli or Taichung, or even skipping it for Tsengwen reservoir, where the lake is much more beautiful and people are nicer. The service here was the worst: staff were very rude, and the whole system worked terribly. Check-in is only available for four hours a day. If I arrived after 7 pm, they would cancel the reservation. But if I came before 3 pm, there was no staff at the property and the door was locked, so I couldn't get in, even though I'd messaged in advance to say I was arriving early.