THE CLOUD HOTEL Hsinchu

This was an emergency overnight booking at a reasonable last-minute price, and now I see why it was available. The hotel is very old, musty, and smelly, with a strange location. Even on the fifth floor, it felt like a damp basement. The bathroom was odd and stayed very wet. Better towels or something to deal with the water and smell might help. They charge a ridiculous amount if you stay past the 11am checkout. I booked it to get away from construction noise in my building, but construction here started at 9am and continued until 5pm. It would have been good to know. The staff were nice and tried to make things right, which was the one redeeming point. I wouldn’t recommend the hotel for anything.

I woke at 11pm struggling to breathe because the room was filling with cigarette smoke. At first I thought there was a fire. So much for a smoke-free hotel. I’ve had asthma since I was very young and am highly allergic to cigarette smoke, so the secondhand smoke was a serious health and safety issue for me. If you have a respiratory condition, don’t stay here at any price. It’s not worth your health or life.

The breakfast was included and had a good variety, tasted good, and even included ice cream. The room was large, with new furniture, and the hotel has recently been decorated, though part of the lobby still looked unfinished. It’s right across from Zhubei Station. There were downsides to the bathroom: the shower area was only half enclosed, so water splashed onto the floor mat. I also found hair on the floor when I checked in. I stayed two days, and there was still hair after the room had been cleaned.

The bathroom was in poor, old-fashioned condition, and water got everywhere because there was no shower glass or curtain. Even clothes and towels kept getting wet. It looked at least 25 years old and not maintained, so I don’t believe the hotel’s claim that it was redecorated. In the bedroom, the plastic switch plate was coming loose when I turned off the light. On my first night, the room was dark and had no air conditioning. I’d never encountered a room with neither lights nor air conditioning before. It was awful. At checkout, my son called reception to ask about the time for both of us, and we left the room key as requested. Then a woman from reception called in a very unfriendly way and blamed me for not calling them to check out. So rude. I don’t recommend this hotel, and I’ll never stay there again.