City Inn Hotel Taipei Station Branch I

The City Inn Hotel chain has five cosy hotels around Taiwan (four in Taipei with 3 at Taipei Main Station & 1 at Ximending, and one in Taichung at time of this post). What's great about these hotels are that they are all centrally located and easy on the pocket :):)

We stayed at the Taipei Station Branch I on our first night during our recent trip because it was the best deal among the rest, and we wanted an easy place to get to the Taipei Main Station for our train ride to Hualien the next day. Ever since I started planning my own overseas trips, I have been rather picky about my accommodation. Previously I harped on location being the main factor for my choice, but then the aesthetic factor became a critical factor as well. With the arrival of Bielet, of course, cost and comfort is high up there too ;)

I was chuffed that I managed to get this place as it ticked all the right boxes! For 1 night, we managed to get this hotel at NT$2080 (roughly S$87), without breakfast. It's a stone's throw away from Taipei Main Station and the decor is really cute! 

Caution: you might find it too small for your liking. The lobby was a tight squeeze, especially with a row of bags lining the wall. It is basically the size of a corridor, with no chairs for guests to plonk into and wait. There was just enough space for me to go up to the reception counter while ZX and Bielet waited near the entrance. I overheard the hotel staff informing some guests to go up to the waiting area at the second floor. Cosy, eh?!

Standing at the far most of the lift, this is the most I could capture on my camera. Reality check: that's a really tight lift! The 3 of us plus our bags = FULL

The room is just a small cube layout. You can see the entire room once you step through the door.

There is no luxury of a wardrobe here. Just a simple full-length mirror and a few hooks with hangers.

The loo. Nice and bright, spic and span. It has a rainshower as well :) The door is just a sliding door with no lock, but there is frosted glass all round so no worries about seeing what's inside.

Bielet looks mighty pleased with the room! The queen-sized bed got some getting used to but we got sorted out in half an hour. The bed is right smack next to the loo (so if you work it out, the length of the entire loo is the same as the bed) so whoever is sleeping on the right of the bed gets to kiss the frosted glass.

Other than the usual bottles of water provided, there's some snacks and drink packets too. Not too shabby right? Oh, prepare yourselves though - there isn't a fridge for you to refrigerate your own drinks or baby food.

Instead of hanging signs on the door knob, you just paste the relevant magnet on the front of your door. Cute!

When we first reached the ground floor lobby, ZX said he never thought I would book us a place like this because it appeared like a hostel. But when we stepped out from the lift to head to our room, he said this is not a hostel lohhh, sure very expensive. He was, however, pleasantly surprised that I kept to my budget of less than S$100 per night. *Beams with pride*

What greets you once you step out from the lift! What a happy sight, right? I loved that the hotel was decorated with loads of cutesy art all round :):)

This graphic was at the end of the corridor, and our room was just to the right!

ZX trying to be farnie...

To find this place within out budget was such a good deal, don't you think? I admit that it is kind of small and it might be somewhat inconvenient without a wardrobe and fridge, but it's not utterly necessary for 1 night. I was initially worried that we might have to relegate ourselves to a hostel with our budget in such a central area. Not that I'm trying to be atas, but staying at a hostel might incur the wrath of other guests because Bielet sometimes gets grumpy and really noisy at night. In other words, this was perfect :) There was yummy food around as well and since we didn't have a breakfast package, we roamed around the next morning and bought from whichever stalls were open. We still had time leftover to pack and stroll over to catch our train. Nice and easy!

[Update on 25 Jul 2012]
Realised that I forgot to mention a couple more amenities of this hotel. On the second floor, you'll find a self-service laundry room open from 7 am to midnight (with washer, dryer and complimentary detergent) and a 24-hour self-service kitchen room. The kitchen has the fridge (if you really need it), microwave, toaster oven, coffee machine and water dispenser. Any parents with young children and require a baby bathtub can also request it from the front desk.