My apartment contract is ending and I’ll be leaving Taiwan for a couple months. When I get back I won’t have a place to stay, so I’m planning to temporarily stay at the Taipei Hostel while I look for a new place. Do any of you have any warnings or is there anything I should worry about living there?
Thanks.
which one is Taipei Hostel?
I’ve never been there but its close to the Shandao Temple MRT station and I heard a lot of foreigners go there for short-term accommodation.
[quote=“John Yu”]My apartment contract is ending and I’ll be leaving Taiwan for a couple months. When I get back I won’t have a place to stay, so I’m planning to temporarily stay at the Taipei Hostel while I look for a new place. Do any of you have any warnings or is there anything I should worry about living there?
Thanks.[/quote]
Bedbugs, mosquitoes, rats, theft, wankers. Other than that, it’s a fine place! 
Whoa, theft? The others I can deal with, but, uh…I guess I better be careful.
Most of the people there are honest. But you ALWAYS have to watch out for theft at hostels, everywhere. Your best bet is to have a stash place with a trusted friend for passport, and other valuables that you don’t keep on your person. If you are one of the bunks, keep your wallet with you while you sleep.
That was where I first lived when I moved to Taipei - I was there for a week until I found a proper place.
Can’t speak for the occupants now, but back in 2007 they were nice enough - I was staying in one of the private rooms up the top.
That could be something to worry about.
I was there recently for a whole month, private room, not dorm. Not much to watch out for. Not even any quality lunatics any more. Times have changed - used to be the place had more nutters than other hostels have bedbugs.
I lived there for months. Lots of mosquitos. You couldn’t keep food there, because it would be eaten, but I didn’t have any other theft problems. I slept with my wallet under my pillow, though. The only problem I had was when the owner inadvertently locked us up in the place. There was no way to open the door from the inside, and I was freaking out about the possibility of a fire.
I was there ages ago, pretty dirty and horrid.
Stayed at The Meeting Place a month or so back, that place is fabulous. Right next to Songshan TRA, so maybe a little further out, but it’s a lovely place to stay.
It’s a good thing I posted this question on Forumosa. I now understand that the Taipei Hostel is a dirty, horrid place of bedbugs, mosquitoes, wankers, lunatics, theft, and fire.
As far as I’m concerned it’s a rite of passage. Payin yer dues.
The price is right, it’s close to transportation (train/mrt) and the guys that run it are decent and honest. I don’t remember it being called the Taipei hostel though, Happy family or something like that I think.
[quote=“Homey”]As far as I’m concerned it’s a rite of passage. Payin yer dues.
The price is right, it’s close to transportation (train/MRT) and the guys that run it are decent and honest. I don’t remember it being called the Taipei hostel though, Happy family or something like that I think.[/quote]
Happy Family is a different one I think, it’s only a block or so away though.
Can you double your budget and live here?
dayrentking.com.tw/Fixpage.aspx?id=61
You can rent a room for around $1k NT during weekdays in some locations.
Still say you should go for the meeting place. Really awesome people, lockers and clean. themeetingplace.tw/
Hey John!
Wanted to give you a better recommendation for a Hostel in Taipei. It is called InnTouch and is located directly in Ximen. It is a gay friendly hostel but you do not have to be gay to stay there by any means. It is extremely safe and the owner is a friend of mine. His name is Steve. They have a great monthly rate and you get a private room with or without a window. The beds are memory foam!! This place is brand new, just opened this year!
They also provide FREE breakfast every morning cooked by Steve himself. Steve is also kind enough to translate and write down anything or address in Chinese when needed. Oh and if you like to workout they have their own private gym! And free FAST wireless internet. I stayed here for 2 whole months just a few a months ago. Their website is inntouch.com.tw/
If you decide to stay here or inquire about it tell them Mike Price from ThinkTaiwan.com sent you. Let me know if you have any more questions about the place!
I would kind of think you would have found this website already, but just in case you haven’t :
Can’t you rent a room at a friend’s place in Taipei or something? Sounds like a better idea, if you could. If I lived in Taipei, or if you wanted to stay in Tainan I’d happily put you up for a month or so. Those hostels seem dodgy at best.
Well, the website I mentioned does have pictures and reviews, don’t know how much you can trust that though. But I think some of the best part of traveling is staying in hostels. Great place to meet people. When I go to Taiwan I am staying in one for sure, hopefully I’ll be able to find another English speaking F.O.B. and we can help each other out to start with, Of course I’ve never been to one in Taiwan, but it can’t be that bad, can it? And for 8-14 bucks a day? Sounds good to me. I think people are likely over exaggerating the chances of shit (besides food in the fridge) getting stolen, can anyone honestly say they have had their shit stolen?