City Inn Plus Xi Men Ding 新驛旅店西門捷運店

Convenient, Cheap & Chic can be used to describe this hotel in Taipei. The hotel was newly opened in September last year. Location of the hotel is superb! It is only less than 5 mins walk from Xi Men Ding Exit 3. Going to the hotel by Airport Bus is quite a hassle. We took the freego bus from the Airport but we got to change to another bus to bring us to the hotel and the bus stops at the main road instead of dropping us at the hotel's entrance. Right across the road is Xi Men Ding shopping area with lots of shops and food. What's more, we shopped till late night buying cosmetics at the 24-hr Watson across the road!

The hotel offers more than what we actually paid for. After some checks of room rates, I booked from the hotel's own website. The room rate that we paid was like TW1920nett (~S$85) for a weekday and TWD2080nett (~S$92) for weekend, without breakfast. It is really value for money for the amenities that the hotel provides.

We were quite sceptical about the hotel initially when we decided to go for this new hotel with little reviews can be found online. However, the hotel is really modern and chic. Of course, the expectation should be managed properly. Though the hotel is new and modern, the size of the room is relatively small compared to a normal 4-star hotel. There is not much space to move around with two 28inch luggage and in the room.

Entrance of the City Inn Plus

The hotel is so near the MRT exit. Check it out in the photo above!

Hotel Main Lobby

A super plus point about this hotel is that we can use the wi-fi for FREE! Everyone loves free things especially these days going online is like brushing our teeth. In addition, the hotel even provide a MAC in the lobby for guests to use. A coffee/tea dispenser is available beside the reception for guest to enjoy a cup of drink while surfing the internet or waiting for friends. It was really a good gesture as it was really freezing cold when we were there and the hot drink warmed us up a little before we head out of the hotel.

Recreation & Laundry Area

One of the thoughtful amenities that I was quite impressed is that the hotel has a recreation & laundry area for guest to rest & relax after a long sightseeing/shopping trip and the hotel also provide self service laundry area for guest to use. The recreation area has a small kitchenette with microwave, toaster and washing basin. In addition, the hotel also provide coffee/tea and hot water dispensers for guests' consumption. Board games and TV can be found in this recreation area and groups of friends can just mingle and do some activities together.

Basically, I think all hotels under Taipei Inn Group provides self-service laundry room for guests. There are 2 washing machines, washing powder and steamer are provided and guests are free to use them. While chatting with a group of Singaporean guests, they mentioned that there were many people queue to use the facility in the evening so they did their laundry later in the night.

Elegant Room

We decided to book the Elegant Room, one room category above their lead-in room as it comes with a bathtub. We stayed in 2 different room as we went Taichung and stayed for one night. The above room photo is the one that we stayed after we came back from Taichung which is slightly bigger but there is no difference in it's appearance and amenities. Unlike other hotels which collects a deposit from guest upon check-in, City Inn Plus does not collect any deposit because all amenities are free to use.

Coffee/Tea, daily 2 bottles of drinking water and a packet of potato chips are placed in the room for guests on complimentary basis. There is no wardrobe in the room. However, the hotel provides a few hangers for guests to hang their clothes. It is required for guests to pass the room key card back to the reception whenever the guests leave the hotel. This is the first hotel that I experience with such requirements but in any case, it is more secure and reception will be able to monitor the guests coming in and out of the hotel.

I really love their bathroom. The contemporary style makes me stay in the bathroom 10 min more each day. One point to take note is that not all their Elegant Rooms come with a bathtub so if you want to bubble bath everyday during your stay, please make a request when making the reservation. All necessary amenities like shower gel/shampoo, toothbrush/toothpaste, disposable hair net and shaver are provided. The shower gel and shampoo are put in a dispenser instead of individual bottles.

Important Information to note

• The hotel has limited number of adapters to supply to guests so please bring your own traveller's adapter.
•  Strictly no early check-in or late check-out.
• Rooms are fully booked 2 - 3 months prior so it is essential to reserve the rooms in advance. 

Overall, it was an enjoyable and pleasant experience stay in City Inn Plus Hotel and we really love the concept and the location of the hotel. It is really not easy to find a hotel which is cheap, convenient, clean and cool design. We will definitely stay in City Inn Plus Hotel when we visit Taipei next time round and will also recommend this hotel to all.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                         No. 63, Baoqing Rd, Zhongzheng Dist., Taipei City 100, Taiwan
www.cityinn.com.tw