HiONE Gallery Hotel Taichung

Waaaaaaay too outdated hotel. Grubby, grimy, antiquated. Smells in places. Carpets are disgusting. Food is bizarre. Can't handle large conferences for meal (had to eat on the "banquet hall" stage. Needs to be stripped down and totally refurbished. Won't be back.

The Plaza International Hotel Taichung is just another hotel. The lobby of this hotel is quite impressive, though the rooms are not. The rooms are simple and clean, the bathroom very dated. Free internet is available in the room though very slow. The buffet breakfast was held in one of the Ballrooms - acceptable though for some reason very disappointing. As for location, there is shopping in walking distance, though that is all you will find in this locale. Would we return: I don't think so. Would we recommend: If we return to this area we would try another hotel.

I had a night in this hotel, but was actually supposed to stay at other places due to peak period and the other hotels were fully booked. This hotel is located not near to any big shopping malls. The lobby looks a little old but when I check-in to my room, it was old and the toilets were dirty. The walls seemed yellowish and there is a water-cooler that was not in use. The electric socket seems loose and may fall off anytime as it was not stable. Shower curtains for the bathtub are old and it was dirty and made me change my decision of having a dip in the tub. The bed sheets feels dusty and did not have me a comfortable night as I felt uncomfortable moving around. The breakfast was okay, but it was really simple and old. I will not visit the place again!! Once is more than enough. It's not worth paying such amount for poor quality.

I stayed at this hotel for a night. Actually we were supposed to stay at Maison de Chine hotel but it was fulled. This hotel is close to central station and not far from shopping street. The building look quite old as well as the room but the room are really clean. The breakfast is so so. Not much variety of food to choose from.

This hotel feels a bit like the older good hotels in Central and Eastern Europe used to feel after the Wall came down - somewhat dated, but with a certain plushness and not without comfort. I stayed here for one night after a local mini-conference with colleagues. I had a room with nice views over Taichung (10th floor). 1970s style old-fashioned bathroom. Good bed. Chinese-style massive red wood furniture, a very nice touch. Good TV, plenty of space for luggage and clothes. We had a gala dinner in the Pearl Room in the evening; it was not excellent but certainly very good, competently served and very plentiful. Two vegetarian Indian colleagues received dish after dish in a very nice way as well. Functional breakfast in a big but sunny hall; nothing super fancy, but more than one should eat for breakfast anyway.

It is beyond belief that a hotel can get away with the "tea time" buffet lunch they had when we visited their restaurant. The food selection was poor. The hot dishes were cold, undercooked chicken and a stale salad resuklted ion an experience we would rather forget. When we complained about the taste of the potato salad, we were told that the almods used in there were "stale"! Imagine that. They knew they were using stale ingredients and expected their customers not to detect this? With the huge number of excellent restaurants in Taichung there is no need to visit this place and eat disgusting food at outrageous prices for what one gets. Stay away!

We spent 4D3N at this hotel during our visit to Taichung. The hotel was conveniently located next to Taichung train station, took us about 3 mins walk to get there. We had no trouble finding the place. Check-in was smooth; we got our room very fast. We stayed at 12th floor which was the highest, specially requested that as I am a light sleeper. It was a wise choice (proven), as the traffic was very busy out there. We still can hear noises at night. The room was nicely designed but small. Bed was ok, two pillows were provided. For extra pillow, you need to call the reception, which I did. They sent the pillow within 30 mins. However, the pillows were too soft; I had a so-so sleep for 3 nights. The room temperature controller was not functioning; it did not correspond to the temperature adjusted. The bathroom came with head shower, no bathtub. Breakfast was served at their restaurant – Sunny House (2nd floor). Variety was ok but not tasty. There was a laundry room (self-service, chargeable) located at the basement together with business centre. We went down to explore, nobody was around. Moving around was easy and inexpensive with few bus terminals around. Be careful of the bus routes as they could be very confusing. It’s best to ask the staffs. We also took a bus to Sun Moon Lake at one of the terminals (see picture) near the hotel. Taxis were everywhere in the street if you don’t feel like taking a bus. There were many shops around, with a convenient store (7-11) at the corner. For a quick bite, you can go to McDonalds opposite; next to it was a book store named Noble; they have good variety of Chinese books. If you don’t fancy Western food, there were many local eateries around. There were few shops selling Taichung souvenirs (famous sun biscuits – Taiyangbing, assorted cakes, etc) but we found the best at Nine Suns, about 5 mins walk from Noble Bookstore (same role). This is an average hotel with good location.

The Front Desk staff were helpful and professional, they were patient in providing directions and other information. I was lucky that could receive a complimentary upgrade to the executive room with 2 extra large double beds! that's amazing & the beds were comfy! however, the bathroom was rather old, needed to do some maintainece work. Besides, the hotel was closed to convenience stores. They even offered free internet usage not only in the room with broadband connection but also provided free wifi at the lobby and computers were free to use. how good was that? the buffet breakfast was good as well, they offered few kinds of juices and veggies at the salad bar. (would be better if the chef could make omelette :p) I'd definately stay at the hotel again!!

The lobby is somewhat deceiving. The lobby is grand, victorian style, and elegant. They put too much style on the lift – with charming wooden wall and relaxing classic music. The room is a bit disappointing with its old-green theme and really old lay out. The location is a bit far from the city center. I think they should upgrade the rooms

The good part of this hotel are free internet, friendly staff; and the room amenties are full-service and clean. Other than that, it is just an average tourist focus hotel. This hotel does NOT have gym, no self-service laundry, and mimimal English speaking channels. That can be a bumper for long-term stay. The hallway can stand better cleaning, and the breakfast is kind of below par for me. It is near local area but can be far from train station and downtown. So be aware. Just in case you need food, there is a McDonald about a block on the left from the hotel. As for local food, go to the road from the hotel, turn right and then turn right on the first light, there are some restaurants there.