Mai Hotel

No. 15, Lane 105, Section 1, Zhong Shan North Road, Taipei, Taiwan
Tel: +886 (2) 2542-9511                             
www.maihotel.com.tw                                                Time of stay：Jan. 2012

This hotel is in a famous alley, which was part of a prestigious residential area under Japanese occupation (1895-1945).  It’s only a walking distance to Zhongshan MRT Station, department stores, and well-known restaurants like AoBa (青葉), SHIN YEH (欣葉), etc. I booked the hotel through a travel agency, and based on the internet information, the hotel was famous for its unique design.

The front desk staff was competent and friendly. There were newspapers and two computers at the lobby. But the computers were often occupied for long hours. There was a restaurant behind the lobby, providing free breakfast buffet, including Taiwanese fruits.



The design of the room was poor. There was no space for luggage, and the layout had a huge problem. The TV was hung on the wall on the left side of the bed. If you were on the bed, you had to always turn to the left to watch TV. It was really tiring! The curtains did not keep sunshine out, and the street noise was loud, even after midnight. Compared with the size of the room, the bathroom was unreasonably big. Maybe the designer felt that the guests would spend more time in the bathroom than in the room. The shower water could not keep a steady temperature. It was either too cold or too hot. The toilet was already clogged when we arrived. After we reported the problem, the front desk staff did not offer us another room. Not only that, she assumed that we caused the problem. Before trying to understand what happened, she said, "In Taiwan, we don't throw toilet paper into the toilet". Actually, I checked in using my Taiwanese passport, I really did not understand where the remark was coming from. Besides, no matter where the guests were from, this was certainly not an appropriate way to handle the problem!