After I failed to postpone my weekend trip to Taipei I had a struggle finding a hotel.   All of the hotels I found online were booked as I kind of expected searching 2 days before the day I arrived.  The answer to my hotel problem was closer than I thought.  Instead of searching online for a hotel and contacting all the hotels which most people had probably already booked with I checked in the mid-range hotel section I decided to call hotels that weren’t on the first page of Google directly.

First Hotel was located in the mid-range section of Taipei hotels.  I called them and booking a hotel room for a single day was as easy as giving them my credit card number over the phone.  Even though the front desk staff I spoke with had decent English skills when I asked if First Hotel had an airport pick-up they suddenly spoke no English.  I ended up again reading in the Lonely Planet about the best way into the city from the Airport which meant taking an “Airbus” to one of its drop off points then a taxi for a few kilometers to First Hotel.

Checking in was easy as I simply presented my credit card, showed my passport and signed a couple things.  There was no hassle of filling out a bunch of paperwork as they sent me up my room on floor 10 which was the top floor.  Although small, my room (112) was nice as you can see below.  I have read other reviews that stated First Hotel’s top two floors (9 & 10) are renovated and nice while the others are not so be forewarned.  I was satisfied with room 112 and they even left 2 complimentary bananas and oranges on the desk.

First Hotel Location

As you can see from the photo at the top of the post, First Hotel is located in a well populated area called Zhongshan .  I didn’t read too much about the area before hand so after checking in I got out of the hotel and started walking around.  It seemed like I walked around forever and didn’t find anything that interested me enough to check out.  I ended up taking a taxi back to the hotel after a couple hours and get to bed early (on a Friday night) so I could get an early start on Saturday.  I have read other reviews criticizing the location for being 15 minutes away from the closest MRT station.

The Zhongshan Neighborhood next to First Hotel in Taipei

Overall Impression

I didn’t’ really feel like hotel hunting for the next couple of days so I decided to stick it out at First Hotel for the entire weekend.  My plan failed when I asked them for a room the next morning and they were booked.  It turned out to be a blessing in disguise because the next hotel I found over the phone Delamanco Hotel was nicer and in a much better location.  If you’re looking for a room in Taipei and are looking to spend around 2000 NTD ($60 USD) First Hotel is adequate but unless you’re planning to fly from the small airport which is nearby or have specific nearby plans, you can find better hotels in better locations for around the same price.

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