Holiday Inn Express Taipei Train Station By Ihg

“Taipei Hotel Orchard Park change name to Holiday Inn Express Taipei Train Station”

This hotel has changed name to Holiday Inn Express Taipei Train Station and joined the IHG group. Mid range clean hotel. Presentable hotel room reasonably clean to me a clean freak only have a bit of dust in the air. Because this is actually an older hotel that recently joing IHG group. Was surpris… Plus

This hotel has changed name to Holiday Inn Express Taipei Train Station and joined the IHG group. Mid range clean hotel. Presentable hotel room reasonably clean to me a clean freak only have a bit of dust in the air. Because this is actually an older hotel that recently joing IHG group. Was surprise with the wide spread for breakfast. Consider not bad already as they change some items daily.

Moins

“All good except one thing .....”

I stayed at this hotel on my recent trip to Taipei. I gave this hotel a good review because it is clean, location is good and service is also good. Staffs and front desk staffs are friendly and helpful too, in particular to Mr Wei (front reception staff). THERE IS however one DRAWBACK - there is… Plus

I stayed at this hotel on my recent trip to Taipei. I gave this hotel a good review because it is clean, location is good and service is also good. Staffs and front desk staffs are friendly and helpful too, in particular to Mr Wei (front reception staff). THERE IS however one DRAWBACK - there is no shower curtain provided in bathroom. A guest is expected to shower in the bathtub but there is no shower curtain to help keep some of the water from splashing out onto the floor while one is taking a shower. Water on the floor makes the bathroom floor slippery rising the probability of someone slipping on the floor and getting injured. In addition, only one floor towel is provided. This is a recipe for disaster just waiting to happen as it raises the risk percentage of a slip and fall incident. I don't know if the no provision of a shower curtain is supposed to be in line with the hotel's environmental conscious policy or what, but all it takes is for a person to fall resulting in injury - as the slip incident may be attributable to the hotel being negligent in providing no shower curtain, will the hotel be paying compensation and medical bills for the injury? surely this will cost a lot more than providing shower curtains.

Moins

“Recently Renovated/Remodeled Hotel That Requires Improvement In Some Areas”

Please kindly note that Taipei Hotel Orchard Park has changed to Holiday Inn Express Taipei Train Station after renovation/remodeling. We chose Holiday Inn Express Taipei Train Station as our second hotel to stay in Taipei. We made this decision as IHG website promoted this hotel on its website as… Plus

Please kindly note that Taipei Hotel Orchard Park has changed to Holiday Inn Express Taipei Train Station after renovation/remodeling. We chose Holiday Inn Express Taipei Train Station as our second hotel to stay in Taipei. We made this decision as IHG website promoted this hotel on its website as a new hotel. It’s our first time trying out the Holiday Inn Express brand within the IHG Hotel Group. However, the day before we checked in we found terrible reviews of the hotel on Holiday Inn Express Taipei Train Station section of the IHG website and also on google reviews of the hotel. About 50% of the reviews by guest on both websites were not good citing that the rooms had insect, cockroaches and beg bugs. We were shocked to read this as we thought it was a new hotel. But by reading the previous reviews the hotel was previously known as Taipei Hotel Orchard Park but was renovated/remodeled and changed its name to Holiday Inn Express Taipei Train Station. It started operations as Holiday Inn Express Taipei Train Station at the end of May 2025. From what I have read it was supposed to be opening sometime in July. But I believe the earlier opening was to be prepared for the guests that comes during the peak summer holidays. We were considering cancelling our booking at Holiday Inn Express Taipei Train Station and to stay longer at our first hotel in Taipei due to the recent reviews of Holiday Inn Express Taipei Train Station. But after finding out that my booking was non refundable and the cancelation policy stated that I would have to pay the full price of our stay if I cancelled, we decided to give it a chance and try out the newly renovated/remodeled Holiday Inn Express Taipei Train Station. Therefore, I emailed Ms. Shelly Lee, who was the contact point of the hotel for me, the day before my arrival. I stated that the room should be clean with no cockroaches and insects. There should be no bed bugs. The pillows should smell nice. I called Ms. Shelly Lee the next day to go through the email I sent her. She informed me that she will make sure that this doesn’t happen in my room. Also, she kindly informed me that she has asked the housekeeping to make sure that this doesn’t happen to my room. Once we arrived at the hotel Ms. Kiyo Lee checked me in. My booking was guaranteed by credit card but was not charged. We paid for our stay when we checked in. We were assigned the room on the top floor of the hotel, which is the 8th floor. I looked for Ms. Shelly Lee when I arrived. She came out to greet me. She kindly told me that the whole building went through pest control on Monday, 23rd June 2025. My check out time was not printed on the guest registration card. So I asked if my late check out time was granted. Ms. Kiyo Lee initially told me no because the hotel was busy. I asked Ms. Shelly Lee and she told me only half of what I requested is ok. I asked for 30 minutes more. Ms. Shelly Lee negotiated with Ms. Kiyo Lee to make it happen. On the day you check out you have to ask the reception to set your room card again for late check out as it only works until 11:00 am. Once we entered the room. To our right there were closet to hang our clothes. Also underneath the closet there is an area where we can put our two large bags. Under the bag area there is the electronic safe. Next to the closet there is a mirror. To the left of the door there was the toilet. If you walk straight further into the room to your right there is a refrigerator, which is empty. On top of the refrigerator there are two complimentary water bottles, a hot water maker, tea bags and coffee bags. Next to this there is a television. When facing the television to the right there is a socket and the light switch for the refrigerator area and to the left there is a socket too. But both sockets are for local sockets. Therefore, you need to bring your international travel adaptor. There is one type c socket next to the socket on the left of the television. There is a circle desk to the left of the television. It’s enough for one person to do their work. They have a lamp on the desk. This lamp you can control the brightness of the lamp. There is only one chair provided for this desk. It would have been good to have two chairs. The bed is large and is a queen sized bed. The bed is very comfortable. It’s a firm bed. So if one person moves the other person wouldn’t feel it. There are also sockets and light switches on either side of the bed. They provide two slippers in the room. There is a sofa to the left of the bed next to the window. But I cannot see what is outside as they have covered the window and it cannot be opened. Please kindly note that there are rooms with no windows as well. Luckily, there were no cockroaches and insects in our room and no bed bugs on our bed. We managed to have a comfortable sleep on our bed. The toilet has a modern toilet seat. The water coming out the bathroom sink is good. However, the concern is the shower area. There is no curtain to prevent the water splashing out. Therefore, after you take a shower the floor is quite wet. It could be slippery. The shower head seems new. But there was a large yellow stain on top of the shower hose. This shows that not everything is new here. However, the water coming out from shower head was good. You can easily adjust it from hot to cold water. Sometimes the toilet flush didn’t work. On several occasions we had to wait a long time for the water to be filled up again before pressing the flush button. The room I stayed in was generally soundproof from the sounds outside the hotel. However, we can hear the doors slamming and people talking in rooms next to us. Thus, soundproof is not that strong within the hotel. I went downstairs to the reception to get some extra towels. This time I met Mr. Ito of the front desk. He kindly asked me to get two complimentary drinks. I had a choice of coca cola, sprite, OOHA, grape juice and apple juice. I picked two apple juices. He asked house keeping to send me two large towels, which arrived promptly after I came back to my room. Also, he noted that I need two extra large towels as well. I was touched that they provided extra towels during my stay. At lobby you will find that coffee machine where you can have coffee, espresso and hot water for free. Also there is iced water, a snack next to iced water and tea bags, which is also free. There is a Taiwan guide leaflet that is in English, Korean and Chinese. There is a vending machine at the lobby as well, which sells a variety of products. To the left of the coffee machine there is a restaurant area but its empty and not used because it’s the restaurant of the previous hotel in Taipei Hotel Orchard Park. I informed Mr. Ito that there are many mosquitos in the lobby of the hotel. He promptly got a mosquito killing racket out and started killing them. Breakfast of the hotel starts at 6:30 am to 10:00 am and is served on the 2nd floor of the hotel. The restaurant on the second floor only operates for breakfast at the moment. There no lunch or dinner is served in this restaurant. Breakfast is included in the rate. At breakfast there is scrambled egg, vegetables, clams, pasta, oden, chicken, ham, chicken nuggets, french fries, onion rings, congee station, soy braised pork, salad section, two different types of yakult, fruits, cheese, coffee machine, drink area (grape juice, orange juice, soy milk and water). For some of the dishes the item changed the next day. On the second day we didn’t see any mosquitos in the restaurant but we saw mosquitos in the restaurant on the third day. On the third floor there is a small gym and also a laundry area within the gym. The laundry is free of charge for guests of the hotel. There are two laundry machines in the laundry area. The hotel started operations from end of May 2025. However, only the guests rooms on the 6th to 8th floor are ready now. I was informed that the guest rooms on the 3rd to 5th floor are still undergoing remodeling at the moment. There are two elevators in the hotel. But only one elevator goes to the 8th floor. Only after you touch your room card on the sensor inside the elevator you will be able to press the floor your room is on. Areas which require improvement and are not to the IHG standards are that some staff don’t speak fluent English. The day before I checked in I called the hotel to ask for Ms. Shelly Lee. But a person named Allen picked it up. He told me that he doesn’t speak good English. Told me that the English speaking staff will come the next day at 7:00 am. He just hanged up. When I went to the reception in the morning I asked for the mosquitos to be killed to Mr. Ian Wu. But he didn’t know what the word mosquito was. Therefore, I had to use google translate app to show him. Only then he understood. They are nice and kind people but they don’t speak good English. One more point to mention that are not to IHG standards and I felt awkward is that not all staff wear the Holiday Inn uniform. The house keeping people didn’t wear the Holiday Inn staff uniform. On our second day at the hotel in the breakfast section there was a man who picked up the finished dishes from the guest table. On top he was only wearing a men’s tank top. He didn’t look that hygienic. He was in the middle of the dining area getting the finished dishes. Sometimes he would raise his arm and you could see his armpit. It was a total shock for me to see this person in the hotel restaurant. However, this person didn’t appear in the restaurant on the 3rd day. When you walk out of the hotel to the right there is Carrefour Market, which is a very large supermarket in the basement. If you continue to walk straight to the right of the hotel you will see Pizza Hut on the opposite side of the road. There are also some local food shops such as Day Nice Brunch and Coffee, Crazy Burger, etc. If you turn right again before the pedestrian crossing you will see Kuai An Pharmacy where you can buy some medicine if you fall sick and also Louisa Coffee. Coffee at Lousia Coffee is great and cheaper than Starbucks. Similar to Starbucks Lousia Coffee also sells some cakes, bread, burger and some rice dishes. Instead of turning right if you go straight across the pedestrian crossing there is 7 Eleven and some local restaurants (San Yuan Hao Braised Pork Rice restaurant and Liang She Han Buy Good restaurant). Opposite side you will see one coffee shop named Wenism Café. Opposite Lousia Coffee on the other side of the road you will see Starbucks. If you walk pass Starbucks there is Family Mart and 7 Eleven. The Family Mart is quite big and has a seating area where you can buy food at Family Mart and eat there. If you walk pass Family Mart and 7 Eleven there is a Japanese restaurant named Komugi. If you walk to the end of the road to your left there is coffee shop named Comptoir, which sells coffee and desert. To the left of the hotel you will see XiongBa Buffet restaurant. If you turn left at the pedestrian crossing and walk straight down you will see Chage tea shop. On the opposite side of the road you will see Hotel Q (Hotel Queen) and 7 Eleven. You walk down the road next to Hotel Q (Hotel Queen) and 7 Eleven then the last shop to the left, which is on Lane 220-17, you will find a Braised Pork on Rice restaurant. This Braised Pork on Rice restaurant is very popular and needs to line up. If you don’t want to line up you then go earlier then the peak times. We went here for dinner and it was very good. There are a two to three more restaurants on the same road. To the left of the hotel if you walk straight and cross the pedestrian crossing you will find MWD café & brunch. Before the clothes shop Buyer / Beyond Fashion if you turn left you will see a road with lot of round lanterns. You walk straight down and you will see Han Kuk Um Ma Eui Ba Bae Qu (한국 엄마의 바비큐), which is a Korean BBQ restaurant to your right. Also a souvenir shop called Dativie to your left. If you walk straight at the end of the road there is 7 Eleven and opposite 7 Eleven there is Sundo House Fresh Specialty Gourmet, which is a Japanese restaurant. To the left of the hotel if you continue to walk straight then turn left at the end and walk straight you will find Taipei City Mall. It’s an underground shopping mall. Its similar atmosphere to shops inside the train stations in South Korea. To the left of the hotel if you walk straight. But at the first pedestrian crossing if you turn right and cross the pedestrian crossing and walk straight you will see a Bingsu shop and opposite it is Family Mart. While there is Syzygy Coffee just near Family Mart. Special thanks goes to Ms. Shelly Lee for organizing a clean room and late check out for our stay at Holiday Inn Express Taipei Train Station. I first got to know Ms. Shelly Lee when I called the hotel to ask some questions. But the people who pick up the calls didn’t speak good English. My call was always transferred to Ms. Shelly Lee who spoke the best English amongst the staff. She is really kind and caring person who knows how to serve customers well. I am also thankful to Mr. Ito who made sure that I got extra towels during my stay. Overall, I would rate my stay at 3+.

Moins

“Not geared up for westerners”

Disappointed for the first hotel of our holiday in a freezing room, we were horrified to discover our agent had booked a windowless room, we didn’t know these existed! but we were “upgraded” to a room with a window, which we did appreciate. The room was ok with a window but the bed was hard and th… Plus

Disappointed for the first hotel of our holiday in a freezing room, we were horrified to discover our agent had booked a windowless room, we didn’t know these existed! but we were “upgraded” to a room with a window, which we did appreciate. The room was ok with a window but the bed was hard and the room freezing, carpet badly stained and room was very shabby. Breakfast was included but entirely Taiwanese/chinese and the only western recognisable food was cornflakes or chocolate cornflakes and eggs. The bathroom was spacious but poorly equipped with rails by the toilet and small hand wash sink, implying it was for a disabled person but you had to climb over a high bath side and stand in the bath with a detachable shower to shower. The staff tried to be helpful but their English was not great so a lot was lost in translation

Moins

“Central accommodation”

This hotel would be a 3 star by European standard, no lounge area or bar. The room was cold and took a long while to heat up. Reception staff were helpful particularly when we explained that we did. It like the idea of staying in a windowless room. Breakfast had a lot of choice for locals not so … Plus

This hotel would be a 3 star by European standard, no lounge area or bar. The room was cold and took a long while to heat up. Reception staff were helpful particularly when we explained that we did. It like the idea of staying in a windowless room. Breakfast had a lot of choice for locals not so much for international visitors.

Moins