Bear Hotel

“Convenient Location, Clean”

We stayed here while visiting family in Sanxia District. The hotel is conveniently located - only a 2-min walk away from a bus stop for a dozen lines that connect to all the nearby towns and MRT stations for Taipei. Tons of restaurants, shops, several convenience store, 2 supermarkets, 5 or 6 bank… Plus

We stayed here while visiting family in Sanxia District. The hotel is conveniently located - only a 2-min walk away from a bus stop for a dozen lines that connect to all the nearby towns and MRT stations for Taipei. Tons of restaurants, shops, several convenience store, 2 supermarkets, 5 or 6 banks, and more, all within walking distance. The room is very clean and serviced every day and water bottles replenished. The staff responded to our requests promptly. There is a refrigerator under a counter with a large sink (in addition to the one in the bathroom), as well as cabinets (not much use except for food items) above the counter. An electric kettle is provided for water, but no microwave (and no access to microwave anywhere in the hotel). Cooking of any kind is not allowed. Breakfast is served from 7 to 9 in the morning in both Chinese and western style. I should warn you that the western style breakfast is limited to slices of white bread, butter and some kind of chocolate spread. The coffee is extremely weak. The Chinese offering has more variety, but not quite to our liking. We end up going to the nearby Soy Milk Breakfast joint (the soy milk served in the Inn is watery) or just have cereal in our room. There is no closet or dresser, just a short hanging bar affixed to the wall with a shelf above. Only 3 wire hangers are provided in each room (we checked). The television set is rather old. There is no HDMI port for external devices like a Miracast (that can mirror your desktop onto the TV screen). I didn't see service for renting movies/shows on the set. But I could have missed it. The WiFi connection has adequate signals, but is not stable. The biggest drawback is that the rooms have poor sound insulation. This is a problem particularly since the clientele of the establishment is mainly tourists from China - bus loads of them. These large groups are frequently very noisy. Moreover, they all appeared to have 1-night stay, arrive late (after 9 pm) and leaves early (around 7 am). I had to complain to the management sometimes. I have traveled extensively in Europe and expected better amenities for the price Bear Inn charges. However, value is relative to what other establishments in the area offer. Since this is the first time I stayed in a hotel in Sanxia, I have no reference for comment in this regard.

Moins

“Good and not so good...”

The hotel is clean and comfortable with helpful staff. I was delighted to find real cups in bathroom, 2 mugs in room to drink coffee or tea with. Don't bother with coffee bags offered in tray. There is a counter by the entrance, with sink, small refrigerator, pot to boil hot water. 2 bottles of wat… Plus

The hotel is clean and comfortable with helpful staff. I was delighted to find real cups in bathroom, 2 mugs in room to drink coffee or tea with. Don't bother with coffee bags offered in tray. There is a counter by the entrance, with sink, small refrigerator, pot to boil hot water. 2 bottles of water were offered, daily. There is a table near sink, one stool for the room. A lamp stood on the night stand between the two double beds, no outlet to plug it in, I checked. Paper slippers also supplied, since I had my own, I didn't use them. There are only 3 hangers in room, so is other rooms on our floor. Breakfast is included, offers both Chinese and 'western' style. Again, don't bother with coffee, which has the color, not the taste. To take full advantage of breakfast, go early, like 6AM. I got there about 8:30am on my first day, found all 3 hot dishes gone. Luckily, there were still traditional Chinese rice soup and dishes go with it. The 'western' type has toast and pancakes I think, 3 kinds of spread to put on. No need for despair, there are many, many café and other very reasonable priced eateries around, even Starbucks. We found that we need to put the homemade 'clean' sign out everyday to ensure trash removal (and 2 fresh bottles of water :-) but there was no guarantee that the beds would get made. Located near intersection of Dade Road and Xueqin Road, it's only a few steps away to the bus stop on Xueqin Rd, then on Taipei Mass Rapid Transit or other bus routes. There is a 24 hours laundry service right across Dade Rd, very convenient. This establishment seems cater to groups, especially tour groups from mainland China. Those groups tended arrive late(after 8:30pm?) leave after early breakfast. Locals need their money but not their behavior which can be loud and not orderly.

Moins