Holiday Inn Express Taichung Review

Holiday Inn Express


Taichung Park

☆☆☆☆☆ 3/5

Holiday Inn Express Taichung Park Review: It's a 3-star overall rating. The price is a little high compared to the what you can get at hotels in Taichung, but the location is pretty good and the breakfast here is outstanding for a Holiday Inn Express. You won't find many places serving this level of variety of Western and Asian dishes for breakfast.

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Holiday Inn Express Taichung Park Review

Stay: 2/22/2020-2/23/2020
Special Event: Saturday night on the last weekend for the Taichung Lantern Festival
Price Paid: NT$2717 (US$89.18) total for 1 night

[LOCATION]

The Holiday Inn Express Taichung is only a 10-minute walk from the Taichung train station. Although, you should know that most of Taichung doesn't have sidewalks like in Taipei. If you're walking with luggage, you'll have to be careful since you will have to walk on the street for part of your journey.

The HI Express Taichung is located above a small outlet mall that has 4 floors. I did a quick walk around the mall but it did not suit my shopping preferences. It contained mostly clothes, shoes and luggage. There are 3 restaurants within the mall. I ate at Feng Sheng Place which happened to be owned by the Holiday Inn for extra IHG points.

[Pricing]

Weekdays = NT$1681-2011 (US$55-66)
Weekends = NT$2176-2571 (US$71-84)
Points = 15k IHG points/night

Right next to the Taichung park! It's pretty big, has a small lake and art installations throughout the park. Definitely worth a visit even if you're not staying at the Holiday Inn Taichung.

[Checking-in]

Upon entering the Holiday Inn Express Taichung, our temperatures were scanned and we had to sanitize our hands. This was common due to the current COVID-19 outbreak during my February 2020 stay. If our temperatures were above normal, we would not have been let in as a precaution to the other hotel guests and employees. This is literally the worst time to have the flu, but luckily we were healthy and they let us in.

With my IHG account, I have my room preferences set to [high floor] and [away from elevator]. This is to ensure a good view and a quiet stay. The HIE definitely came through with this request for my stay!

[IHG Welcome Gifts]

We received a friendly greeting at reception. As an IHG member with Platinum Elite status (due to the IHG credit card I have), we were offered 2 complimentary welcome drinks. We had the choice of tea, soda or fresh juices from the juice shop next door. I was surprised that there was no points option because I've had that as an option in the past. Points are always more useful.

Inside the room there were another 2 welcome gifts! They provided Sun Cake and an instant pour-over coffee pack. The Sun Cake was very flaky and had a very light sweet taste to it. Not something I would go out of my way to get again. The coffee was pretty good. It's the type that has a filter and actual coffee grinds in it. You just have to pour hot water into it and you have yourself a super fresh cup of coffee.

[The Building]

The Holiday Inn Taichung only has 5 floors on this 12-story building. Rooms can be found on the 3rd, 5th, 6th, 11th and 12th floors. I was given room 1107 and had a pretty view. From B2 to the 2nd floor is an outlet mall.

[Electricity]

As with most hotel rooms, you'll need to leave the key card in the entrance slot to keep the power running. This is easy to achieve if they give you 2 keys. If no key is in the slot, all power to the room will be shut off. Keep this in mind when using the refrigerator because the power is also controlled by the room key slot.

The room doesn't use international multi-prong outlets, but uses the standard electrical outlets seen throughout Taiwan and the United States. As an American living in Taiwan, I love how I don't have to use any power adapters in Taiwan.

[The Room]

The room was very clean but felt a little out of date. It felt like it was old because of the yellow lighting in the room and the carpet padding on the floor felt warn out. As for the furniture, it was all clean and in good condition. The lighting and carpet really made the vibe of the place feel old.

The bed was comfortable, but small. It was a double size bed which is sufficient. The room came with 2 bottles of water and a mini fridge.

[TV]

The TV was pretty small. Maybe 24", it just felt unusually small compared to how much space was available in the room. There were a lot of channels available on TV with maybe 10 in English, which is pretty good considering this is Taiwan.

[The Bathroom]

The was a single bed room type and definitely made for solo travelers intimate couples. I say that because the bathroom completely uses frosted glass. So when someone is showering, you can see the silhouette of their body.

As you know, glass isn't the best sound insulator. It just makes sounds from the bathroom louder.

The layout of the restroom was very unique. The door to close the bathroom was also the door to close the shower. Meaning you had the option to only have the bathroom closed or the shower. So if you were showering, the door to the bathroom would be open.

[The Facitilies]

The gym is located on the 11th floor and has only 3 machines. 1 treadmill, 1 exercise bike and 1 other thing I forgot the name of. My gym equipment vocabulary is very limited. The really bad part about the gym was the heater was ON at full blast. I looked but didn't see an option to turn it off.

There's also a meeting room on the 3rd floor, but really the only facility here that you might use is the gym.

[Breakfast]

I love Holiday Inn Express locations because they include FREE breakfast for all guests. You won't get that experience at other IHG hotels like the Intercontinental or Crowne Plaza.

The breakfast was super good for a Holiday Inn Express! It's located in the mall (before the mall is actually open) and they have freshly steamed dim sum and a noodle bar. If you're vegetarian, I was surprised to see that they had mushroom shumai. I tried it and it tasted a little stale. I did show up to breakfast 20 minutes before they closed.

They also had the classic American breakfast foods and those were good too: Potato wedges, scrambled eggs, sausages.

As for hotel breakfasts, this is one of the best I've had in Taiwan!

Why should you stay at the Holiday Inn Express Taichung?

[LOCATION] The HIE Taichung is located 10-minutes from Taichung Station, located right next to Taichung Park and is attached to a mall making it a very convenient location.
[BREAKFAST] The hotel breakfast is outstanding! They have a noodle bar, freshly steamed dim sum and a classic American breakfast buffet. It's one of the best breakfast buffets I've had at any hotel.

Why should you avoid the Holiday Inn Express Taichung?

[Price] For a similar price as the Holiday inn Express Taichung, you can find significantly better boutique hotels in the same area.
[Room Quality] The rooms at the HI Express and it shows.
[Other] Most rooms are on the 11th and 12th floors but there are only 2 very slow elevators.

Holiday Inn Express Taichung Park Additional Photos

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Overall Impression of the Holiday Inn Express Taichung Park

I would probably rate the Holiday Inn Express Taichung 8/10, if I had not previously stayed in 2 different hotels in the Taichung Station area that were both cheaper and offered a higher quality experience. Due to the competitive pricing and quality in the area, the Holiday Inn Express Taichung gets you an average amount of value and experience.

If you're going to stay in Taichung, I would recommend the Holiday Inn Express Taichung Fengchia. It's a brand new hotel located right by Taichung's Fengchia Night Market. For those of you booking with points, it's a steal at 10k IHG points/night. I plan on staying on my next Taichung trip!

Holiday Inn Express Taichung Park Location

Rating Guide

 1/5

It's food, but you're not going to enjoy it

 2/5

Didn't meet minimum meal expectations

 3/5

Satisfying and an adequate meal.

 4/5

So good you'll eat here again!

 5/5

You will remember this meal for the rest of your life!

Pricing Guide

$

NT$1-100 (US$0-$3.23)

$$

NT$100-300 (US$3.23-9.68)

$$$

NT$300-700 (US$9-22)

$$$$

NT$700+ (US$22.60+)

TIP

Not required or expected. Some restaurants may have a 10% service charge.

Each rating TAIWANEATER rating is comprised of Quality, Service and Value (in order of the rating's most important points).

QUALITY: The [Quality] is based on how good the food tastes and the presentation.

SERVICE: The [Service] is based on the dining experience. This includes the ambiance of the restaurant and how the interactions with the staff.

VALUE: The [Value] is based on both the Quality and Service in relation to the price. Ratings for food with a low price are a little more generous than food with a high price.

Money In Taiwan

Tax Is Included In The Price

All displayed prices in Taiwan are the actual price. Tax is already included and for large purchases, tourists visiting Taiwan can get a 5% Taiwan VAT refund at the airport Tax Refund counter. Some shops offer this service too, but they will require your passport.

Taiwan Is Cash Only (For Most Small Shops)

The primary payment method for all transactions in Taiwan is cash. It's very rare for small shops to take anything other than cash. It's more common to see places accept the Taipei Metro Card as payment rather a credit card.

Supermarkets and convenience stores in Taiwan (7-Eleven, Family Mart) do not accept credit cards (at least not American credit cards). You can only make purchases by cash or by using your pre-loaded funds on your EasyCard.

Using Credit Cards in Taiwan

If you want to use your credit card in Taiwan, make sure to check if a restaurant in Taiwan accepts credit card in advance. When a place does accept credit card, it will typically be Visa or Mastercard. It's extremely rare for a place to accept Discover and American Express. UberEats, HonestBee, Deliveroo and FoodPanda are Taipei Food Delivery Services where you can order food directly to your airbnb or hotel using a credit card.

Exchanging Money in Taiwan

You can exchange money at the airport or any bank in Taiwan. The rates vary from bank to bank and it can be a hassle to get a good rate. For additional information, check out my Exchanging Money In Taiwan Guide.

More

The purpose of this review is to give an honest opinion of the food you can eat in Taiwan. Many people come to Taipei to try out Taiwanese food and end up eating at low quality places meant for tourists. This is because they don't know where the best restaurants to eat in Taipei are or because they were recommended food by a tourist rather than Taiwan Travel Blog that has researched and tried all the best Taipei eats.

TAIWANEATER is a Taipei Travel Blog bringing you honest feedback about all the Best Food to eat in Taipei, Top Restaurants in Taipei, Best Desserts in Taipei, Taiwan Night Market Guide, Best Cheap Places To Eat in Taipei and the Best Street Food In Taipei.

If you're interested in visiting Taiwan, check out: 

• Taiwan Travel Costs
• Where To Stay in Taipei
• Things To Do In Taipei
• Taipei Airport to City Guide
• Getting Mobile Data in Taiwan
• How To Get Around Taipei
• Shopping in Taipei
• Taipei Nightlife
• Taipei Rainy Day Activities
• Taiwan Packing List
• Staying Fit In Taipei

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