hostel Taitung

This is ny second time staying at Norden Ruder Branch 2. Excellent location, just a short walk to Tiehua Village ans Bus Station. The Central Market is also just across the street, great if you love to explore local market and grab some fresh produce to whip up simple meals in the spacious shared kitchen. Also enjoyed interacting with fellow guests when dining in the shared kitchen space. The only not so good thing is this hostel is remodeled from an old building so it's not really soundproof and you'll hear neighbors opening the door, using toilet etc. 😅 Light sleepers please be prepared.

The hotel provides clean rooms, but there’s some confusion regarding the term “double-bed room.” It’s unclear whether the hotel or Trip.com is responsible for using this term to describe a room with just one large bed, which can mislead visitors seeking two separate beds. The website should clarify this terminology to avoid inconvenience. Guests shouldn’t have to leave additional notes when booking, as the room choice should be clear from the options provided.

I highly recommend this hotel for all travellers, especially foreigners - note I was a self-drive so the location wasn't an issue. From the moment I arrived I was greeted by a lovely young lady who came outside to show me my car space. Her equally-lovely colleague then assisted in checking me in and making me feel very welcome. I was given a map of the local area and some suggested eating spots. They also helped in charging my phone. The girls' spoke enough English to help me, and the breakfast at a nearby cafe was great. The room was exactly what I needed - a very clean room, comfortable bed, and nice warm shower. I am going to stay again next time I visit beautiful Taiwan.

The location of the hostel is about 100m away from Taitung bus station. The bed/pillow/blanket are hotel standard as their main service is hotel. However, there is only 1 toilet for 6 beds. Also, there is no sign in the room indicating 'to keep lower voice/sound'. Had bad experience that local young lady return to the hostel in the middle of the night with big bang sound and walk on the tatami like big elephant for several nights. Also, waking up at around 6am with very harsh sound drawing the curtain. Definitely not a good experience. The hotel should put a note to remind all traveller to behave themselves. I believe the local has lesser experience to respect other travellers when staying in dormitory.

Hotel is clean and good to stay, breakfast was quite sad as choices were limited. Location is bad, it is not near any train station. Although it is near a bus stop. The bus stop is near highway, so the frequency of the bus is almost every 1-2hours each. The location is difficult to get taxi as well, so unless you rent your own car/bike, I would recommend those that are using public transport to deter staying here.

I had booked a room in the “hostel” section, but it’s actually more of a hotel pretending to also be a hostel. The cleanliness in the room left much to be desired (from what i could see the window sill is clearly never cleaned, hair on the clean sheets, etc.). On top of that, the lockers are fake in the sense that they don’t lock, so they’re basically just cupboards that anyone can open. As for the bathroom, some of the shower doors are broken and were literally left abandoned inside the shower. What was my surprise to see that there were cockroaches ?? The next day, I came back to the room to take a shower and there was no electricity in the bathroom anymore. I asked for compensation because the price I paid was completely disproportionate to the state of the facilities. The receptionist was friendly and offered to move me to a private room (in the hotel section), but the problems continued: when I opened the bathroom door, I once again found cockroaches. Moreover, the humidity doesn’t seem to evacuate properly, and there’s a nauseating smell inside. The lock on the door leading from the room to the hallway doesn’t work. The finishing of the construction work is terrible, nothing is right. In short, my advice is : do not come to this hotel.