Knowing how inconvenient the public transport in Taitung is, I decided to book a room in Summer Guest House, a hostel nearby the attractions I wanted to visit, namely Tiehua Rural Village, Taitung Railway Art Village and Liyushan Park. Summer Guest House was the cheapest option available so I went ahead with my booking despite the hostel not being near Taitung Train Station.

Room

I stayed in a 'Basic 6 Bed Mixed Dorm' for a night and only had one roommate there. From previous reviews, I found out that Summer Guest House usually isn't packed and if you're lucky/unlucky (depending on how you look at it), you might even have the entire dorm to yourself. I had a male roommate during my stay and I felt a little uncomfortable knowing that there's no privacy curtain for the beds in a mixed room.

The rooms came with mini lockers enough to fit my 13-inch Macbook so I could leave my valuables in the room while I travelled around Taitung.

Toilet

Although the toilet was located inside the room, the room wasn't as cramped as the one in Taipei Main Inn so there was a distance between the toilet and the beds, where most guests would hang out. The walls weren't as thin either so at least there was some level of privacy even though it was a mixed room.

Common Area

I watched TV for a short while but I didn't utilise Summer Guest House's common area much since there weren't other travellers during my stay there for me to hang out with.

Summer Guest House doesn't have a washing machine for its guests to use but the owner mentioned there's a laundry shop nearby if you need to do your laundry.

Service

Because Summer Guest House is not a hostel per se — the owner rented her house out to travellers as a way of getting to know people around the world — she wasn't always in. However, she was extremely quick in responding to my emails. She was more than willing to provide me with detailed directions on how to get to the minsu, and around Taitung.

Payment was made in cash. The owner was more comfortable speaking in Chinese compared to English. Also, no toiletries or bath towel is provided so if you're staying at Summer Guest House you'll have to bring your own.

Others

As with most minsu around Taiwan, Summer Guest House doesn't have an escalator, which might be a problem if you're travelling with lots of luggages since the rooms are located on the third floor. The owner was kind enough to help me with my luggage during my stay, probably on seeing that I was a girl travelling on my own :')

There's relatively famous breakfast eatery, 早點來早餐店, located right below Summer Guest House! Pleasant surprise.

Generally, the area is safe albeit a little dark at night. I'd say you get what you pay for. At less than $18, I didn't expect much from Summer Guest House thus my experience didn't disappoint.

Will I return to Summer Guest House?

No, but solely because I value my privacy when I sleep.

Summer Guest House

Address

2F, No 23, Lane 296 Zhongshan Road, Taitung, Taiwan

Email

summerlovegod@gmail.com

Price

SGD $17.95 a night

Booking

I made my booking with HostelWorld. I liked that HostelWorld conveniently showed me all the hostels around Taitung so I could pick the one that's most centrally located, especially since Taitung is an inaccessible city without private translate.

Disclaimer: I paid for my own room and the owners didn't know I was a blogger or that I was going to write about my experience so I believe did not receive any preferred treatment. Everything stated in this review is based on my own experience with the minsu.