I stayed in Plan A Hostel in Taichung, located a convenient 15-minute walk from Taichung Train Station. Since I was heavily reliant on public transport in Taichung, staying near the train station — thus, also the bus interchange — made it easier to get around Taichung. Plan A Hostel is near lots of suncake (taiyangbing) shops, a Taiwanese specialty that originated from Taichung, making it easy to stock up on souvenirs!

Room

I stayed in Plan A Hostel's 'Standard 12 Bed Female Dorm' for two nights. Upon entering, I was immediately impressed by how clean the rooms were. Because it was Taiwan's low travel season, I was allowed to pick any bed I like.


Each bed comes with its own nightlight (in the shape of a macaron, how adorable!), mini platform for you to put your belongings, 2 USB cable points, a Type B power socket, and a Type G power socket.


Guests are requested to keep quiet and off the lights from 11pm onwards, which made the hostel a condusive place for resting after exploring Taichung for a day.

I had to go through the 'Standard 8 Bed Female Dorm' to get to my room. While slightly inconvenient, I prefer my 12-bed to the 8-bed dorm — I can only imagine how annoying it must be for doors to swing open every now and then, and having random people walk through your room. The 12-bed dorm was also more spacious.

Toilet

A peek at the male bathroom

Of all the hostels I've been to around Taiwan, Plan A Hostel has the cleanest toilet.


Not to mention, they have a stash of toiletries for all ladies, ranging from oil-based make up removal to facial cleanser. They even have nail polish removals, different sizes of pads and tampons, and cotton wool. Talk about impressive hospitality!


Toilet cover sheets if you're that anal about hygiene. As someone who's extremely icky about using public toilets, I love it! Plus, look at their puns :')


There are four shower cubicals, and Plan A Hostel provides different scented shower gel and shampoos for each cubical. What?! It made showering so fun!

Common Area

Plan A Hostel plastered directions to popular Taichung tourist spots around the walls. They even included a short description and opening hours! Should you need further information, Plan A Hostel also had two desk tops for guests to utlitise during their stay.


I did my laundry here for NT50 (SGD $2.30). Plan A Hostel has two washing machines but there weren't anyone else using the washing machines.


However, Plan A Hostel doesn't have a dryer so I had to hang my laundry to dry. It wasn't an issue for me but if there were others doing their laundry, the laundry line might get filled up pretty quickly.


Plan A Hostel provides free breakfast every morning up to 11am. Yay, who doesn't love free breakfasts?

Atmosphere

I shared the room with one other female traveller my first night there; the second night, we have around five girls in the room, and it was quite entertaining trying to communicate in our different languages and accents! Times like this I realise how important bilingualism is.


The first night I was there, Plan A Hostel was had a gathering. Guests and staff were mingling over some games and drinks, and I later learned that it's a common occurence.

Service

A lot of staff were on working holidays when I was there. Meaning, you'll enjoy exchanging travel stories and they probably have a lot to share. But they weren't that knowledgable when it comes to best places to buy souvenirs or getting around Taichung. Nonetheless, it didn't hinder me much because the information is easily Googleable.

The boss, upon seeing that I was checking out Taichung guidebooks one night, offered me some tourist spots he thought I might enjoy. Most of the staff could speak English.

Will I return to Plan A Hostel?

I don't see why not.

Plan A Hostel

Address

No. 201, Section 1, Taiwan Boulevard, Central District, Taichung City, Taiwan 400

Phone Number

+886-933728625

Email

aforangeltw@gmail.com

Price

SGD $21.15 per night on average

Booking

I made my booking through Hostelworld.

Disclaimer
I paid for my stay in Plan A Hostel and none of the staff knew I was a blogger so I didn't receive any preferential treatment. Everything written in this review is based on my own opinions and expectations after staying in different hostels in Taiwan.

Taiwan — my first business trip, my place of growth and healing, the perfect ending to my gap year. I initially wanted to stay in Taipei for a few days before travelling to Hokkaido but as luck would have it, all the cheap flights were quickly snapped up. Unwilling to pay more, I decided to stay and travel around Taiwan for 11 days, exploring the other counties that I've never set foot in, mainly Hualien, Taitung, Tainan and Taichung. Here's a brief itinerary of how I spent my time in Taiwan this summer!

I spent the bulk of my time in Taipei, and met up with my Taiwanese friends since I was starting school soon and wouldn't be travelling to Taiwan anymore for the next two years. Because of this, I had a good mixture of touristy stuff and local hunts in my itinerary, which I really liked since I got to see two sides of Taiwan. I also slowed down my itinerary since it was my upteempth time in Taiwan and I wanted to travel at a relaxing pace instead of rushing to places.