Mega Hotel (鉅陞嘉義亮點旅店) - Standard Double Room @ Chiayi City in Taiwan

What do you usually look out for when you search for a hotel when overseas? For me, proximity is the most important and for my first night in Taiwan, my main priority was how close the hotel was to Chiayi train station. 

There were a few options and that's when other factors came into play; review score, provision of a gym etc. That's how I landed on Mega Hotel (鉅陞嘉義亮點旅店)! 

Cozy main lobby. 

Display full of souvenirs you should get your hands on in Chiayi! Well, you can show me a room filled with them but without any sampling, you are not getting me to swipe out my credit card. 

Collected our room card in no time since we checked in pretty late at about 8pm! Room card holder contained nuggets of useful information like operating hours of gym, wifi password etc. Important for me. 

Our room was in the next building and while the pathway was sheltered, it meant enduring the cold as we strolled past the zen looking garden in the middle! 

Stepping in to ground level of the next building; wait, isn't this a restaurant? Okay, the signage indicated an elevator on the left. It didn't escape my eyes as well that the gym was right ahead.

Room 911

Yes, I was given a room with an ominous number known throughout the world. 11 September, the date that most people from my generation would remember, even more than the start / end of World War II.

At 20 square meters, the standard double room with a queen sized bed didn't feel small; maybe because there was no wardrobe and minimal boxed up cabinet. 

Bed was okay and my only grouch was that I had to switch off the lights for the bathroom before sleeping as there was just too much illumination streaming out from the glass panels! In most hotels, I could have just close out the door to block out 95% of the lights. 

Gave us a wardrobe pole with no hangers!

Doesn't matter to us since it's only for a night.

Loving the industrial light! Anyway, the room was equipped with a mini-fridge, an electric kettle, an in-room safe and numerous USB ports for ease of charging our devices!

Pretty decent balcony with a view of Chiayi City and the mountains of Taiwan's Central Mountain Range! As can be seen from the second last picture, what separated us from the balcony of the next room was just a thin layer! Hence, let's keep our volume down.

Dry and wet separation for the bathroom! Alex loved the misty shower although the temperature was inconsistent. In case you are unaware, hotels in Taiwan are no longer allowed to provide disposable toiletries for their guests. Therefore, you would find refillable bottles of shower gel and shampoo instead. p.s. dryer is provided.

Emergency route for reference! 

Breakfast

Since breakfast was included, I am not going to reject it! 

Not buffet breakfast though and that's not good news for me since I prefer variety and can choose to remove items like starch. Whatever the case, free and I am not complaining. p.s. do note that you would have to select what you want the day before and for us, at the point of checking in! 

My pork burger set with mashed potatoes, onion rings, salad,  mushroom soup (replacement for the shredded chicken soup), seasonal fruits and a hot cup of black tea. Main reason for choosing pork over beef burger; the latter would be too boring! 

Mushroom was creamy yet without much mushroom flavor and onion rings were more like those you can buy from burger king! For the pork burger, the buns were sadly not toasted and the patty gave me mixed feelings; the minced pork patty was juicy but this had to be the most Asian burger with sauces and spices that reminded me of some minced pork Chinese dishes! 

Miscellaneous

A small gym awaited me and it had a strange procedure; in order to use the treadmill, guests would have to go to the lobby to secure a token! Imagine having to go out to the garden area, wearing just shorts! 

Children's playroom was huge; equipped with ball pit, slides and even video games, no wonder Mega Hotel had so many room options for family suites! 

There's even a 24-hour laundry room, where each use cost just NT$50! This would be more suitable for those with family. For me, I am just too lazy to wait out the 40 minutes for washing and 50 minutes for drying.

Availability of a breastfeeding room. Now, I am ignorant, am not a female, and hence, can't give birth; but why do you need a breastfeeding room when you can do so in the comfort of your own hotel room? 

By the way, right opposite Mega Hotel was a cinema; universal carnival. There are two things I have yet to do in Taiwan, sing karaoke, and watch a movie! Shall pencil in for my next year's visit!

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Address

No. 560, Renai Rd, West District, 

Chiayi City, Taiwan 60045

Map

As above.

Website

Mega Hotel

Pricing

Standard Double Room - S$119.15

(via Klook.com)

Click HERE for 11 Days, 10 Nights Taiwan Trip: Summarised Itinerary for Chiayi Alishan (嘉义阿里山) - Kaohsiung (高雄) - Tainan (台南) - Taichung (臺中)