My cousin and I found Kim's apartment very cozy, clean and fresh smelling, well stocked with bottled water, tea and coffeee, and with two comfy double beds (one's actually a sofa bed but already set up). Although the building was in a busy part of the city, with a mall and several stores on the ground floor and offices on some floors, we didn't hear the hustle and bustle outside from the apartment. It is located just 100m from the Taipei Main (train) Station and the Taipei West Bust Station (which has direct express buses to and from the international airport), and 400m from the Taipei Bus Station (at the back of the train station, where we bought combo tickets for the Kamalan Bus to Luodong Train Station for the connecting train to Hualien to visit Taroko National Park). The entrance to the Metro is just outside the main entrance of the building. It is the perfect base to explore Taipei and other parts of Taiwan.
Kim is a gracious host. She and her brother met us outside of the building at 9pm, helped us settle in the apartment, and accompanied us in finding a restaurant nearby to eat dinner at. I will definitely stay at Kim's apartment again in my future visits to Taipei.
Here are suggestions on how Kim may help improve guests' experiences when staying at her place:
1. Stick a card beside the A/C control with an English translation of the buttons; and
2. At least 3 days prior to guest's arrival (to give time to familiarize), automatically provide guest with:
- information on how to get to the apartment from the airport;
- a handy map of the neighborhood, indicating, among others, the location of the train, bus and metro stations, places to eat, and foreign exchange centers (the post office at the train station from 8:00am-5:00pm; banks nearby stop forex transactions at 3:30pm).