Homey, a youth hostel near the Taipei Railway Station that opened late last month with 150 beds, is said to be the largest international youth hostel in Taipei.
General manager Hsiao Tsung-jen (蕭宗仁) said 95 percent of its customers are overseas backpackers.
“We do not just provide lodging, but offer the warm friendship of Taiwanese,” Hsiao said, adding that the hostel has a large “dining hall and friendship center,” fitted with Internet access, a television, sofas, a refrigerator and a simple kitchen with a microwave oven.
Rooms have two to 14 beds, mostly double bunk beds.
“We have female-only rooms of four to six beds, each with its own reading lamp and electric outlet. Personal lockers for storage are also available,” Hsiao said.
The washrooms are shared, but are divided into dry and wet rooms, and all instructions are in Chinese, English, Japanese and Korean.
Hsiao said the idea of starting the youth hostel stemmed from his own happy experience of traveling as a backpacker abroad, after which he discovered he could not find a “pure” international youth hostel in Taiwan.
He and his sister applied for and received an annual NT$4 million (US$ 133,300) rental subsidy for five years from the Taipei City Government, which Hsiao said enabled them to refurbish a budget hostel.
Lodging is NT$570 per person on weekdays and NT$630 per person on weekends and holidays.
A guided walking tour to the city’s historic districts and places of interest is offered along with themed monthly activities.
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