For our stay in Taichung, we reserved a room at Hommie Inn (荷米旅居), a 3-star hotel in the central district with easy access to local attractions and sights. Best of all, their room rates are competitive when compared to other hotels in the city. What really appeals to me is that Hommie Inn is just a stone’s throw from Zhonghua Road Night Market and a short walk from Taichung Second Market, both of which have some of the best eats in town!
Check out: 11.00am
How to get to Hommie Inn
If you are travelling to Taichung by Taiwan High Speed Rail, once you exit Taichung HSR Station, you should proceed to Xinwuri TRA Station (which is connected to the HSR Station) and take a local train to Taichung TRA Station, which is located in Taichung City’s central district.
Walk out of Taichung TRA Station towards the Taichung Station bus stop on Taiwan Boulevard Section 1, which is located outside a McDonald’s restaurant. Take bus number 48, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, or 308 to the Ren Ai Hospital stop, then walk 3-4 minutes to the inn.
If you don’t have much luggage, you can also walk the 18 minutes to Hommie Inn. Walk towards the intersection of Jianguo Road and Zhongshan Road from Taichung TRA Station. Turn right onto Zhongshan Road and proceed all the way down to the inn.
Alternatively, take a taxi from the train station.
Image source: Hommie Inn’s website
Location
Hommie Inn is right on Zhongshan Road, but the road is relatively quiet with little traffic, so there’s no need to worry about traffic noises.
The inn is a short walk from two FamilyMart and one 7-Eleven convenience stores. Overall, the neighbourhood feels safe, and the alleys around don’t appear dodgy, so walking through them is fine.
To get to Zhonghua Road Night Market, simply exit Hommie Inn and turn right onto Zhonghua Road Section 1, which is less than 100m away, or a 1-minute walk.
What’s nearby?
- Zhonghua Road Night Market 90m
- Liuchuan Riverside Walk 130m
- Second Market 350m
- Miyahara 1km
- Painted Animation Lane 1km
- Taichung Station Railway Cultural Park 1.1km
- Yizhong Street Night Market 1.2km
- National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts 1.4km
- National Museum of Natural Science 1.8km
Image source: Hommie Inn’s website
Hommie Inn
The ground floor lobby features a living room-style TV area with a modern minimalist palette. Right at the end, there are two shared Apple iMac computers, which are useful if you need to surf the internet or check your email.
The front desk is located right next to the main entrance. Check-in process was a breeze. The front desk staff was friendly and helpful, but they were not proficient in English.
B1 level is a large shared area with many dining tables and high bar tables where you can eat or work on your laptop at any time of the day. There is also a children’s playroom.
There is only one passenger lift available.
Guestroom
Booked a double room that was approximately 215 square feet in size. We were assigned a room on the second floor, but because it was quiet at night, we had no issues.
The double bed was made up of two separate super single beds, making it extremely wide, even wider than a standard king sized bed. Can easily accommodate three people. The bed was very comfortable, but the pillows were flat and thin, so we requested extra pillows, which were promptly delivered to our room.
The blue ceiling and wall pictures created a comfortable and cosy atmosphere.
42-inch LCD TV. There were more than enough free channels to watch, though the majority were in Chinese. We had the option to buy pay-per-view movies too.
When we needed to lay out our street snacks for photography or to work on our laptops, the long table came in handy.
Bathroom
The bathroom was simply a glass-enclosed area in the room. Grout lines were dirty, but the rest of the bathroom was clean.
There was no shelf in the shower to place our own toiletries, which was a little inconvenient.
Haha, an electronic bidet toilet seat is always a bonus to have!
What’s provided in the guestroom?
- WiFi
- clothes hanging space (could do with more hangers)
- slippers
- bottled water
- tea & coffee making facilities
- mini fridge
- standard bathroom amenities
- body wash & shampoo
- hairdryer (below wash basin)
Final thoughts
All in all, we had a very pleasant stay at Hommie Inn. From the hotel, it was really convenient to get around, yet we were away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Even when we had a Sun Moon Lake day tour, the guide was able to pick us up and drop us off at the doorstep. Of course, having easy access to nearby night markets, public markets, and convenience stores was a plus, as we did a lot of food shopping. Our expectations were definitely met at the price point. Would love to stay here again if we return to Taichung.