Unique Hotel - Smile 73 Hotel

If one enjoys a colorful old city and would like to know the real city life, the location of this hotel is rather good. (Around 20 years ago I spent a year in Taichung as an young military officer and this region evokes much dear old memories). This time I spent 5 nights in this modern hotel. The building of this chic hotel is in a lane in the old central Taichung. It takes only one minuet of walk to the Taichung park and 10 min walk to the railroad station. Two convenient stores are just around the corner. There are also free bikes for rent. It is quiet during the night as it is not beside the main road. The staffs are efficient, polite, and very helpful. Since the hotel is refurbished from some old building recently, it has clean rooms, modern facilities and chic appearance. The breakfast is average, with traditional and continental dishes. BTW, you can see many foreign workers in the weekends (as Taichung park is an attraction and gathering point) and find many restaurants offering delicious southeastern Asian food.

There is no parking lot, but a nearby one (takes 5 min of walking) is free. The only thing I dislike is that the perfume of the lobby is too dense (end of the review). The rest of this paragraph is just for references. First of all, I must emphasize that Taichung, or the whole Taiwan is a *very* safe place for tourists, even in the deep night. Just like this hotel, there are several new stylish hotels scattered around old stores. However, as this region belongs to the old central Taichung, it is unavoidable that new and old, or light and darkness are weaving together under the surface if one looks closely. There are several casinos, with guards, around this hotel, and if you notes further you can find prostitutes are waiting for guests before entrances of some seemingly-deserted buildings nearby. But they will not do anything if you show no interests.