191 HOTEL, Taipei, Taiwan

Before coming here I stayed in next door city suites, which is a great hotel. So coming here was a bit of a shock. The entrance is from the side street, a bit hard to find. Entering the elevator was not promising, it had a bad smell already and the building looked old. Reception on the 6th floor was a little better. Receptionists were friendly and spoke good English. One of them led me to my room 713. After the first step into the room, I should've just asked for another room, but I didn't. Lesson learnt for the future... The room was so stinky, that it made for very unpleasant stay from 11pm till 7am, when I left for the airport. I didn't sleep well there at all. It seems they renovated the upper floors of an old appartment building into this hotel. There are no European style electric outlets for charging. The mirror in the bathroom is so low, I had to bend down while shaving (I'm only 174cms).

Room was ok, but air was very bad. Cannot turn off the fan/vent in bathroom and the room smelled very strongly of smoke and weed. Asked for non-smoking room and was told that this was already non-smoking. Room and bathroom is clean, have a nice keurig machine but unfortunately the bad air quality stands out the most.

We stayed in a newly renovated room with teddy bear theme bed headboards and disco light shower handle in the bathroom. It was clean and there were plenty of towels. The beds were hard if you like that sort of thing.

Very good value and within walking distance to the Taipei central train station and Ningsha night market. No free breakfast and limited choices nearby in the morning. Kitchy, Hello Kitty and 70's pop decor. Hard and clean beds. Both rooms we stayed in had been recently renovated. It is located in a functional but somewhat grimy building. There is a large grocery store with local and imported goods on the corner.