Taiwan’s Diary of Ximen Hotel II – Liu Fu Branch

Located at No. 54, Section 2, Hankou Street in Taiwan, Diary of Ximen Hotel II – Liu Fu branch is smack-dab in one of the best locations in Ximending.

After reading a few other blogs and from acquaintances’ recommendations, my friends and I decided to look for a hotel in Ximending. One of the reasons is because the area has no shortage of shopping, dining and entertainment options from morning until late at night. These establishments also happen to be within walking distance of one another. Because of this, affordable accommodations have also started popping up to cater to traveler’s demands so there’s plenty of options to choose from. Lastly, Ximending’s MRT station is only 1 ride away from Taipei Main station, where everything else is connected!

Once I had my friends’ approval, I booked us 2 rooms at Diary of Ximen II. Initially, we thought the hotel was walking distance from Taipei Main Station and it turns out we were wrong. There were a lot of highways that we passed by when we hailed a taxi to the hotel so it might have been difficult to walk. Nevertheless, it was still a good choice for its good price, roomy accommodations and free breakfast.

The 24-hour reception is located at the first floor of the building. This was very important since we arrived in the wee hours of the morning. After giving us the key cards to our rooms, we noticed that Sheila and Shiela’s room number wasn’t exactly… good. We mentioned this to the receptionist and requested for a room change, little did we know, he had also upgraded the room!

Tip: Feel free to grab a map of Ximending at the reception desk. It provides a very detailed list of interesting places such as shops and diners. 

After you get your key cards, exit the lobby and proceed to the elevators outside. Do note that there are two entrances/exits to Diary of Ximen Hotel II; one is near the reception desk and the other near the buffet area.

This was my girl friends’ room. What was supposed to be a Twin Room turned out to be a Family room! Aside from 2 Queen or even King(?)-sized beds, there’s a large L-shaped sofa which could comfortably sleep 1 person in. There are also 2 TVs in case, you know, don’t like what’s showing on the other one. Each room also comes with their own door bell and theirs sounded like a tweeting bird. Because of this though, they couldn’t tell if I’m at their door or not.

This was the bathroom in their room. It’s spacey enough for a person to change inside. Towels, shampoo, soap, toothbrush and toothpaste are likewise provided.

A few steps away from their room was mine. This room had no windows but was big enough so it doesn’t feel extremely claustrophobic. The backdrop/wallpaper was also interesting. Coming from an interior design point of view, I wonder where they get these?

Personal Trivia: To be honest, I almost took up interior design in college! Maybe I can take it this time, when I can fund the course myself?

It’s a good thing there was a cabinet for me to keep my things clean and safe. The cable was mostly showing Chinese shows but there were a few in other languages too.

Here are the toiletries in my room.

My room’s bathroom wasn’t as big as the girls’ so I had to get dressed outside. Water pressure was likewise good.

Tip: You may want to avoid this hotel if you’re particular about… crawling things. In my room, there were a few of them roaming about; although there weren’t any in the girl’s room.

Diary of Ximen Hotel II’s buffet was a delight as well! Too bad we were in too much of a hurry throughout our entire stay that I wasn’t able to take a picture of the food. Some of the must-tries are their soy milk, winter melon tea, pasta, and pesto sauce on bread!

Would I stay at Diary of Ximen Hotel II again? Definitely! But I’m open to trying out other accommodation in the area as well. Do you have any recommendations you’d like to share?