Hotel PaPa Whale

Location, location, location. Close to the heart of all things in Ximending so a good mix of proximity but not noise and bustle. The restaurant attached to the hotel serves delicious food at a reasonable price. Also tasty beverage and dessert options at hotel. Very cool decor, lounge areas, and laundry facilities.

Wifi was weak/slow. Accessibility (for my older father) is not great. My dad had to handle a huge step into the bathroom. I stayed in the basement: Bathrooms showed some mold. Hallway carpets were very stained. Room smelled a bit like standing water. Thermostat didn’t work. Note - the following may be a cultural issue; I am certainly not expecting something that is different than the norm but am writing from the perspective of an American - The staff reminded me of polite employees of a government office back home - they struggled to deal with anything except check in/check out, giving change for laundry, and directions to the subway. We had some difficulty changing/adding dates and rooms, and getting recommendations for local resources like clinics. English was limited.

The service at this hotel is excellent. I had a lot of bad things happen to me on my stay in Taipei and the staff were able to assist with everything from translations, making calls on my behalf, accepting deliveries on my behalf, changing my room because the WiFi wasn't reaching it, and the phone in the room wasn't working so I couldn't speak to reception when dialing #2. I would give the service a 10/10 - was always prompt and helpful. The hotel is also in an excellent location, there are very good food options nearby. As well as a bar next door and plenty of 24hr convenience stores around. The Ximending Night Market Street is also just 5 minute walk away.

The WiFi in this hotel in the rooms is probably the worst I've experienced anywhere in Taiwan. I was unlucky not to get WiFi or 4g or 5g reception in my room. It is very dependent on where your room is in the building.. If this is an important factor for you like it was for me, test the WiFi in your room before you fully accept it. I was only getting 3-5mbit connection when the WiFi was working, which was only 10% of the time, and I my 5g phone reception wouldn't work either. I asked for a new room, and I could get an acceptable level of wifi and 5g phone reception. It seems this is a problem building wide because there are so many walls between rooms.

The bed was very comfortable! My room was clean and quiet, and even though it says it doesn't have a "window", there is a small window above the wash basin (which is open to the rest of the room) to the courtyard area. I liked the modern decor, and the automated check in and out machine worked well; it's available in multiple languages. There is a nice beer place downstairs too. I would consider staying at this place again!

The breakfast area is in the same building, but it's actually a different restaurant, which has its own separate entrance outside. The quality of the food was okay, but I wouldn't be too sad to skip it next time.

Stylish interior design. Really strong water pressure in the bathroom, makes a superb shower after a long day of sightseeing. Bed is so comfortable. Theres also a night light great for people who dont like to sleep in a totally dark room in a new place. Theres a nice seating area for guests to relax, hangout and/or eat at. Lots of delicious food around the vicinity!

Aircon turns on and off making us wake up hot in middle of night. Front desk staff a little cold. It is a little too far from MRT especially if uve already walked alot and am tired. No nice designated smoking area.

Great location, just outside popular ximending area so it's quiet but literally right next door to the action. Close to MRT. Rooms were clean and stylish and just enough space for a longer stay. They stored our luggage for us between reservations also (we did 1 night in a different city and came back to this hotel again after).

Something is off with the vents, you can hear conversations in the next room as if they are right behind you. It's not the soundproofing, it's sound travelling through the vents. We read reviews on this going in and while there we honestly didn't mind much because it wasn't that bad , the location was perfect, rooms were great, and we understand were in a big busy city.

Hotel is located near the central Ximending area, where there are good shopping/drinking spots. It's also easily accessible (walking distance) from quite a few train stations (incl. Taipei Main Station, Ximen, Beimen etc.). Quite a few good food spots around the area. Check-in process is quick and easy, there are self check-in counters with different language options available. Staff are helpful and friendly.

The rooms in the basement (not sure about aboveground ones) were windowless, so you can't tell what the weather is like in the morning or what time it is when you wake up. Cleanliness was generally pretty good, but there are some corners / smaller areas (like the grouting in the bathroom, corners of the shower area) where you can tell it's not cleaned super thoroughly, but generally can't complain for this price. Room is on the small side.

The room was nice and had all the facilities needed. Really cool, industrial styled interior that gives you a homey feel the moment you step into the lobby. Our room was located at the basement. It was clean, the bathroom was really nice with all toiletries provided. We especially loved the rain shower which was really strong, great for a nice hot bath after a long day out.

The location was a bit of a walk (around 10-15min) from the metro station. Room was a bit too dark. Staffs could be friendlier - we were asking for good places to eat but they didn’t provide much info.

It is a themed hotel and the interior decor was really interesting. The location was fantastic, just a few minutes walk from ximending shopping district. There were alot of food nearby too!

There was a high step to the toilet and shower stall and this was not shown in the room pictures. May need to inform more accurately in room description as family travelling together may have elderly members with mobility issues.

The hotel was beyond my expectation. The overall design was quite interesting. The room was very clean and neat and the interior of the room was very nice too. Location was very convenient too as it's within walking distance to Ximending and also to Taipei Train Station (about 15 mins walk). Overall I like this hotel and will definitely come back again.

The interior was very interesting but it's quite hard to find the room as the layout for the room floor is just like a maze. It would be better if the direction signage to the rooms can be more straight forward.

The location was close enough the the busy Ximen pedestrian area without being directly in the middle of all the hustle and bustle. Relatively easy walk to the MRT stations, and to Taipei Main Station for getting around. Tina (one of the staff members) was SUPER helpful with contacting a delivery service that I was trying to receive a delivery from and working with them to get my package delivered to the front desk!