On my way to Seoul I waited out a nine hour layover in Taipei’s Taoyuan Airport at the Evergreen Transit Hotel. My flight from Seattle arrived at 5:35 AM, which is 25 minutes before the airport turns on its air conditioning. I worried that I might be sweaty enough to set off the swine flu-sensing thermal cameras, but I got through fine. The fat guy behind me got stopped.
Apart from that, Taoyuan airport was fine, so far as airports go. There is an incredible availability of duty free shopping (which is popular as it is plentiful), some interesting art and photography exhibits, public internet stations, and Hello Kitty themed nurseries and play areas for kids.
Enough to occupy you for two or three hours, but not for nine. That brings us to the hotel room which, incidentally, is the first I’ve ever rented by the hour.
It’s NTD$1,050, or about US$31, for a room for three hours. Each subsequent hour comes at NTD$350. The room I got was small but fine; clean enough, but nothing fantastic. Worth the money by the hour for its convenience, certainly. And, as a bonus, the tinting on the windows makes the room an emerald hue usually unseen outside of Oz:
My very green room.
For NTD$300 you can use the Transit Hotel’s “shower room”, but getting a room was worth it. I took a nice air conditioned nap, showered, shaved, and watched a bunch of bad Hong Kong movies (Maggie Cheung in the 80’s; that fat guy from Infernal Affairs as the lead in a comedy; one of the installments in Andy Lau’s God of Gamblers).
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
hey.. i wonder how u booked the room in Transit Hotel in TaoYuan Airport Taipei, did u just go to the hotel front desk ? because i will have to stay in the airport for 10 hours and i am afraid if i don’t book it in advanced the hotel will be full booked. thank you!
I too have been trying to figure out how I pre-book a room. Is that what you did? Also, i read somewhere that the rooms are only for EVA air and CHINA air flights? What flight did you come on?
Thanks for the comments. Unfortunately, I don’t have the booking information on hand. I’ll ask a friend in Taiwan if he can come up with it.
I wouldn’t worry too much about booking a room. If the ETH is full up, there’s a similar facility (a little bit more expensive, but not by much) across the hall from the ETH.
Kristina, I couldn’t say whether or not it’s only for EVA air passengers. I was on an EVA flight, but I don’t remember them checking my ticket stub.
Good luck!
Good info. I’m taking an EvaAir flight from Jakarta To NYC, with a 1 day layover in Taipei (just could not get a Jkt to Taipai flight the same day as Taipei to NY). I am also planning to use the transit hotel over night until around lunch time on my Taipei-NY flight day, then use the biz class lounge for some freebee snacks and wifi
Good to know one can probably just walk up to the check-in desk. I did find one source of info on a hotel reservation site:
Evergreen Transit Hotel (Inside CKS Airport)
4F., Terminal 11 C.K.S. Int’l Airport, Taoyuan, Taiwan
Internet Reservation Office in Taiwan
Tel +852 23883787 (Reservation)
Fax +852 23853915 (Reservation)
Hope this helps!
Good info, Rodney.
I read online that some airlines will take you on a tour of Taipei if you’ve got a layover longer than 8 hours. Might be worth googling or asking about.
Anyway, you’ll probably be able to find a bed there with no problem. Good luck and good travels!
@Rodney Thanks for the info! I am going to be on that same Jakarta to Newark flight that you took and will have the same almost 24 hours to spend. I am planning on staying at the Evergreen Transit Hotel as well. Were you able to check all of your luggage straight through to Newark or did you have to collect it and recheck it? Don’t know because of the really long layover time.
Thanks!