Day One

After over 30 hours of traveling we finally arrived in rainy Taipei around 11am local time this morning. We headed straight for the cab line and handed over the directions to our hotel I had printed (in Mandarin) to the cab driver. He studied them with his friend, shrugged, and told us to get in. The feeling that he didn't really know where the Good Ground was made both Kenny and I a little nervous, but we figured they must have thousands of hotels in Taipei--no way a single cabbie could know them all.

After a 45 minute or so ride into the city we were anxious to see what our first hotel of the trip would be like. We figured the fact that we booked it on Orbitz must mean that it would meet some sort of basic set of standards; still, each turn we made we would bring excitement when we saw a good looking place ahead or, nervousness when we got close to a dump. The cab driver also started to look nervous after we had driven around town for around 15 minutes without finding the hotel. He finally resigned to calling the place to find out where they were. When we finally pulled up, he laughed and put our bags on the curb. By this point we were pretty scared of what was in store. The front desk staff also seemed to snicker when we walked in but they promptly gave us a key to 307 and showed us to the elevator.

The next ten minutes are kind of a blur. Really, it was that bad. We tried to tell ourselves it wasn't, but it was. 307 was probably the best room in the joint, it had an attached bathroom after all; however trust me when I tell you it was the worst hotel room I have ever seen in my life. A mattress on the floor for a bed, a shower without a curtain or hot water, and no A/C. Again, we were pretty tried and just wanted a bed that felt better than a coach seat and this bed wasn't wasn't cutting it.

Orbitz had charged us about $70 for a $15 hostel room. We walked across the street to the Wonstar, which by the way is also listed on Orbitz as a three star hotel, just like the Good Ground. Turns out the Wonstar had rooms available and they were only $62 a night including taxes and breakfast. So I broke out the Vonage phone and decided Orbitz was going to hear from a dissatisfied customer. 15 minutes later we had packed our bags and were headed for Wonstar.

One day down and we have already been to, and left, what I can only hope is the worst hotel we will ever have.

Pictures of the contrast to be posted tomorrow. For now its two Taiwan beers and bed--and what a good bed it is.