Royal Group Hotel Minghua Branch

“Comfortable Room, central location”

One of the nicest hotel we stayed during our Taiwan trip, especially since we visit during their low season and the room price is cheaper than their rack rate. I got the opportunity to see 2 of their rooms which both are clean, spacious, and nice. The bathroom comes with bathtub (various size depen… more

One of the nicest hotel we stayed during our Taiwan trip, especially since we visit during their low season and the room price is cheaper than their rack rate. I got the opportunity to see 2 of their rooms which both are clean, spacious, and nice. The bathroom comes with bathtub (various size depend on the layout) and their TV have plenty of English channels. My room happen to have “fake” window with no view while the other room looking out the parking lot across the street. Restaurant was great for breakfast with nice spread as well. Overall really value for the rate we pay during our stay.

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“Confirmed, my hotel of choice in Kaohsiung”

I got to stay at two other hotels in Kaohsiung as well (209) as this one since my last review of hotel in 2018 and I have to say I like this hotel more and more. The rooms are clean (no carpets) and doesn't feel dated. The breakfast is on par with the other two hotels I stayed at. The location is v… more

I got to stay at two other hotels in Kaohsiung as well (209) as this one since my last review of hotel in 2018 and I have to say I like this hotel more and more. The rooms are clean (no carpets) and doesn't feel dated. The breakfast is on par with the other two hotels I stayed at. The location is very convenient to shops, restaurants, and public transportation. The staff at the front desk and housekeepers were very friendly and helpful. One word of advice is that the laundry room is pretty busy these days so bring extra cloths in case you don't get a chance to do laundry.

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“Spacious room, good breakfast. Some quirks that needs improvement.”

This was my first time staying here, so wasn't sure what to expect. Turns out the stay was mostly positive, though there were some quirks that could have been improved. The hotel is relatively near the Kaohsiung Arena Metro station. The walk from the metro station took about 15 minutes if you're w… more

This was my first time staying here, so wasn't sure what to expect. Turns out the stay was mostly positive, though there were some quirks that could have been improved. The hotel is relatively near the Kaohsiung Arena Metro station. The walk from the metro station took about 15 minutes if you're with luggage but otherwise should take less than 10 minutes. The check-in process was smooth and the staff at reception appears to be competent. However, they asked me a question which caught me by surprise: "Do I need my room cleaned every day?" I've not had other hotels asked me this question before, and I assume it's expected that rooms should be cleaned daily. I am not saying that they should change the linens and towels daily, but at least daily cleaning and replenishing of supplies should be a basic service. Next, they told me that I should leave my room keycard at the reception when I go out. The reason they gave was, "in case you lose your card." On the surface, this seemed thoughtful, but it actually communicates a lack of trust. Again, I've not encountered other hotels that do this. The room was surprisingly big. It was spacious, well lighted, clean. This was probably the biggest room I've had in my many trips to Taiwan. As I entered the room, I noticed a curtain covering the entire one side of the room; my first thought was that there's a big window. The curtain was drawn close, which seemed a little odd; most hotels would draw the curtain open. I went and draw the curtain open, and immediately understood why: outside the window was the wall of the next building! Technically, the wall was about 3 meters away, and there's a space in-between the two buildings that I could look upward and see the sky. Still, it's looking out at a wall. The good thing was that the other building did not have any window, otherwise, I'd be looking at their rooms. Great view, not! The room had a wardrobe; and not a tiny one. This is a plus point compared to so many other hotels in Taiwan that don't provide a wardrobe. The safe in the wardrobe was big enough to put my 15-inch notebook computer in; again a plus point. The bathroom was spacious: it had both a spacious shower area and a big bathtub! The bed was comfortable, and I slept well at night. I was surprised to see a card on the bed that advertise for pornographic channels available on their TV. The card even said, "guests are encouraged to make good use of it"! This is a negative point for the hotel! It's one thing having pron channels, but when a hotel (that accepts guests of all ages, including children) advertises it and encourage guests to watch those channels, they've done something that's unacceptable! Wifi speed was acceptable. I measured a download speed of 5 Mbps and an upload speed of 1 Mbps. During check-in, they gave me coupons for the next day's breakfast and told me to collect my breakfast coupons daily. This was really inconvenient. They could have given me all my coupons during check-in. Breakfast starts at 7 am, which was rather late. The reception staff told me that I could actually arrive at the dining area earlier, and eat whatever that's ready. On my first day, I arrived at 7 am and found that there were already lots of people there. Apparently, food was actually ready much earlier. No one asked for my breakfast coupon, though, and I wondered if it's even needed; in fact, no one asked for my breakfast coupon during my entire stay. The dining hall was quite big. Even though there were lots of people when I arrived, there were still many empty tables, so I didn't have to worry about finding a place. The food selection was decent: eggs, bread, Chinese dishes, an assortment of buns, sausages, ham, Chinese Dim Sum, coffee, tea, fruits, even dessert cakes! The dining hall actually serve popcorns, coffee, tea, fruit juices, and ice cream throughout the day; even through the night! The hotel has a small fitness room with two treadmills. To use the treadmills, you'll have to go to the reception and collect a magnetic key; you'll have to leave your ID document (I used my driver's license) as a deposit. I used the fitness room several times during my stay, and have not encountered other people using it. The unfortunate thing was it's only open from 10am onward, which means I could not exercise early in the morning. Eventually, I went jogging at a nearby park early in the morning. The hotel has a self-service laundromat that guests can use for free. There were three washing machines and three dryers; one of the dryers did not seem to work very well, though. One day, I went out to my meeting and forgot to leave my room keycard at the reception. When I returned in the evening, I was surprised to find my room not cleaned; this was despite me telling them I'd like it cleaned every day. When I asked the reception, they told me it was because I didn't leave my keycard with them, and they didn't know if I was out. This sounded like a lame excuse. Other hotels could clean the room even if the guest were still in their room. Apparently, they will only clean your room if you leave the keycard at the reception. I feel that this was an unacceptable practice. Not cleaning the room was a lapse of service! The hotel is located near many restaurants and food stores. It's also about 5-10 minutes from the Ruifeng Night Market. Getting food is convenient. While I have enjoyed my stay, those negative points I mentioned above prevented me from giving my stay a 5-star. In fact, I would have rated them 3.5 stars (instead of 4) if it were possible.

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“Not environmental friendly!”

First impression when we first walked in was ‘freezing’! Over the top sub zero temperature everywhere in the hotel and we needed to turn the air conditioning OFF in our rooms! Complimentary plastic water bottles, no tea or coffee was provided but a kettle and 2 cups! Strange!! Sachets shampoo, hai… more

First impression when we first walked in was ‘freezing’! Over the top sub zero temperature everywhere in the hotel and we needed to turn the air conditioning OFF in our rooms! Complimentary plastic water bottles, no tea or coffee was provided but a kettle and 2 cups! Strange!! Sachets shampoo, hair conditioner, shower gel, disposal toothpaste and toothbrush! New bar of soap was changed everyday wasn’t necessary! We are all talking about climate changes and a lot of people are trying to cut down plastic, hope soon enough this hotel can cut all these sachets, plastic bottles but to use soap dispenser instead! We need to do our share to make a change in this world!

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