Review: Three Little Birds Guest House, Taipei

Located conveniently in Taipei’s Da’an district, Three Little Birds Hostel is an ideal spot for budget conscious travellers looking for a social and comfortable place to stay. Part owned by three Taipei natives (thus the name) from the LGBTQ+ community, this hostel welcomes all people from wherever they hail and whatever background they have in a safe environment.

Besides the small street sign, the hostel is most visible by the bright red gate at the entrance. Keys are not provided to the main entrance, but the owners instead issue a PIN code to enter inside. The hostel goes across a number of floors with both shared and private rooms available depending on availability. It’s worth noting that the hostel has a number of permanent student residents who primarily occupy the private rooms, so these will go faster.

During my visit, the building opposite was being demolished from around 8am to 4pm which was noisy but it didn’t interfere with my sleep.

A porch area to store shoes are immediately found after the entrance door. I’d advise bringing a pair of slippers or flip flops to wear inside to meet the cultural practice of not wearing outdoor shoes indoors.

A small kitchen and reception area can be found once stepping foot inside. This acts as the primary socialising area as well as facilities for individuals to cook from. Due to the size, it can get a bit cramped when people are storing their dirty laundry in the entrance.

Downstairs in the basement are the shared bathroom facilities which includes a couple of sinks, two showers and two toilets. During my stay, the temperature of the water was fine for showering while pressure was enough.

A washing machine can be found on both the ground and basement levels. Unfortunately, there are no dryers, but I recommend heading to a nearby laundrette at this address: No. 159-1號, Shida Rd, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan 100

For my two-night stay, I had booked an entire shared room suitable for two-people in a bunk bed style.  While it has been a long time since I slept in a bunk bed, I slept okay. There is some noise from the street level which causes minor disturbance at time but not too much of an issue. The mattress itself was slightly hard but I found it quite comfortable. As I would expect from any property, regardless of price, the room was clean while the towels and sheets freshly laundered.

Next to the bed a small storage area can be found with the only power socket in the room. It’s conveniently located for charging your device at night but an extra outlet elsewhere in the room would be appreciated. If you are using a travel adapter, I recommend buying a dedicated US-style 2 pin plug to use in Taiwan as I’ve found UK plugs on an adapter often fall out. A small fluorescent light is found here too which provides suitable light to read before sleeping.

In front of the bunkbed, there is a space to tidily store up to two small suitcases as well as a storage area that can be padlocked. The latter is nice but a small safe would be far preferable.

A solitary desk can be found in the room alongside a chair which will be more than fine for ten minutes but for any time above that, head to one of many decent coffee shops nearby.

Thanks to Taiwan’s humid weather, air conditioning is a necessity if you want a good sleep. The room had a sufficiently sized A/C unit which cooled the room to decent temperature while spending time at the hostel.

While I haven’t covered any hostels on this website before, I had an interesting time at Three Little Birds, Taipei. Thanks to welcoming, hospitable owners and a clean environment, Three Little Birds hostel is a good option for backpackers and student travellers to this vibrant city looking for a great base to explore Northern Taiwan.