Hsinchu County→Grand Hi Lai Hotel

To take the High Speed Rail (HSR) from Hsinchu County to Grand Hi Lai Hotel, HSR is comfortable and quick but pricey and has difficult taxi access. From the earliest departure at 07:02 to the latest at 22:17, there are up to 47 high-speed rail from Hsinchu to Zuoying each day. Assuming you depart from Zhubei City, Hsinchu County, you may walk or take a bus—if available—to Hsinchu HSR station. Including walking to the platform, buying a ticket, and waiting for the train, it takes at least 15 minutes. Then, take a 83-98-minute (88 min on average) HSR ride from Hsinchu Station to Zuoying HSR Station. The ticket price is NT$1,200 per person, followed by a 10-minute walk to exit the station, wait for a ride at the taxi stand, and after a trip of about 24 minutes with a fare of NT$300, you will arrive at your destination at Grand Hi Lai Hotel (Qianjin District, Kaohsiung City). The entire journey, including transfers, takes a total of 2 hours and 17 minutes. Assuming 4 people traveling together, the average cost per person for the HSR and transfers is NT$1,280. However, in Hsinchu County, there are only just over 700 licensed taxis. The taxi density is 1.3% of that in the Taipei/New Taipei metro area. In other words, hailing a taxi on the spot is 80 times more difficult than in a major city like Taipei. In contrast, if you use Tripool for a door-to-door private car service, the average cost per person is about NT$1,260, and the journey takes 3 hours and 48 minutes. For long-distance travel, the HSR is indeed faster, but it comes with an extra transportation cost of about NT$80. Therefore, for those who are not in a major hurry, you may consider a cheaper and door-to-door private transfer option, like Tripool. If you are traveling in a group of three or less, you can also consider Tripool's carpooling service to save up to an additional 50% on transportation costs.

If you have a driver's license, do not mind driving yourself, and you do not need to use the travel time to rest in the car, there are about 20 rental car companies, such as 達優小客車租賃, 睿鼎租賃商業, 弘光小客車租賃, available in the Zhubei City, Hsinchu County area. Typically, car rentals are billed by the day. A small sedan like a Toyota Corolla or Ford Fiesta costs around NT$1500 per day, while a 9-seater van like a Hyundai Staria or Volkswagen Caravelle starts at NT$4500 per day. Extra costs such as fuel (approx. NT$3/km), eTag tolls (approx. NT$1/km), roadside parking (approx. NT$40/hour), insurance, and potential fines are not included. Most rental agreements specify a daily mileage limit of 200-400 km, with surcharges ranging from NT$100 to NT$2,000 for exceeding it. Since the vast majority of rental companies do not offer one-way rentals, assuming you make a same-day round trip between Hsinchu County (Zhubei City) and Grand Hi Lai Hotel, the estimated cost for a sedan is NT$4100 or NT$7100 for a 9-seater van. This is, of course, cheaper than taking a taxi. However, if Grand Hi Lai Hotel has extensive indoor facilities or the attractions you want to visit are nearby, renting a car for the entire day seems wasteful. Moreover, the rental location may be some distance from your home/office/starting point, and you must adhere to their business hours for pickup and return. The rental process itself is tedious, often taking an extra 30 minutes for contracts and vehicle inspection. You may even need to refuel the car yourself before returning. If you encounter a dishonest operator, you risk being hit with various unjustified charges upon return. If your group has more than four people or has large luggage, renting a 9-seater van will be too expensive. It would be better to book a chauffeured service to avoid the hassle of unfamiliar roads or driving a large vehicle. A Tripool ride from Hsinchu County (Zhubei City) to Grand Hi Lai Hotel costs only NT$6,719 for a van!

If you choose to take a taxi directly, in the Hsinchu County area, you can use apps to hail a cab from 55688 Taiwan Taxi, Uber, Line Go, Yoxi, etc., and if you cannot hail a cab on the street, you can also consider calling taxi fleets, such as 第一計程車, 竹北-Ap車隊, 銓順交通 to try to book a ride. Based on the meter, the estimated fare is between NT$7,595 and 9,100, but you could save up to NT$4,100 by booking with Tripool instead. But if you cannot book in advance or prefer to hail a cab on the spot, be aware that in the whole Hsinchu County, there are only about 730 licensed taxis. The taxi density is just 1.3% of that in the Taipei/New Taipei metro area, meaning it is 80 times more difficult to hail a cab on the spot compared to Taipei or New Taipei. Considering all factors, Tripool is your best choice for traveling from Hsinchu County to Grand Hi Lai Hotel in terms of both price and service quality.

For regular long-distance travelers, they find Tripool's price may be too low to be good. On the contrary, Tripool has a high standard for selecting drivers and vehicles. Besides dropping drivers who are low rated, we also send mystery shoppers regularly to test drivers' service. Tripool's drivers are not allowed to smoke in the cars, and they have to wear masks all the time during the pandemic. We don't compromise our service for a low cost. Tripool can provide excellent service with 70~80% of the market price because of AI algorithms. We use these to dispatch vehicles to increase efficiency. Tripool can use fewer drivers to serve more travelers, especially in high seasons like Chinese New Year, Christmas, and summer vacation. Fewer drivers mean better quality control. The price on tripool's website and app are dynamic. Generally, the earlier a ride is booked, the lower price it is. Most of all, all booking are 100% refundable as long as the cancelation request is made one day before noon, no matter what the reason is. If you are preparing to go from Hsinchu County to Grand Hi Lai Hotel, it's better to reserve it now to secure the best price.

There are many gypsy cabs or illegal taxis in Line and Facebook groups. Their fares are cheap but with many risks. If the cabs are pulled over by polices, passengers cannot continue the trip. If there is an accident, none of the insurance companies will settle a claim. Worst of all, illegal drivers may conduct crimes without any trace. Don't put your life at risk for just saving a few bucks. On the other hand, tripool contracts with legal drivers without any criminal record. All vehicles provide up to $5 million in insurance. The easiest way to distinguish a legal vehicle is the car plate number. Unless the initial character of the car plate number is either T or R, the car is 100% illegal for taxi service.

Among these options, Uber is the only one with broad and reliable coverage in Taiwan, available in major cities such as Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung. Grab does not operate in Taiwan. Didi previously entered the market but has since exited. Bolt has just launched in Taiwan and is currently limited to Taipei. Lyft is not available in Taiwan. If you are choosing among these five, Uber is by far the most practical and widely used option in Taiwan. However, for longer intercity transfers, airport rides, or day trips, tripool is often a better choice—offering transparent pricing, professional drivers, and coverage across Taiwan.

Every order can only reserve one car, and it is easier for passengers to make any change or cancelation. Please make two separate bookings on the website or the app if passengers need a round trip. There is no particular promotion about a round trip for now, but it's welcome to use any coupon for each ride.

Fewer travelers book hotels through traditional travel agents, and most go through OTAs (online travel agents). It is easy to filter areas, prices, types of rooms, special needs on OTAs' websites. Still, customers can also get a 20~40% discount compared to hotels' official websites. The most popular OTAs in Taiwan are Booking.com, Agoda.com, Hotels.com, Expedia.com, and Trip.com. In general, travelers can make reservations on websites or apps. Once finishing the online payment, everything is set, and there is not necessary to double-check the reservation by phone. However, some hotels may oversell their rooms on multiple platforms. To avoid being rejected by hotels once you arrive, choose high-rated hotels with more reviews online or make a phone call to hotels to confirm again. For B&Bs (also called minsus), locals prefer to book rooms through B&Bs' websites or contact the hosts directly. Sometimes, the price is better than OTAs. The downside is that their websites don't accept foreign credit cards or guests have to do wire transfers. If you want to save all these troubles and find decent B&Bs, Airbnb and AsiaYo (a local brand) are the best alternatives.