New Taipei→Kung Shang Design Hotel

To take the High Speed Rail (HSR) from downtown New Taipei to Kung Shang Design Hotel, HSR is comfortable and quick but pricey. From the earliest departure at 06:34 to the latest at 21:50, there are up to 77 high-speed rail from Banqiao to Zuoying each day. Assuming you depart from Banqiao District, New Taipei City, you may walk or take a bus—if available—to Banqiao HSR station. Including walking to the platform, buying a ticket, and waiting for the train, it takes at least 20 minutes. Then, take a 86-126-minute (105 min on average) HSR ride from Banqiao Station to Zuoying HSR Station. The ticket price is NT$1,460 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 28 minutes with a fare of NT$300, you will arrive at your destination at Kung Shang Design Hotel (Xinxing District, Kaohsiung City). The entire journey, including transfers, takes a total of 2 hours and 43 minutes. Assuming 4 people traveling together, the average cost per person for the HSR and transfers is NT$1,540. In contrast, if you use Tripool for a door-to-door private car service, the average cost per person is about NT$1,390, and the journey takes 4 hours and 16 minutes. For long-distance travel, the HSR is indeed faster, but it comes with an extra transportation cost of about NT$600. 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 45 rental car companies, such as 大鴻汽車, 樂高小客車租賃, 安昱汽車租賃, available in the Banqiao District, New Taipei City 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 New Taipei (Banqiao District) and Kung Shang Design Hotel, the estimated cost for a sedan is NT$4500 or NT$7500 for a 9-seater van. This is, of course, cheaper than taking a taxi. However, if Kung Shang Design 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 New Taipei (Banqiao District) to Kung Shang Design Hotel costs only NT$7,469 for a van!

If you choose to take a taxi directly, in the New Taipei City 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 文發交通, 慶安車隊, 皇冠大車隊 to try to book a ride. Based on the meter, the estimated fare is between NT$8,540 and 10,200, but you could save up to NT$4,600 by booking with Tripool instead. Considering all factors, Tripool is your best choice for traveling from New Taipei to Kung Shang Design Hotel in terms of both price and service quality.

Passengers can request additional stops for a ride from New Taipei to Kung Shang Design Hotel. Every 5 km of additional distance for a stop charges NT$200, whether it is along the way or not. It's necessary for the driver's extra time.

Tripool provides private day tours and charter services all around the island, including Kung Shang Design Hotel and New Taipei. Tourists are welcome to choose from point-to-point transportation service to 2~12 hours private trip service. The price is 100% transparent without any hidden fee. What you see on the website/app is the actual price. There is no need to email us or even make a phone call to verify. The full-day service price may not be lower than other providers. But if you only need a few hours or just a one-way transfer service, we can guarantee that our price is the most competitive in the market and tripool is the best choice. We offer 5-seater sedans, SUVs, and 9-seater vans. If your group is more than 9, we can arrange a bigger bus for you.

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 New Taipei to Kung Shang Design Hotel, it's better to reserve it now to secure the best price.

Tripool will send a receipt through the third-party system one week after the ride. If passengers need to claim reimbursement for travel expenses, there is a blank to fill with the company's title and tax ID. It's legal, and there is no extra 5% for the receipt. Once the receipt is received via email, it can be printed out for reimbursement or saved as a PDF.

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.