Holiday Inn Express Hotels in Kaohsiung

I am visiting my mom in Taiwan and decided to spend a couple of nights in Kaohsiung. I will be quite honest. I didn't have a lot of expectations staying at a Holiday Inn Express. But the stay exceeded my expectations. I took the MRT and the station is less than 5 minutes walk to the hotel. The check in process was smooth. I was offered a drink (I picked soda!) at check in for being a Platinum member. A very nice gesture. My room is small, but most rooms in Asia seem small to me coming from the US. It has a tiny view of the river and the park. You can tell the hotel is pretty new. I work a lot in my room wherever I am traveling in the world. This modern room provides all the necessary electric outlets for me to plug whatever I need in. This is important to me as well as good working wifi, which this property provides. Oh! They also gave me a basket of snacks and drinks! That was a very pleasant surprise! The breakfast selection is somewhat limited but sufficient whether you are into ********* or Western breakfast. I don't travel to Taiwan often, so whenever I can have ********* breakfast, that's what I eat! They even have a noodle station, but unlike most other Asian hotels I stayed at, it is a self-serve Noodle station. I don't trust myself enough to make one. I wonder if it is possible for the hotel to allocate a staff person to work the station. The service at the breakfast buffet was great! They offered to make me drinks. I took the opportunity to order some iced latte. I almost gave this place a 5-star, but there are a couple of things needed work: 1) I could never get the shower head aligned to face me directly while standing in the middle of the shower. 2) The water pressure in the sink is really low when it is on cold. If I turned it away from cold, the pressure is fine. But I don't always want warm or hot water. 3) This one is more of a personal suggestion. I wish this place had a gym/workout room. That's another thing I look for when I travel. Not sure if there is anything they can do. But just thought I would throw it out there. I read some unnecessary harsh reviews (like one earlier where the worker had trouble finding their reservation), but my experience tells me the staff tries their best to make your stay enjoyable. I am sorry I couldn't quite give this hotel a 5-star, but I will definitely stay here again in the future when I am in Kaohsiung!