A traveler has issued a warning to other travelers after booking a "city view" room at a hotel.
Redditor u/taipeicity, who chose to remain anonymous, told Newsweek he made a complaint after seeing the hotel room in Taichung, Taiwan. For a vacation away from his home in Hong Kong, he had booked a room labeled "city view" but was stunned to be greeted with a window view of the side of the opposite building.
In a post on Reddit's r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit, he shared a photo and wrote: "View from hotel room, they claimed we would get a city view."
The post has received over 14,000 upvotes, and commenters shared the traveler's frustration after they saw the picture.
"Geez! What city, Chernobyl?" asked one.
"I'm sorry but this made me laugh a lot," said another. "Definitely a city view, but not the futuristic skyscrapers or whatever that word plays in your mind."
Taichung sits in central Taiwan and is surrounded by mountains. The third largest city in Taiwan and a tourist destination, it is known for its blend of traditional culture and new attractions. Historic shrines sit alongside the city's National Museum of Natural Science, and large natural spaces include parks and the Geomei wetlands.
The cost of staying in the city can vary greatly depending on the time of year and type of accommodation. Budget hotels can be booked for as little as $50 a night, while a luxury hotel is likely to be upwards of $120.
After seeing the room, u/taipeicity said, he expressed disappointment to the hotel staff.
"We did complain about it and also there was something else not related to the room that wasn't right, so we got re-roomed eventually to a much nicer view of the train station," he told Newsweek.
Taichung's rail station is considered a beautiful and iconic landmark, with high ceilings, columns and a modern interior. It is a much more preferable sight from a hotel room.
"I shared it on Reddit to warn people that terms like 'city view' and 'ocean view' may be misleading," said the poster. "This is technically correct as it is a view of the city, but it may not be what you expect. In fact, the view advertised in the hotel descriptions and pictures was a skyline view."
Other commenters agreed that the view was technically of the city: "Yeah that's how they get people, they chose the word 'city' very carefully," said one.
Another Redditor joked that the poster may have misunderstood: "They said s***** not city."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Alice Gibbs is a Newsweek Senior Internet Trends & Culture Reporter based in the U.K. For the last two years ... Read more
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