[Study-Space Series] A Six-Star Study Center: Poshpacker Hotel

Introduction

Learning probably occupies a large part of everyone’s life.

I have spent more than half my life studying, and I am still studying constantly for national examinations, yet I have never publicly shared my own study methods, places, or tricks.

Recently, work has also had me scouting all kinds of places—some I had visited before, some that nobody seems to have visited, but all of them on someone’s list of places to study.

“Why not take this chance and share them properly?” And that is how this series of experience posts was born XD.

My Preferences for Study Spaces

Before I begin, a confession about my preferences: I am a café person (raises hand).

Ever since I was a student, I have liked lively places with human voices. The more crowded and noisy they are, the better I can focus on work and study. I especially like working or studying in department-store basements, fast-food restaurants, and other places full of ambient sound; that is where my output and efficiency are at their best.

Doing more things at once also multiplies my efficiency. In crowded places I can observe all kinds of people too, so I gain something beyond work or study.

On days when I am too lazy to leave home and have to work or study there, I need a drama or an anime running to make myself productive. I have finished an absurd number of shows while studying and working.

Can you really take in dramas and anime this way?

Yes—and I remember them more clearly than when I watch them with my full attention XD.

By contrast, I do not enjoy studying somewhere that is too quiet. If there is no sound at all, I will probably fall asleep from boredom within five minutes and spend the entire day asleep with nothing done.

And those cram-school study sessions where you cannot even listen to music, or where bathroom trips are scheduled to the minute? Absolutely not for me. I reluctantly joined a school study group in junior high, but never again after that. That kind of high-pressure study environment would drive me mad XD.

When I was studying for university entrance exams in high school, I spent my evenings doing problem books while watching all four seasons of The Amazing Strategist Liu Bowen, sometimes staying up all night. That is another story.

My Taiwanese was ridiculously good during that period (or so I claim). It was basically built in my final year of high school, and my whole family had no idea where I got the accent.

Poshpacker’s Six-Star Study Center Experience

Study-seat comfort: ★★★★★

Cleanliness: ★★★★★

Convenience of transport: ★★★★★

Friendliness of front-desk staff: ★★★★★

Privacy: ★★★★★

Price: $$$$

I knew about this study center partly because I passed it often, and partly because its ads kept finding me (I have no idea what I searched for to earn that targeting).

The photos looked so beautiful and comfortable that I wanted to find out what kind of study center could call itself “six-star.”

I did not expect such a dramatic first impression until I actually went.

Poshpacker sat at the intersection of Chongqing South Road and Hankou Street. Its sign was huge, so you could spot it immediately as you walked by.

It was very convenient by bus: the Chongqing South Road stop was less than five minutes away, and there was another stop a little further along Guanqian Road. It was right in a transport hub.

The only small drawback was that it was a little farther from the MRT itself. Still, the underground mall kept you out of the sun and rain most of the way, so the walk was manageable.

This Poshpacker study center was a product of the pandemic. Tourism had been hit hard, so the hotel and accommodation business turned some rooms into study spaces to reduce the loss.

So Poshpacker’s six-star study center was essentially a hotel. That should have made the polished facilities less surprising XD, but I was still blown away when I walked in.

The front desk was the usual hotel or lodging front desk. I even saw travelers with suitcases checking in, and suddenly felt as though I had arrived to check in for a trip.

Sadly, I was there to work. (ugly crying)

The study-center price list was posted directly on the front counter, making the charges easy to understand.

The charges were calculated by the hour, with cheaper discounts if you bought several hours at once.

I had intended to make only a small visit—perhaps buy one hour for the novelty. But since I had not relaxed or gone out for ages, I thought I might as well treat it like staying in a hotel (?).

Before I knew it, I had paid for an eight-hour single-room slot. (silence)

One thing worth noting: ordinary study centers often require first-time visitors to register and prepay credits. Poshpacker clearly did not.

“May I borrow your ID to register you?” the owner said.

The moment I heard that, I rushed to hand over my ID, already thinking about where I could wander after checking in and what sights I might visit.

Wait. I was not going on a trip—I was going to a study center!

The check-in (?) procedure was exactly like a hotel’s. No wonder I got completely confused XD (the classic move of blaming them because I secretly wanted a holiday).

After registration, the front desk carefully explained the time and location, then handed me a key card.

There was also a complimentary drink: a paper cup and a tea bag. Since there were water dispensers, the tea bag still felt thoughtful.

At the entrance, I immediately thought the décor was gorgeous. The lighting and palette worked beautifully together.

Because it was fundamentally a hotel, it also had a great many shared facilities.

“I came here to work, not to play!” I reminded myself again.

So I carried my pile of books and laptop toward the place where I was meant to study for eight hours.

After taking the elevator, I found a large glass door. Beyond the automatic door was a short corridor, but its lighting and colors made it feel remarkably atmospheric.

Looking down the corridor, it seemed that the whole floor had been turned into study rooms. There were not many rooms.

Every room had an unusually charming room-number sign, and my study space that day was Room 309.

You opened the door with the key card from the front desk—just hold it near the sensor.

Believe me: more than once during this whole process, you would wonder whether you were there to study or to go on holiday XD.

Since I do not have many friends, I naturally chose the individual study room. When I pushed the door open, I found a clean room with white walls.

If you liked studying with friends, you could book a two-person study room.

By my highly scientific method of lying on the floor, the room was roughly 1.8 by 1.6 meters. That experiment also revealed a spotless floor: I ran a finger across it and found no dust, cleaner than some ordinary hotels manage.

Just like a hotel, the key card went into a sensor by the door to turn on the power.

Looking around, it was obvious that this had been converted from hotel rooms. Everywhere were things one would expect in a hotel, such as a safe and a refrigerator.

The privacy of each space was excellent. You had a separate room and key card for valuables, plus a safe if you were still worried. It really felt like hotel-level privacy.

Air quality and unpredictable air conditioning can be concerns in ordinary study centers, but not here. Each individual study room had independent air conditioning, with the remote in your hand, so you could choose the temperature yourself. The air also smelled genuinely fresh, with none of the odd odors you might fear.

What if you wanted a break from studying? Each individual space had a TV. If you wanted to watch something naughty but worried about poor soundproofing, Poshpacker thoughtfully left headphones hanging on the wall.

Wait, why does this suddenly feel like a hotel review?

Back to the main point: the most important thing in a study center is the seat.

The desk was all white and faced the window, so you could look outside when you needed a break. If the noon sun was too harsh, you could lower the curtains.

The desk lamp was an ordinary study lamp, but when the curtains made the room feel too dark, it gave just the right amount of light.

The chair was very comfortable. Because it was a private room, there was no need to worry about rolling around and disturbing anyone—roll as much as you like.

The desk was a very workable size: a 14-inch laptop plus several books fit without feeling cramped.

For someone working, power outlets are a major concern. They matter to high-school students too: you may need to look something up on your phone, and a dead phone is a real problem.

Each room provided two outlets. One was already used by the desk lamp, leaving the other free.

Because it was a hotel conversion, the outlets were universal. You did not need to worry that a three-prong laptop plug would not fit a two-prong socket.

Individual rooms also had hangers and hooks for coats and bags. The facilities were so complete that there was little to criticize.

After putting my things down, of course I wanted to explore the rest of the place. First stop: the restroom.

The individual rooms did not have private toilets, so you used the shared restroom to the right after getting off the elevator.

More unusually, B1 was like a lounge. If you had come with friends, needed to chat after studying, and did not want to disturb people in the study rooms, you could sit on the sofas there.

Besides comfortable sofas, the lounge had magazines on the shelves and a water dispenser—a good place to rest. It was probably meant for hotel guests originally, but study-room users could use it too.

I did not make special use of the other shared facilities, though. I was there to study, not to vacation, after all XDDDDD.

Once I had looked around enough, it was time to begin the day’s study session.

As someone used to studying in noisy places, the first difference I noticed was silence—real silence.

I could not hear cars or outside noise at all. Was I the only person on the floor? Why was there no sound from anywhere?

Surprisingly, the quiet did not bore me to sleep. The temperature was comfortable and the air quality good; even my usually troublesome throat did not make me cough. I studied all the way until dinner and got quite a lot done.

A study session this good was rare, so I switched my phone to airplane mode. Nearly eight hours without anyone disturbing me felt wonderful.

When it was time to check out, I only had to return the key card to the front desk. I casually asked a question then.

“Was there nobody else on the study-center floor today?”

The staff member looked puzzled. “No—our floor was full today, and the hotel also had many staying guests.”

That showed how good the soundproofing was. Someone like me, who tends to look and listen everywhere, could not hear any environmental noise at all.

Because I was on Hankou Street, I had dinner at Xinyang Noodle Restaurant, a place I often visited when I worked near Taipei Main Station. There were fewer choices than around Nanyang Street, but cheap food was still easy enough to find.

Conclusion

Poshpacker was the first study center I visited for work. For someone who had never set foot in one before, the study environment was genuinely astonishing.

I could find almost nothing to fault in the equipment or cleanliness. Even as a hotel, it seemed very carefully maintained—let alone as a study center.

Because it was designed for study use, the soundproofing was excellent too.

For a study center marketed as six-star, the description felt deserved. It would also have worked very well for office workers who wanted a short, undisturbed place to work.

Even on a Taipei business trip, if you needed somewhere to stay for a day or work fiercely through the night, this study center—with floor but no bed—would have been an excellent setting.

The system also allowed reservations, with no membership card or prepaid credits: you paid for the time you used, without worrying about stranded credit.

Of course, excellent facilities and environment were reflected in a relatively high price. That was a choice for each user to make.

This series will have many more posts, so I will see you in the next one :D.

Want to read the other study-space posts in this series? Use the link below.

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