By Emily Tang, International Bilingual School at Hsinchu

When participants of the THIMUN conferences loosen their ties, kick off their pinching heels, and discharge all formality, where do they go?  What happens when delegates are not debating, press members are not writing, advisors are not advising, administrators are not administrating?  Well, everyone goes their separate ways, retiring in a range of different hotels.  Some hotels are nearby, while others take half an hour to reach.  Some have beautiful rooms with great room service, while others struggle to provide participants with a comfortable place to recline.  Therefore, it is not surprising that the opinions of participants varied so widely.

“It is comfortable, simple but nice, and has good beds, so it is very homey,” described Samyak Jain from Dhirubhai Ambani International School, the delegate of France in General Assembly 6 , who stayed at the Value Thompson-Bastalier .

The delegate of Lithuania in General Assembly 2, Kersten Donat from Kaohsiung American School, resided in the Hotel Reale that is only ten minutes from the Hwa Chong Institution.  “The pool is really nice, but the electricity went out one day, so we had to eat breakfast in the dark.  Also, there is no showerhead in the shower, so I had to duck to get the water,” Donat explained. “Otherwise, it is O.K.”

Ben Huang, the delegate of Namibia in General Assembly 6 from the Pacific American School, noted, “The food at the Mandarin Hotel was REALLY nice, especially the bacon, which was nice and crispy.   Since it is a five-star hotel, the room service is also awesome, and it is only ten minutes away from the school.”

Chaera Ryu, the General Assembly 2 World Bank delegate from the International School of Beijing II, settled on the Swiss Hotel, and felt it could have been better. “The food is O.K., the A.C. was too cold, and the room was small, so it wasn’t very nice,” said Ryu.

Staying at the York hotel, Mon’t Kiara International School students Tauleen Tarrant, the delegate of United Arab Emirates in General Assembly 5, and Apurva Ganoo, the delegate of Colombia in Security Council, both expressed contentment towards their hotel. “The hotel was pretty nice, with a wide variety of food, even with a station where a chef could make a customized egg for people,” stated Tarrant. “Even so, the sink broke, and that wasn’t so nice.”   On a scale of one to ten, Ganoo rated the hotel’s hygiene an 8.5 because “the hotel rooms were tidy and there weren’t any cockroaches or anything.”

The delegate of Nigeria in the Security Council, Smyth May (International School Eastern Seaboard) liked the view of the city available in his room at the Peninsula Excelsior Hotel.  “The hotel, overall, is pretty good.  The cleaners make up my bed, and the breakfast is not bad, and it’s really clean,” testified a satisfied May.

From curfews and breakfasts to convenience and hygiene, the many hotels in which THIMUN participants stayed surprised some people and disappointed others.  Although the participants expressed varying ideas about their hotels, all that really matters after the conference is being happy with the experience.