Does anyone have any info on the transit hotel? How much are the rooms there? How do I make a reservation? I'm thinking it may be worthwhile getting a room there and then head into town for dinner, some bar hopping etc. and then return for some sleep and showers before getting on the connecting flight.

Not a direct answer, but this hotel is in Taoyuan - reasonably near the airport. Many of the airlines put their crew there. I thought it was pretty nice the one time I stayed there...

http://www.monarch-hotels.com.tw/

I remember noseconeflyer also referred to it. Maybe do a search for "monarch plaza", restricting to posts by me and him.

For anyone having to kill a day (rather than a night) at TPE, the tourist authority do free half-day city tours. There is also an "Aviation museum" at the airport... but I'm not sure of opening hours...

The "old" airport transit hotel looks rather dramatic now. Its being demolished - lots of concrete and twisted metal. Would make a good film set....

If you want to pay a visit to Taipei without jams, consider doing the trip on the recently opened high-speed rail line. It's 10 minutes by taxi to THSR Taoyuan station (or 15 min by half-hourly bus) and ~20 min to the city (NT$160 one way), with trains straight to Taipei Main Station roughly every half hour -- check schedules beforehand at the THSR website. On your way back, note that not all trains stop in Taoyuan!

Wow! I didn't even realize there was hi-speed rail servicing close by the airport. Does anyone know the cost of a cab from the THSR Taoyuan station to the airport? Or even the bus?

It would be pretty cool to ride another high speed rail besides the TGV and Shinkasen ^

The bus was around NT$20/head. Taxi shouldn't be much more than NT$100 from the station to the airport, but you may have problems getting a cabbie to take you the other way -- they've queued for hours in anticipation of a >NT$1000 fare to the city!

I hate to disappoint you, but the THSR is built with Shinkansen technology and the 700T trainsets are 99% identical to Japanese Shinkansen 700s. It's still hella cool though :D

So after some further research, I'm not finding any cheap hotels for an overnight for 3 people. Any suggestions for a safe, clean and conveniently located hotel (ideally near gay bars) where we can put our bags down while going out to dinner and bars and then sleeping for a couple of hours befrore heading back to the airport for a 7 AM departure? I'll be there this Thursday so a bit last minute now... Thanks.

not asking for much really then ?