Got to know this home stay thru a Taiwanese blogger. There are a lot of hotels present in Jiao Xi but then the prices are a bit on the high side. Thus, after much consideration, I decided to go ahead and make a booking with them.
Upon confirmation, you will need to pay half the room price as deposit and then on arrival, pay the remaining sum. Payment is acceptable thru paypal.
This is their webpage: http://www.happiness-spring.com.tw/
We communicated thru email in chinese and thus I am not sure whether they are proficient in english or not. But as we are using simplified chinese and them traditional chinese, they sometimes have trouble reading our mails too but still, we are able to communicate.
I chose the bigger room （楼中楼）where the bedroom is located in the mezzanine level. There is a living room on the 1st level, a small area for people to relax and drink tea, a very big bath room which comes with a big soaking area for hot spring. Outside the bathroom is a balcony where you can oversee Jiao Xi town. Being 1 of the tallest building in Jiao Xi, the view up here is breathtaking.
 |
| Room number, special eh? |
Check in counter was located at a shop area beside the apartment itself. We asked around before we got to the correct place. There are a lot of home stays here you see. But luckily, Taiwanese are well known to be helpful. It does help that we speak and understand mandarin.
 |
| Hallway leading the door & the rest area for tea drinking |
Price for this type of room is NTD 2800 for weekdays. Forgot bout the pricing for weekends but certainly will cost more, therefore if you are looking to stay in Jiao Xi to enjoy the hot spring, my advice to you if to plan to come here during weekdays of your trip. Its more cost saving and not as packed as weekend.
 |
| Stairs leading up to the mezzanine level |
There are 5 kinds of suites available with each having a few kind of different designs to choose from. Our room is named “御恋阁” which has a very romantic feel to it. There are also bigger rooms for family or groups of friend available.
 |
| Big bath area for soaking hot spring. |
 |
| Jiaoxi town at a glance from our balcony |
The rooms are located inside an apartment block where its you will need to scan your room card to gain access to the main hall.There will be a caretaker around the clock at the counter on the 1st level. You are also required to scan your room card when you are going to your room level.Overall, we felt safe going in and out of the building.
Though the location is a bit far from the train station(15min walk) as compared to other hotels, the fact that it is located a bit more uphill gives it a better view than others. That is, if you stayed in the highest level like me. Hehe.
 |
| Very comfortable bed |
The bed is very comfortable at least to me, Mr Love had found it too soft for his liking as it seems like you will sink into it once you lied down. But that's the good part, its like the bed is hugging you to sleep. They also placed some bears by shelf beside the bed. I didn't touch them as am afraid of germs but nevertheless was happy to see them.
 |
| Bear bear by the bedside |
 |
| Night view of Jiao Xi town |
Breakfast is served on a small shop area beside the apartment. You will have to present your coupon to the counter. The breakfast served here are typical Taiwanese style, not much of a surprise or disappointment.
 |
| Egg tofu & I dunno wat |
 |
| Some veggies |
 |
| Fried cabbage |
 |
| Condiments for porridge |
We met an elderly Singaporean couple here during breakfast. The wife recognises the way we speak, english,chinese and a bit of hokkien here n there, she said its typical Singaporean language:)
We were surprised they managed to find this home stay too as the others we met are either Taiwanese or Malaysians. Turns out that, they had hired a driver to drive them around Yilan and he recommended this home stay. Not bad, I felt like a local. whahah
 |
| You can make your own salad here |
 |
| A must have for me- Coffee |
There is also a rooftop garden here, and we decided to come up n check out the view.
 |
| Overlooking JiaoXi Elementary school. We listened to their assembly. haha |
 |
| Benches for you to sit & chat |
 |
| Floweres blooming everywhere |
 |
| Love the swing & the sun |
As we were rushing for time to move on to our next destination, we did not stop long here at the rooftop. I would love to sit on the swing, enjoy the breeze, read a book and drink a cuppa here. Perhaps next time when we visit Jiao Xi again, we will choose to stay more days here and plan a more relax itineary so that I can really sit here and laze.
No comments:
Post a Comment