A Peaceful Retreat in Central Taiwan

After visiting my grandparents and our family home, we headed over to the guesthouse we booked to check into our rooms. We stayed at the Hua Su Guest House (Minsu) for two nights. The Hua Su guesthouse is located in an area popular for its many flower and plant gardens and plantations in Tienwei, outside of Changhua.

I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by our stay here. After braving the bustling, crowded, and older city of Kaohsiung, the guesthouse was a welcome retreat. This was my first visit to a minsu, and if this is any indication, it is a wonderful way to see Taiwan. The guesthouse was clean, modern, and uncluttered and the owners were very hospitable. Plus they had free wifi internet and air conditioning!

A view of the dining pavilion attached to the guesthouse.

Some koi fish swimming in the pond.

The rooms were modest but very clean, with large bathrooms and western style showers. There is no tub, but I think this is standard for a minsu. Our hotel in Taipei didn’t have a tub either. Each room had a flat screen LCD with cable. The internet was off and on, but I think the owner is going to fix that.

They even had tatami mat rooms for larger parties of people. I peeked in these rooms and took some pictures.

A large Taiwanese breakfast is included with your room. The guesthouse has an excellent cook! She is fully approved by my picky mom. Here is the typical breakfast at the minsu. Those are sliced asian pears and guava in the middle.

Breakfast is served daily in the dining pavilion. When we were there, there was a large group of coworkers. Their company held their company retreat at the minsu.

And thankfully for those of us who are addicted to coffee, they serve espresso and coffee!

After breakfast, we walked across the street to a flower farm that had a lovely lily pond and garden.

Lily Pond

A coffee plant

Inside the greenhouse

They had tons and tons of my favorite flower – orchids.

Overall, we were really pleased with our stay here. I just didn’t expect there to be a place this nice in the countryside. Apparently, the owners say that all the big politicians have come here, including one of the current presidential candidates. The only downside I can think of is that the owners cannot speak a lot of English, but they are fine with emails.

Because of my bad Chinese, I am not really sure where this minsu is located, so I am attaching the map from their website. All I know is that it is Tianwei, near Yuanlin, and about 45 minutes to Lukang in the west and 45 minutes to Sun Moon Lake in the east.

Hua Su Guesthouse

Rates from NT$2000-2500 for a single to NT$4000-5000 for the large tatami room.

Phone: 04-8246799

Email: j8226890@ms12.hinet.net