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Saturday 18 April 2015

Taiwan free and easy : Taichung Shinshe minsu 馨舍民宿





 View from a distance. The location is good as it is 5-10 mins like the flower expo.



Decoration Inside the Minsu

We booked the 4 person room with a view. The good thing is the room is on the first room, don't need to climb up and down the stairs. The room is spacious  but some things looks new as fresh paint has been applied but overall it looks a bit shabby.  The room looks quite plain, like a very simple home. The toilet floor was a bit hard to stand on bare foot as it is a bit rough. 




Although it is supposed to be a room with a view, the plants seems to be growing quite well so this is the view we managed to get.






The breakfast is simple taiwanese homecooked breakfast. Porridge and some side dishes Not fantastic but not bad.

The viewing gallery at the top of the Minsu. The view was much better. There is also a coffee machine for us to make a hot drink. Can just drink coffee and enjoy the scenery.
We did not manage to catch the sunrise as the sun was hiding behind the clouds.













Overall. I did not really have a pleasant stay. I can't really complain about the quality of the room because the price is quite cheap with breakfast.  The view from the room is quite disappointing. The view from the gallery is good but not awesome
However, the room definitely does not look like those in the photos. 

I was quite amazed with the owner's customer service. He was trying to promote another itinerary for our second day with his older brother who is a taxi tour guide. However, he will just leave the conservation half way when he sees another person needing help, without even excusing himself. It really makes me feel like a second-class citizen because he keep getting distracted and I have to sit there and wait for him to just answer any general enquires.

The taxi tour guide is a local and the brother of the minsu's owner so he can brings you to not touristy places, likesome of the smaller farms or food places as he knows the locals there. He speaks Hokkein and Chinese.  He even bought us to his farm and gave us fresh vegetables. However, we know he charge us the normal market price but keep telling us that we are getting such a good deal. He and his brother keep persuading us to do a full day tour on the second day although I told him my elderly parents are not able to do a fully day tour. He was constantly late in picking us up, after we finish touring the place. He did not turn up at the agreed time, we had to give him a call and wait for 10-20 minutes for him to appear. It is quite a waste of time. 

As we were not going to do the full day tour on the second day, they send another local driver to do a half a day tour and send us to Taichung. The rates was slightly cheaper, and the driver is much more accommodating and punctual.


The minsu website