"Pros: loved the quirkiness, originality, setting, cosy cabin, views out to the forest and tea plantations and the friendly staff. This place is a one off! It’s unusual, authentic, welcoming, rustic, cosy, rural, friendly, unique and special. Kim & her team couldn’t do enough for us, picking you up ups from Shizhao station, great local food (we had three dinners, all good, plenty to eat, unusual but interesting ingredients to add to the Taiwan adventure!), lots of chats via Google translate and she even sorted some laundry for us. Trails on the door & from Shizhao, views are fabulous, animals and birds everywhere. An excellent experience. Cons: Nothing." ~Becky

"Pros: This guesthouse is owned and operated by a family who also owns the tea and coffee terraces around it and you can watch the tea being picked from your room. The location is about 1 hour to Alishan and 1.5 hours to Yushan. Our corner room was large with tiled floors, a comfortable Western king bed (unusual as beds are hard in Taiwan) a huge, but rather empty bathroom and a wrap around balcony that offered 180 degree views. They serve their own tea in the afternoons with cake and their own coffee at breakfast in the mornings in cut glass wine glasses, which is one of their many eccentric features. In April, swarms of fireflies can be seen a short walk away and some even wander onto the balcony. Cons: There isn’t a comfortable chair in the room or on the balcony. The futon is only for decoration and pulling out for additional guests and the only other place to sit is on the cushions on the windowsill. The ceiling lights are blinding so we just used the standard lamp unless we needed to see inside the cupboard to make tea etc. The decoration of the hotel is a childhood theme abounding in toys and Beatrix Potter. The most bizarre decoration is a miniature coffin on the wall by the front door laying to rest a bunch of dead roses with an ode to say that although the recipient doesn’t like roses, she will take these to her grave. Romanticism is not dead, but apparently good taste is. For US$400 a night one would expect some luxury rather than stuffed toys." ~Epstein