White Sand Homestay

This cosy little homestay is one of the relatively newer accommodations in Hualien. It is situated on a quiet road right next to the Pacific Ocean that is quickly becoming populated with other homestays. Although called a homestay, it is actually a small corner building that is more akin to a guesthouse that you find in Southeast Asia. There are family and double rooms, with the east-facing double rooms being the real highlight of the place as they all have their own balconies that face the ocean. You can literally watch the sunrise from your bed through the balcony sliding glass doors. All the standard room amenities are taken care of and the room is simply and adequately furnished and clean. All the toiletries were provided in the form of two toiletry care packs that interestingly also contained disposable hand and bath towels. Although they're not the usual cloth towels you expect, they do their job well enough. House slippers are provided when you enter the homestay on the ground floor where you can leave your shoes in a cabinet. Hot and cool water is available in the living room with tea and coffee and cups available for use any time of the day. The Wi-Fi works well too. You're provided with the key to your room, and probably because we were the only guests there, we got the key to the main door as well so that we could lock up or get in any time we wished. Breakfast is provided in the form of a meal voucher that you use to buy food from a breakfast shop just a few minutes down the road. If you order over the value of the voucher, you just top up with cash. If you like your breakfasts in your hotel, this might be a bother but nothing really beats going to the local breakfast shop and ordering your first hot meal of the day together with the locals. White Sand Homestay is run by a young couple Jacob and Heidi. We didn't get to meet Heidi but Jacob exemplified Taiwanese hospitality in every possible way. He picked us up at Hualien Train Station in the morning and brought us to the homestay, introducing and recommending sights and eats to us along the way. And once we got to the homestay, he sat with us to show us even more sights and eats on a map, and let us know about the different tours available that he could book for us if we were keen. We were even provided with two really good and light bicycles for use free of charge. Knowing that we were checking out and intending to spend the whole of the next day at Taroko Gorge, Jacob really went beyond what we expected and not just allowed us to leave our heavy bags in the homestay when we checked out, he even brought our bags down to be deposited at the bus station so that we could collect them when we returned to the station after our day at Taroko Gorge! White Sand Homestay may not qualify as five-star holiday accommodation anytime soon, but Jacob's friendliness and hospitality is top class.