Liu House

Liu House is a B&B run by Liu Mama. Located just a three minute walk away is Jiufen Old Street, the birth place of 'Spirited Away' by Ghilbi. Before I talk about the property, an introduction of the town is due. Jiufen is a maze disguised as a town ready to enchants those that stumble upon it with its mysterious charm. There are stairs that crisscross up, down - here, there, everywhere! Magic lie in waiting and adventure literally awaits at every corner for those ready to challenge it. The charm of Jiufen is getting lost in this seemingly fantasy like world. There's so much to experience while getting lost you'd purposely want to get lost. So word of warning, be ready to get lost if you deter from the main route. Now what to expect from Liu House. A comfy home like feel. Its cosy. Its relaxing. A perfect place to have tea or a glass of wine. Its clean but old. Very much so and worn down. Its cute! A huge teddy bear was waiting for us when we arrived...It has beautiful views of the street, mountain and sea below.You'll see the charming yellow glows of light illuminating this ancient town that further enhances the magical feel. It has stable room temperature control. The device may be hard to use for those not used to it, but ask for help if needed. Its timeless; the atmosphere seems to distort reality and the hassle of work and stress are soon forgotten. Best of all, it has an adorable host, Liu Mama! The poor lovely lady ran out in the rain wearing slippers to pick us up after our taxi driver called. She does everything with so much heart you soon forget that you're staying at a hotel. Though I would consider this more of a homestay. It felt like my grandmother was setting up everything for us to stay... We warmed up with sad joy watching and felt the urge to cheer her on and tried to help! Declined we were to our dismay. To all those that commented on her indifference, in all due respect, sincerity is returned with sincerity. The lovely smile she had on her face when we gave her a small lantern toy as a gift was absolutely priceless. We felt she truly appreciated this small item worth next to nothing as she gazed at it so fondly. Mind you we were unable to communicate with her as we spoke little to no Chinese. Even so, we felt loved. She gave us a box of tea when we left that day... We tackled her with hugs. I digress... What not to expect. A first class hotel. This is the mountain side. Its old, its run down. Relatively undeveloped. The basic needs, however, are there. Please don't expect convenience services of cities. An elevator will not be carrying anyone up. Walking the stairs is all apart of the experience. Its tiring, but a nice change. Quality, tasty food is not readily available. Sure its a tourist town and we paid for the food, but its not easy getting stuff up here. I personally found it enjoyable simply appreciating what was offered. The breakfast was simple and relatively bland, but it was prepared with enough care for me to enjoy it. Quite a selection too. Enough to get one started out for the day and to enjoy the other food available in the area. It'd defeat the purpose to fill up here. One should also not expect a hot shower here. This would be our only grief here. The water switched from hot to cold quite regularly. We found a trick that somewhat worked was... to turn on the shower, wait 10 secs and then flush the toilet. Surprisingly, the shower stayed warm thereafter. Final note, a great cosy place to stay for amazing views. Not a high class accommodation. Expect warm service not convienicence.