Flower Heart Bed and Breakfast

Hualien has many minsus, it's unbelievable. My friend and I finally settled on this minsu based on the excellent reviews by other reviewers, and we absolutely did not regret one bit. 花漾蓮芯民宿 is conveniently located behind the train station. It's a comfortable 5-6 minutes walk from the station. If you inform ah-yee early enough, she will pick you up at the station. Ah Yee and her husband are passionate Hualien folks. When we arrived, she literally sat us down, and explained the landscape and possible itineraries. She even has her own map of hualien, indicating where the good food are located. A quick tip: take a photo of the map. It is VERY useful. As my friend and I had not planned anything for a 3 night stay, ah yee immediately offered us a few itineraries and options - bus/ cab. We decided to rent a cab for 2 days, to explore places like taroko gorge, liyu lake, yunshanshui, shitiping etc. Great decision, it made the whole journey so much more pleasant and enjoyable. Just remember not to go to this charcoal factory because both of us got bitten by many insects! Besides the warm hospitality from the hosts, another highlight of the minsu was definitely the breakfast. I rate their breakfast as the best throughout our entire taiwan trip. The wholesome, pretty, hearty breakfast comes with a massive salad, thick toast, eggs, fruits and soy bean drink/ soup. Ah yee very thoughtfully waited for us to be ready for breakfast before serving, so that breakfast would be served hot. The minsu has a number of rooms, each decorated differently. The room we had was clean, comfy and cutely decorated. The bed was a tad too soft for our liking though. The laminate flooring might be a little slippery, so just be careful when you walk. Take note that you will need to climb up a flight of stairs to the rooms. I did notice that there is one room on the ground floor, may be better for the older folks. Oh, almost forgot to mention. Ah Yee lent us her bicycles to cycle around town, which we did. Well, you do need to be pretty skilled to cycle there, especially during the peak hours, as traffic can be quite heavy. You will need to navigate around the cars, trucks, and motorcycles. So just exercise extra caution when cycling. The drivers are all quite patient though, which was a great help to us. Another tip, remember to buy lots of fruits in Hualien. It's so much fresher and cheaper compared to Taipei. And stay in 花漾蓮芯民宿, you won't regret it. We didn't.