I’m planning on doing some long trips cycling in Taiwan (I live in Taipei) but I’m not familiar with booking hotels, b&Bs or anything similar. I prefer planning everything in advance as much as possible, and I’m trying to keep to a budget of under 1500ntd a night.
Except I’m having a hard time figuring out if a lot of places that show up on booking.com, google maps, and komoot even exist, or if they do exist, if they are in fact where these websites say they are. I spent too long this morning first looking up a place, then copying its address, then finding it wasn’t at that address, followed by eyeballing the pinned map location in both google maps and booking.com before, finally, locating what might be a hotel or b&b…or might just be someone’s private house for all I can tell.
I’ve seen a lot of people asking for advice about cycling around Taiwan here and elsewhere, but less about finding places to stay, especially on a budget. There’s obviously more choice if you stick to Route 1, but I’m trying to stay further inland to avoid traffic and heavily urbanised areas and, if necessary, heading closer to the coast to find somewhere for the night that doesn’t cost an arm or a leg.
I’ve read there are lots of little homestays not necessarily listed on any site, but no idea how to find them or, if it’s possible, book them. Anyone got a suggestion?
Edited to add: I guess hostels are an option, but I’m sixty and prefer a little privacy. Does that rule hostels out?
The problem with Taiwan’s B&Bs is that most of them are stuck in the past. Very few can be found on more international platforms, and even if you use Taiwan’s platforms, they usually just point you to each B&B’s website. Even if you are able to navigate the often Chinese only websites, the only way to book is to wire a booking fee in advance.
The last time I did this I used Airbnb…it went really well. Very easy to communicate and had a lot of properties that were off the beaten path. However it was a few years ago and I think that platform has become much less popular here so ymmv. Also was working with a higher budget.
Yeah, AirBnB is great, but probably not at $1500. However, if OP is thinking about raising his budget and booking hotels, then he might as well book through AirBnB.
Why not just play it by ear? That way you’re not tied down to a certain destination by the end of each day. I’ve seen YT videos of guys who ride around the island do this. They just call a place a couple hours before they intend to arrive, and Google will usually give you quite a few options so long as you’re not way out in the boonies.
I did actually just look at the AirBnB website, which I’ve never in fact used…I keep forgetting it exists. There were actually quite a few relatively cheap places. But I also have at least one friend who got stiffed by a fake Airbnb location, although that wasn’t in Taiwan, but it makes me at least a little cautious. But it does seem to be a lot easier, at least in the few minutes I’ve been browsing it, to find possible places to stay.
Yeah, I understand and it’s not zero risk but I do think Taiwan is ok relatively. The built-in chat was really convenient and usually if something is amiss you’ll sense it while making arrangements in the days beforehand. I would talk about what I’m doing, ask about bike security, washing, laundry, etc. It has translation but most spoke English anyway given it’s a western platform.
@Incubus is right, you could play it by ear and be fine. I wanted to know where I would end up each day. I built in a lot of chill time each day, doing most of my riding early morning through early afternoon. If something went wrong I could recover and I had lots of downtime to rest/explore the surrounding area.
This!
I did it in May last year with my son.
We hugged the mountains going south, and just decided on a place mid afternoon.
It always worked, using Google maps, then find them on any of the other platforms, or just walked in.
We only pre-booked for a Saturday in Kenting, and that was a wise decision.
Off-season we spent Ntd. 1.800-2.500 per night, mostly B&B, twice a hotel, all very convenient and offering that simple comfort I also prefer.
And language was never an issue.