If people were to have a Bed and Breakfast say in PingTung near Kending, would it be possible to make money or would the money be like surplus money for retirees only? (Not enough to survive on and save)
I can’t imagine it would be very popular in a place like Kending, which is chockablock with eateries. Maybe it would be more successful in a more remote area that lacks restaurants. There are lots of guesthouses around Taiwan that give you cold rice porridge, salty eggs and pickled veggies for breakfast included in the room price – which is what the vast majority here have for breakfast. I don’t think fry-ups or continental breakfasts would be too popular.
I wouldn’t mind. But then, I would come once a year.
It’s a good idea, but you’d have to charge a fairly high price per night to stay alive. Remote areas would probably be your best bet as mentioned above, unless the quality of your food is outstanding and better then any eatery near your B&B. Another thing to consider is are you going to open the B&B in a concrete building or are you going to buy land and build a three story wood house? Are you aiming for service or look?
What about on the beach in Daxi?
Yeah, Daxi needs a bed and breakfast. You would be doing a roaring trade - and be the only game in town at least for the first few months.
Breakfast would have to be very different if you wanted to attract anyone besides foreigners. I think sao bin you tiao would be nice.
Please resist the temptation of installing karaoke.
Count average number of foreigners in Daxi at any average weekend, invest in banners at segue, invite Robert Storey over. All that should help.
Check the travel section at a bookstore. There are books and, more often, magazines devoted to the topic of homestays and bed and breakfasts.
Also, with the government’s push to dramatically increase the number of tourists, there may be money floating around to help get such places going.
I don’t think the restaurants around Kending would compete with the B&B or would it? How much are the hotels there? I think they would be the compeition. I guess now isn’t a good time because of SARS in any case. Maybe get some cheap land and build a B&B in southern PingTung? It’s really a friend of a friend who is taiwanese and is sick of the rat race.
Well, both, really. There are two types of hotels – on one hand, you have the places like the Regent, Cesar’s Palace and the Chateau, all of which offer B&B, and all of which provide a variety of breakfasts – local and Western, all you can eat buffet style. They typically charge at least NT$2,500 and up.
On the other hand, you have the cheaper guesthouse-type hotels that typically charge around NT$1,200 for a double room, no breakfast. People using such places generally take breakfast at a streetside breakfast bar, of which there are many in Kending.
So, you have competition from both ends of the scale.
I did see a pretty nice-looking small hotel/guesthouse further down the coast near the surfing beach, catering almost exclusively to surfers, but I don’t know if they do B&B.
Thanks Sandman!
Probably have to do more market research about the area near Kending.
What would be a good incentive to bring people in? I guess price and a good breakfast…maybe western style. European sasuages, eggs, toast and pancakes. And good coffee to start off your day!
If you get on a list of bed and breakfasts, then your brochure can be held at other B & Bs and vice versa. If you pick a popular destination, then people who are into that thing will surely visit your place. Typical visitors might be Japanese.
I’d favour such a place if the price was competitive – I actually prefer staying in smaller places, as long as they’re nice, but if the only place to get a western breakfast is a fancy hotel…
However, you’d really be narrowing your customer base if you did that, unless you could also provide Taiwanese breakfasts as well, so you’d better practice your rubber eggs, soggy toast, bright pink “ham” and bitter, watery, too-sweet coffee with palm oil creamer if you want to tap the local market. 
Is there a list of B&B’s in Taiwan?
I’ve recently done a couple of weekend trips with “the girlfriend”, after checking out some of those “B&B” magazines available from 7-11.
Actually, you won’t even need to buy the mags - just read them in the shop like everyone else…
So, we picked out a couple of places that we liked the look of, wrote down the phone numbers, and went out for our trip the following weekend. Basically, the places we stayed in (near JiuFen) were $1500/night (for 2 people), with breakfast included. The service was good, and the places were both very relaxing.
It was definitely worthwhile, as the mountains around JiuFen make a good weekend road trip.
We’re now looking for something in south Taiwan for our next trip.
Cheers,
The Big Babou
[quote=“The Big Babou”]I’ve recently done a couple of weekend trips with “the girlfriend”, after checking out some of those “B&B” magazines available from 7-11.
Actually, you won’t even need to buy the mags - just read them in the shop like everyone else…
So, we picked out a couple of places that we liked the look of, wrote down the phone numbers, and went out for our trip the following weekend. Basically, the places we stayed in (near JiuFen) were $1500/night (for 2 people), with breakfast included. The service was good, and the places were both very relaxing.
It was definitely worthwhile, as the mountains around JiuFen make a good weekend road trip.
We’re now looking for something in south Taiwan for our next trip.
Cheers,
The Big Babou[/quote]
Johnny five needs more input! Particularly about what was served for breakfast. This sounds like fun. I didn’t realize Taiwan even had bed and breakfasts.
They are called “Min Su”
Good info, Big Babou!
More details, please. I am looking for places like this, esp. near Taipei, for a quick getaway. NT$ 1500, with breakfast, doesn’t sound too dear.
I’ll check out some of those travel mags in the 7-Eleven, too.