Donghai Lodge

For 880ntd, this place is almost full marks. It looked a bit shabby in the pictures, but it’s actually charming. The room was cool and very clean, and I slept well. Thank you!

The location worked really well for me, near the waterfront and with the bus stop for Taitung just around the corner. Chenggong is one of my Taiwan highlights, with its beautiful ocean and bridge, and I’d stay here again. The building has clearly seen better days. Hot water is available only at certain times, and the tap’s hot and cold directions are reversed. The mattress is pretty hard, which I liked. Some of the complaints I read were true, but this is Chenggong, not a big city, and the price makes the value fine. The owners treated me very well. Auntie hardly speaks English, but she was helpful and kind, and the family invited me to try some of their dinner. I’d read that there were no towels or toiletries, but I got a small towel and what I needed. All good.

Dinner at the recommended restaurant was cheap and delicious, and the woman who checked us in was lovely. The room rate was better than the other places available. But we were cycling from Hualien to Taitung and arrived desperate for hot showers. We didn’t know the hot water wouldn’t come on until later in the evening, and we couldn’t have waited anyway after a full day of cycling. We both had cold showers. Then came the mattress. It was so hard it felt like a concrete slab. Hard beds are painful enough for a side sleeper, and worse when your muscles already ache. I barely slept that night.

It was a pleasure staying here. The host was so friendly and a terrific cook, and the price was good, 800NT for a double bed room. My room was clean and nice, with its own bathroom and a view of the main street. The town is relatively big, too.