Fenchihu Hotel (嘉義奮起湖大飯店) - Exquisite Double Room @ Fenqihu Railway Town [Chiayi, Taiwan]

I couldn't afford to stay more than one night at Alishan as the hotel rates were exorbitantly priced; therefore, I chose to travel to the railway town of fenqihu, where I had a nice time yet didn't manage to stay the night back in 2023. 

After searching around on the web, I noticed there were limited choices for accommodation and many appeared to be minsu (a Taiwanese B&B) that I don't prefer. So, I opted for a familiar one; Fenchihu Hotel (嘉義奮起湖大飯店)! 

Of course had to take a photograph with their oversized railway metal bento box! Just in case some of you don't remember, I actually had the hotel's signature railway bento in 2023. 

Stepping in to the main lobby that's super old school; red welcome door mat, an aquarium at the side, and those large chairs carved from a single block of wood. Again, I am no stranger to this area since my railway bento lunch was had two floors door. p.s. this was the third floor.

As expected, a deluge of information which wasn't that challenging for us since we understand Mandarin. So the above was the room information, including use of the control, WIFI password, reminder that check out timing would be at 11am, and most importantly, hot water for showering was provided at only between 6.00-11.00am and 5.00-11.00pm. 

Should you wish, you could also book for the hotel's set dinner. We didn't as I had already pencilled dinner at another eatery. It was closed, unfortunately, and our meal was settled at 奮起湖樂樂花園餐飲.

Fenchihu Hotel also offered complimentary, local guided tours around the railway town! Two timings to choose from; 8.30am and 3.00pm (guide would be off on Tuesdays and Wednesdays). There was another set of timing; 5.30pm/7.30pm which would only operate in May-June and November-December.

We actually took the opportunity to participate in both the 8.30am and 3.00pm tours, with a friendly local guide, Shujuan! You may refer to the following links for more photos! 8.30am Complimentary Guided Tour and 3.00pm Complimentary Guided Tour.

Got our traditional key! 

A real key, not card! 

Our room was located on the same floor as the reception counter, which was good as there's more people walking around; if not, I guess it might be quite eerie since it looked like a pretty old building. 

Some levels were not even lighted! 

However, corridor was brightly illuminated. 

But, why was there a ladder across a few floors?! 

Room 307

Here's our Exquisite Double Room; at 16 square meters, I thought it felt a lot bigger! With a futon mattress right in the middle, on top of tatami mats, you would be mistaken to assume that that's all to the room! 

There's another corner with a relaxed space for some relaxing tea session. As the railway town was still in the highlands, air-conditioner would not be required. However, the hotel provisioned for dehumidifier and fan. 

Photographs for your reference. 

With such a sophisticated tea set, we definitely had to give it a try by making our own tea, like professional tea connoisseurs! Unboxing the tea, I was surprised to see a vacuumed pack that was full of highland tea leaves. 

A most enjoyable setting; sipping hot tea, in the cold. 

p.s. tea was bitter and astringent. 

Window view from our room.

Nothing much to be impressed. 

Now the ensuite bathroom! Basic with no one-time-use toilet amenities, and there's no wet-dry segregation, which I dislike although I can still accept since the bathrooms in my apartment is much smaller.

The toilet roll holder reminded me of a public toilet... And good to see a hair dryer; inbuilt ones are usually a tad weak (and this is same same) but better than nothing.

The elephant in the room; the traditional wooden tub that was said to be made of cypress! Despite the misgiving of what seemed to be mould, I did soak in so that I can experience the joy of old school Japanese bath. Shiok! 

Breakfast

It was mentioned in the booking portal of Trip.com that the hotel included two great breakfasts. What I didn't expect was NT$100 voucher per person to be spent at the 7-11 convenience store next to Fenchihu Hotel. 

Can't say the breakfast was great even though we did have a greater variety to choose from. For me, it's just a no brainer to get something warm; hence, a can of hot coffee and microwavable prepacked sausage cheese bun.

Railway Bento Box

That simple breakfast from 7-11 convenience store failed to satisfy my tummy and I decided to order a railway bento from Fenchihu Hotel two hours later! Menu as above and prices had yet to change from 2023. 

Seating in front of the reception where I could have my second breakfast. Alex had a small tummy and was happy to just watch me eat. According to some friends, they liked seeing my facial expression when I am very happy with my food.

Before and after. My T-bone grilled pork bento.

Yes, I am satisfied.

Others

This was actually a chance encounter as this section wasn't being marketed and I personally thought it was a hidden gem that could have been further polished. 

Check out the sheer number of clogs on display, and they were more like the Taiwanese version of ema plaques, that are commonly used for wishes! I was most impressed with the monstrous-sized clogs; fit for the feet of a giant! 

There's even a beautiful wooden replica of the fenqihu train station! Sadly, there weren't much informative explanation and I feel that the hotel should consider including this "wooden clog pavilion" as part of their complimentary tours. 

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Frankly, I enjoyed the stay at Fenchihu Hotel. Blanket in the room was thick and the mattress was cozy! Despite not having any radiator, the room didn't feel cold. And I love the bathtub which was so inline with the natural, wooden feel of the room. The complimentary guided tours were also a nice surprise! 

What Alex found disturbing, however, was the lingering smell of bamboo shoots in the room. p.s. it was okay for me as the smell was quite faint. 

Address

No 178-1, Zhuqi Township,

Chiayi County, Taiwan

Map

As above.

Website

https://www.fenchihu.com.tw/

Pricing

Exquisite Double Room - S$110.61

(booked via Trip.com)

8.30am Complimentary Guided Tour by Fenchihu Hotel @ Taiwan

After joining the informative afternoon guided tour organized by the hotel the day before, we decided to take part in the morning session, which shall bring us to another route in the railway town of fenqihu.

Brought to the railway station by Shujuan (the same guide who brought us around the day before), we noticed this staircase beyond the tracks. Some inconspicuous that I would have thought this might just be a passage for residents who were living nearby.

But no, this was one of the attractions for the town and there's even a platform built to accommodate visitors. Given its proximity, I am not surprised that visitors would throng this place, except that you wouldn't likely know about this place! 

Some bloggers were talking about this but the percentage wasn't high. Maybe it has to do with the stars  of this attraction; the stands of bamboo which didn't appear any different from those I saw in other parts of Taiwan.

The wow expression came only after you put your hand around the bamboo! Even though it looked round, the fingers could feel the perceived squareness from the rounded edges! Mind boggling; like what you see isn't what you get! 

Video for reference. 

According to Shujuan, this interesting bamboo species came from Sichuan but unlike the normal bamboos, their bamboo shoots don't taste nice and the bamboo was also not good as materials as it wasn't thick enough. 

Fenqihu Railway Station.

I can't remember what Shujuan mentioned as my attention was drawn to the back dog at the background. It reminded me of a stray dog that the pet store I used to work at was hosting when it got severely injured. 

Both sides of the railway tracks.

This tree caught my eyes for two reasons; the yellow flowers and the fact they were bunched up like bananas! On second thought, they also looked like Buddha's hand fruits! 

Shujuan being Shujuan - she very happily shared with us things that can be eaten! Frankly, it was educational although my tiny brain can't remember what it was; I think somewhere along the line of highlands kailan. 

I guess the above would be the vegetables.

Walking down a path that I wouldn't expect to lead to a trail built for visitors. Well, Shujuan is a local guide and it helpeds that she knew her way around.

Beautiful splashes of red!

Not sakura although it's known as mountain sakura. 

Blue sky above us and this made me jealous as I can imagine how beautiful and walkable Alishan would be right now! Just a day earlier, both Alex and I had to endure rain, and hence couldn't complete the trails I had planned. 

Again, the company of the black dog! 

For a layman, this road was flanked on both sides by wild vegetation. I know some vegetables but as an urbanite, what we usually see in supermarkets are usually bundled and we might not recognize them in their original, before farmed form.

Those vegetation I thought was wild, were actually 龙 须 菜, and what appeared to be public property was actually private as there's a sign stating that those who steal the vegetables would be subject to a fine of NT$1,000! 

Onwards to the cedar boardwalk!

Cedar differs from the cypress trees we saw along the trails we took at Alishan and strangely, the boardwalk didn't feel exceptional, unlike the Japanese cypress trees at Alishan.

"Needle-like leaves, and cones that release winged seeds" from the cedar trees. 

Cedars are known for their aroma and a felled tree just felt like a lot of money can be made from it! From the "cut", I couldn't make out whether the tree snapped or it was chopped. 

More photographs taken on the boardwalk.

This panel talked about the bird's nest ferns, which didn't make an impact on us since we learn about them in schools, since they were common in rainforests, which we also have in Singapore.

Compared to the guided tour the day before, we had other guests with us; a couple from Taichung who drove to Alishan and Fenqihu for a visit.

We started chatting about other stuff like nearby hot springs in Taichung, which we would be going in a few days' time, the expressways to take (as we will be self driving later that day) etc! 

Out of the boardwalk! 

Mountain sakura right in front of us. I remember reading about the petals of sakura and the bell-like, downward facing flowers were definitely not sakura. Sorry, I like to confirm things. 

Power poles were still common in some parts of Taiwan, especially in the mountainous areas. What's interesting from the above was that the power pole was made of wood! Isn't that a fire hazard?

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Click HERE for 11 Days, 10 Nights Taiwan Trip: Summarised Itinerary for Chiayi Alishan (嘉义阿里山) - Kaohsiung (高雄) - Tainan (台南) - Taichung (臺中)