We stumbled upon this sweet little B&B while searching for accommodations in Hualien and Taroko Gorge last week. We left our hotel search to the last minute and ended up booking our rooms the night before we left. Furthermore, most of our accommodation excursions in Taiwan never turn out the way we expect them to, so we felt more than a little anxious pulling into Hualien without knowing anything about King 13 B&B.
To our great delight, King 13 B&B turned out to be a lovely surprise. We were more than satisfied with our stay there.
The building itself is an odd shape, but the rooms and dining area are tastefully decorated, and the effort that has gone into making the exterior beautiful did not go unnoticed. We really liked the multi-frame windows and the beautiful fish pond outside the B&B. The dining area is very inviting and was softly lit in the evening with music and a house barista/bartender on call. Several guests were seated downstairs enjoying the free wi-fi when we walked in.
Our rooms were located on the top floor and to get to them we had to ride a two-man elevator that was slower than the hills. Seriously, I was able to walk up five flights of stairs before the elevator arrived and I did it without breaking a sweat. And I don’t do stairs! Still, the elevator and charm lent a certain charm to the experience and we didn’t mind the walk-up.
Elevator aside, once we got in our rooms I think we were all happy to close the doors and relax. John and I had the VIP Queen Room on the top floor, which included a soft, comfortable bed, a red velvet couch, French wall paper, a full bathroom and a giant TV with English movie channels. Simply put, it was a great room! My parents had the room next to us and they had just as much space with a bathroom half the size of ours.
Breakfast was a simple affair: toast, fruit, corn soup and coffee in the dining area on the first floor. The swank little night time chill out zone that we had walked through the night before had been transformed into a sunny front parlor with long, velvet curtains, a beautiful little chandelier and some truly terrific pop culture memorabilia to give the room a kitschy feel to it.
Staying at King B&B was a really nice experience and it has moved to the top of my list for Hualien hotels. Book it on Agoda, and you can nab a comfty room for yourself for between $52 and $65USD per night.
King 13 B&B, Hualien, Taiwan
