Very unpleasant stay in Stone Minsu, Hualien

We would like to share our experience while staying at Stone Minsu, Hualien. We were there in April. We had in fact planned for a 3 night stay in Hualien but ended up couldn%26#39;t bear it anymore and decided to leave after spending two horrific nights there. We had great expectations for Hualien but it turned out that the stay had been the most unpleasant experience throughout our 2-week trip in Taiwan.

Yes, like many others, we were persuaded or I%26#39;d say ';coerced'; into staying at Stone by Mr. Lu Lai Fu, the cabby. We have booked him to bring us from Chingjing to Hualien. Along the journey he again and again asked us to stay at Stone Minsu, lowering the room price again and again by calling the minsu owner, Mdm Liu, coz we initially insisted to stick to our origninal plan. He had also tried to defame another minsu that we have originally booked before our trip. At first we thought that he was pretty kind to help us to fetch a good deal but later we had the feeling that he and the minsu owner were just putting up an act in front of us. We were too naive to give in to them in the end.

The minsu is far away from the city area or anything worth visitng and we had to rely on them totally to bring us here and there. We got to stick to their schedule and didn%26#39;t even have the chance to have a good meal at the night market. We were constantly reminded that, hey, you need to be quick you know coz the minsu owner had to go back to entertain other ppl.

Mr. Lu and Mdm Liu also persuaded us to try the ';ginger duck'; and said a lot of good things about it, like it%26#39;s a very famous dish, good for ladies etc etc. They said they will ';bring'; us there should we decide to try it. By instinct we thought that was suppose to be in a shop or restaurant but guess what, it was actually Mdm Liu (or probably her maid) cooking the duck in their own minsu! wah... can you believe it? we feel cheated!!

THe worst thing is the room that we have stayed in. On the first night, we were given quite a nice room (since they wanted to attract us to stay there) that%26#39;s why we didn%26#39;t move out right away on the next morning. But on the 2nd day, Mdm Liu asked us to shift to another room, can you imagine what room she gave us? It%26#39;s the room on the first floor, next to the public toilet, next to the staircase where everybody got to use!! Also, there%26#39;s a BBQ pit and the clothes hanging area just outside! The public area and dining hall are also beside us! We heard ppl chatting and did not have any privacy at all! I am a light sleeper and couldn%26#39;t sleep at all that night...

On the very next day, we told the lady that we wanted to leave. We felt such a relief while we were on the train to our next stop, Yilan. It was like successfully escaping from a terrible place!!

The above is our personal true experience. Thanks for reading and hope that it helps in your trip planning!

Very unpleasant stay in Stone Minsu, Hualien

esther, thanks for sharing, so sorry u had such a nasty experience.There has been reports of this minsu owner ganging up with the cabbie in some previous posts too.

Very unpleasant stay in Stone Minsu, Hualien

Correct me if I am wrong but I thought the owner of Stone Minsu is actually a good friend of Mr Chen rather than Mr Lu?? Or are they like one big happy family afterall??

Mr Lu would have recommended Rose Garden intead right? Pls enlighten.

Oh I%26#39;m so sorry folks. The name of the cabby I mentioned in my post is Mr. CHEN GUANG FA, not Mr. Lu Lai Foo. I don%26#39;t know Mr. Lu but have only seen his name in the forum. Is there any way to correct my post? Sorry Mr. Lu for my unintentional mistake. Apologies...

So U%26#39;re back, Esther. Sorry to hear of how things turned out for U. Hope the rest of yr time in Taiwan had been a blast! :-)

Appreciate U making the Mr-Chen-not-Mr-Lu clarification too. Thks for sharing.

TA :-)

TaipeiDreams.com

Esther,

I think you%26#39;ve seen Mr Lu%26#39;s name in the forum alot of times. That%26#39;s why you keep mentioning his name. But anyway, forumers have been posting that Chen Guang Fa %26amp; Stone Minsu have been ganging up. Don%26#39;t believe Mr Lu is like that cos I ever booked him before and he is really a nice person. Even though he knows the owner, he won%26#39;t cheat you or anything. Just like when I was in Hualien, my gf %26amp; I were so hungry as we are rushing to take train to Hualien and we skip our breakfast. We told him we are very hungry and he brings us to a stall that is only the 2 of us. My gf %26amp; I were thinkin, only the two of us???? Later then we came to know that alot of people came in but all is take-away. He even talk to the owner and everything like they are really friends. He keeps givin us drinks and even pour the soup for us. After our breakfast, we asked him in the cab if he %26amp; the stall owner are friends and he didn%26#39;t deny. He said that he brings alot of tourists to eat there and you know what, the bento is really so full and nice. Try asking him to bring you there if you%26#39;re hungry in the morning.

so it%26#39;s not me getting senile afterall! Yeah, when I read the post i thought it should be Mr Chen too.

lolx.... i oso guess its him anyway....

oh no thats bad. i have booked my stay with them in dec... wonder if i should change?

if u%26#39;ve booked chen guang fa, i feel u shd change la.... even thou sum forumers here sae its gd.... stil feel mr lu is nicer

:s my friends and i have also booked our stay with stone minsu in jan.. anyone who has been to stone minsu recently that can share their experience?