Where to stay in Alishan
Dafong Hotel 大峯度假山庄
Address: No. 46, Zhongzheng Village, Alishan, 605, Taiwan
中正村46号 (阿里山, 605)
Tel: +886 52679769
I choose this hotel for it's proximity to the Alishan Town Center. There's plenty of other hostels/homestays (Mingsu) around Alishan, but it's all about 1 hour bus ride to the town. Plus the frequency of the buses are once every hour.
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| entrance to the room |
Despite reading a lot of bad reviews on Tripadvisor, we still went ahead and book this hotel as it is one of the cheaper options at Alishan. Overall, we actually enjoyed our stay very much! The hotel is just about 5 mins walking distance to the town center and about 10 mins walking distance to the Alishan Scenic Train Station. Although, I had to climb up a very long flight of stairs up to the town center, it was worth the distance.
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| bedroom |
At check in, the rooms were not ready as it was still early. We left our backpacks at reception and asked about the trains and hikes we could take. The lady and gentleman at the reception were very friendly and hospitable. They gave great advice and were very willing to help! Their English weren't that good, so we assisted them to translate to another Thai guests.
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| sitting area |
Our room was on the second floor. There are pro and cons about our room being on the second floor, because the hotel doesn't have any lifts. If you have elderly or disabled companions, this is not the hotel for you. So, I was rather relived to know that I didn't have to climb so much. Also, being on the second floor meant that whatever goes on at reception, you could quite hear them. It was fine for me because we are out most of the day and by the time we got back, there will not be anyone at reception to check in. Noise was not really an issue.
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| tub |
In the bathroom, there's a small little sitting tub with steps. I though the bathroom might not be as clean as I expect it to be, but it was very clean! I was very pleased. I had a good time soaking in the hot tub after my hike!
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Hi, your blog is so helpful. Thks for that. Can I know where the bus station in Alishan of the SML _ Alishan bus? Near the dafong hotel? Thank you again.
ReplyDeleteHi! you can buy bus tickets at the big 7-11 near the bus park. it is about 5-10 mins walk to that 7-11.
DeleteHi Natasha. Thanks for the helpful info. Some questions to ask. Is Dafong Hotel easy to get to/close to Alishan(for sakura viewing and sunrise) ?
ReplyDeleteHi!! Yes! It's very convenient and you can either walk or take the train to view the Sakura around Alishan. You can even ask the hotel staff where's the best place to visit. We visited a little too early so the Sakura weren't in full bloom but we managed to catch some on Alishan! Good luck!
Deletehi
ReplyDeletecan i check with you the bus u took from sun moon lake to alishan, do you alight near to Dafong hotel?
also, the road to alishan...have many curvy turns??? will make 1 sick?
Hi Agnes,
DeleteThe bus alights at the tourist center, which is about 5-10 mins walk to Dafong hotel. The hotels are all located behind the big car/bus park, so will need to look for the stairs to lead you down to the rest of the hotels.
The road to Alishan was not that curvy. I do not get motion sickness, but i think it was alright. there will be some pit stops for you to alight and use the toilet and take pictures also.
hihi
ReplyDeletethanks for the info
Am thinking to stay 1 day in Dafong and another day at Fenqihu Hotel
do you think is nessacary?
coming from Sun moon Lake, what time arrive in Alishan? thinking 1st day at Alishan enough?
if 2nd day go to fenqihu, i need to bring all barang barang to walk around in fenqihu...like very ma fan
is there any place in fenqihu to put my luggage like alishan visitor centre whereby i can put for few hours?
from alishan to fenqihu how long is the journey? curvy road?
was thinking i want to take the train from fenqihu to chiayi
Hi Agnes,
DeleteWell, it really depends on your preference. Dafong hotel is very basic, though it was sufficient for me. It has hot water, a tub, comfy bed, affordable and is walking distance to almost all the important attractions on Alishan. If i were you, i'd rather not waste time packing my luggage and moving hotels cos that can take up half a day. You can just take the train to Fenqihu station and spend the day there.
We reached Alishan around lunch time. We checked in (room wasn't ready), dropped our bags off and went for lunch. We checked into the room only after lunch time. We went hiking that day itself, but remember to check what time is the last train, cos we missed it and had to hike back (though it was a very lovely hike, we took about 1.5 hours to hike back).
Sorry, I did not travel all the way to Fenqihu as I spent 1 day there only. I can't really advise on that! But judging from Google maps, i think you can take the scenic train to Fenqihu so you can make a day trip! Do check with the train station when you're there and let me know! :)
As for going back to the city, we took a private bus from 7-11. it was just slightly more expensive as compared to the public bus, but we didn't have to wait for a scheduled time and could leave immediately once the bus was full! We saved 2 hours from that route instead as a mini-bus was much faster than a regular public bus too.
All the best!