In the West, motels and motor inns are functional, cheap places located by the side of roads.
In populous Taiwan, motor hotels have more to offer -- they are also a convenient and safe place for privacy-conscious people who want a couple of hours of intimacy, although that side of the industry creates a negative image for some people.
No more.
Some motels have been designed with flamboyant and luxurious decors and their owners hope to subvert the established idea of what a motel should look like.
The leading player in this effort to shake up the industry is WeGo Motel (
Long lines of luxury sedans with black-tinted windows waiting to enter the motel have become a common sight on Valentine's Day and other special holidays.
"We want to make it an interesting place, rather than just a plain room that customers rent to stay overnight," said Timothy Hsu (
WeGo Taipei broke with tradition by constructing an 87-room facility on a 3,000 ping (9,900m2) plot of land when it could have built 600 rooms.
The motel's 87 rooms were then decorated based on six themes -- tropical recreation, luxury fashion, oriental style, modernism, theme style and visual arts, Hsu said.
A total of 32 different styles have been created -- which means customers would have to stay 32 times to see each one.
Hsu said that with a total investment of NT$430 million (US$12.7 million), WeGo Taipei places a great deal of attention on the entertainment features in each room, with karaoke and a DVD player, a second TV by the jacuzzi and 40 different stage lamps installed to create a special atmosphere.
"We even provide different kinds of condoms and lubricants by the bed," said the 45-year-old Hsu, who began his career in real estate some 20 years ago in Taoyuan.
"The spirit of the service sector is to help resolve problems for customers," Hsu said.
The customer-oriented strategy might sound like a cliche, but apparently Hsu and his management team have a deep understanding of how to meet clients' demands and even try to anticipate their customers' wants.
The motel's marketing strategy and merchandise planning have already born fruit, as its annual revenues topped NT$100 million and the original plan of breaking even within five years will be reached ahead of schedule, Hsu said.
Hsu proudly noted that due to the motel's product positioning -- "designed for couples in love" -- WeGo is rarely affected by outside forces and maintained a high occupancy rate even during the SARS crisis last year.
According to the Tourism Bureau, the occupancy rate for the nation's 86 international and local tourist hotels was 67.66 percent in August. Last year the rate nosedived to 22 percent in May -- due to the SARS epidemic -- before bouncing to 68.02 percent in August.
Hsu said WeGo's customer base is people aged between 25 and 40. He said the motel places a high priority on "sumptuousness and fashion," which helps differentiate it from its competitors and secure customer loyalty.
"Service operators have a big misunderstanding. They think the 40-to-50 year-old age group, with its a solid economic foundation, usually spends the most," Hsu said.
RSS