Lishan Guesthouse (梨山賓館) is scheduled to be reopened in July for a trial operation, the Tourism Bureau said yesterday.
The guesthouse was used exclusively by the late Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and it later served as accommodation for those on hiking tours in the Lishan area.
Chu Chuen-wei (朱傳緯), director of Tri-Mountain National Scenic Area Administration, said the guesthouse began operations in 1971. It is one of three buildings in the nation featuring the architectural style of a Chinese palace.
PHOTO: TSENG HUNG-JU, TAIPEI TIMES
He said the number of tourists staying at the guesthouse dropped drastically after central Taiwan was devastated by the 921 Earthquake in 1999 and it suspended operations in 2004 after being damaged by mudflows triggered by Typhoon Mindulle.
Chu said the bureau spent two and half years renovating the guesthouse at a cost of about NT$100 million.
He said the bureau had decided to outsource the operation of the guesthouse to a private contractor under the operate-transfer model.
The number of tourists in the Lishan area has grown steadily from about 216,623 in 2009, 306,618 in 2010 to 524,746 last year, Chu said.
Based on the contractor’s plans, the 110 rooms that originally existed will be consolidated into 98 guest rooms. The facility will contain four parts — the lobby, the main building, the house used by Chiang and the secondary building.
Specifically, the house used by Chiang will be renovated into a suite 92.5m2 in size, containing a living room and bedroom. It will cost NT$15,000 per night.
“The furniture inside the Chiang’s guesthouse was destroyed by the mudflow,” said Liu Jui-ching (劉瑞卿), a section chief with the bureau. “The only thing left is the fireplace, which still works.”
The contractor said that a regular room in Lishan Guesthouse will cost NT5,000 per night, adding that customers would receive a 50 percent discount on weekdays and a 30 percent discount on national holidays during the trial period.
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