Onsen Papawaqa
The Onsen Papawaqa in Tai’an, Miaoli County, is a forceful work of modernist architecture directly overlooking the Wenshui riverbed. Its grey-hue exposed-concrete exterior walls, proudly and boldly showcased, echo the colors of the exposed cliff rock on the valley’s opposite side. Inside, two additional interior-décor elements are wood and stone, also chosen to echo the surrounding natural environment.
The key attraction here is, of course, the hot-spring soaking. Each room faces the river through floor-to-ceiling glass, with a window-side Japanese-style in-floor stone-slab tub. “The extensive public-area spa facilities are outside the main building; there are separate nude bathing areas for males and females, a non-nude mixed bathing area, and a wonderful cool-temperature narrow swimming pool that runs the entire main building’s length between building and riverside bluff-edge.” The evening starry-sky viewing is scintillating. In the midst of all this is a friendly, breezy thatch-roof open-air bar.
Both restaurants, on the 5th and 6th floors (the top floors), have eyrie-like views of the river before and mountain behind. The complimentary Chinese/Western buffet breakfast is taken in the 5th-floor Running Water Restaurant, which has a laddered spatial design evoking the river’s cascading waters. Lunch and dinner are served in the 6th-floor Flying Cloud Restaurant; the cuisine is Chinese, with strong Hakka and indigenous infusions, along with Western elements. Locally sourced ingredients are stressed. The Dongpo pork and sesame-oil chicken are especially good. (Rooms start at NT$7,500)
Add: No. 58, Yuandun, Jinshui Village, Tai’an Township, Miaoli County
(苗栗縣泰安鄉錦水村圓墩58號)
Tel: (037) 941-777
Website: www.papawaqa.com.tw
![The lobby of Papawaqa](https://taiwaneverything.cc/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/31-1.png)
The lobby of Papawaqa
![Double room](https://taiwaneverything.cc/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/32-1.png)
Double room
![Bathroom with hot-spring bathtub](https://taiwaneverything.cc/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/35-1.png)
Bathroom with hot-spring bathtub
![Hot-spring bathing in private bathroom](https://taiwaneverything.cc/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/36-1.png)
Hot-spring bathing in private bathroom
![Outdoor hot-spring area](https://taiwaneverything.cc/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/33-1.png)
Outdoor hot-spring area
![Male nude hot-spring bathing area](https://taiwaneverything.cc/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/29-1.png)
Male nude hot-spring bathing area
![Female nude hot-spring bathing area](https://taiwaneverything.cc/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/30-1.png)
Female nude hot-spring bathing area
![Outdoor pool](https://taiwaneverything.cc/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/34-1.png)
Outdoor pool
![The pool in the evening](https://taiwaneverything.cc/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/42-1.png)
The pool in the evening
![Flying Cloud Restaurant](https://taiwaneverything.cc/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/37-1.png)
Flying Cloud Restaurant
![Chinese cuisine, with strong Hakka and indigenous infusions](https://taiwaneverything.cc/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/38-1.png)
Chinese cuisine, with strong Hakka and indigenous infusions
![](https://taiwaneverything.cc/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/39-1.png)
![](https://taiwaneverything.cc/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/41-1.png)
![](https://taiwaneverything.cc/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/40-1.png)
Buffet breakfast at Running Water Restaurant
![](https://taiwaneverything.cc/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/44-1.png)
![](https://taiwaneverything.cc/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/45-1.png)
![](https://taiwaneverything.cc/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/46-1.png)
About the author
![](https://taiwaneverything.cc/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/20-2-150x150.jpg)
Rick Charette
A Canadian, Rick has been resident in Taiwan almost continually since 1988. His book, article, and other writings, on Asian and North American destinations and subjects—encompassing travel, culture, history, business/economics—have been published widely overseas and in Taiwan. He has worked with National Geographic, Michelin, APA Insight Guides, and other Western groups internationally, and with many local publishers and central/city/county government bodies in Taiwan. Rick also handles a wide range of editorial and translation (from Mandarin Chinese) projects.