“Are you a uniquely creative person, someone with a brush in their left hand and a ruler in their right? If so, come help us rewrite the book on Taiwanese design.”

The ad, run by the Hotel Day+ Corporation, sought designers. The ad neglected to mention that Chiayi natives would receive special consideration.

The high ceilings (top) at Hotel Day+ recall the building’s previous incarnation as the Yimei Opera House.

Tower Tai is the chairman of Chan Yee Construction, the parent of Hotel Day+. Now 40 years old, Tai went into business for himself at the age of 23, focusing almost exclusively on ­Chiayi property development until the hotel sector caught his eye.

Chan Yee expanded into the hotel business in 2010 with the purchase of the old Yi­mei Opera House on ­Chiayi’s Chui­yang Road. Tai laid the foundation for his hotel-industry ambitions by renovating the building, which had been derelict for more than a decade. In the project’s early stages, a number of people tried to persuade Tai either to work with an established hotel management firm or to sell the building outright as soon as renovations were complete. After making inquiries and holding consultations, he instead came to the conclusion that if he could adopt someone else’s model, other people would eventually be able to copy his. He therefore resolved to form his own management team to handle everything from market research and business planning to licensing and operations. The team felt its way around for a bit, slowly overcame challenges, and eventually raised the curtain on their brand new hotel.

The 110-room Hotel Day+ is decorated throughout with artwork and items that connect it to its location. It has a tall, bright lobby; an enormous front desk modeled on Taiwan’s giant cypresses (recalling ­Chiayi’s history as a logging town); a cherry-blossom motif behind the desk (symbolizing ­Ali­shan’s blessings); a generous lightwell that pierces multiple floors (bringing to mind the old opera house); and corridors lined with black-and-white photographic plates of everyday life in ­Chiayi (reminding visitors that the city itself is worth exploring).

Hotel Day+ is a traveler’s best friend.

Business was slow when the hotel first opened, but its reputation grew as word spread via blogs and word of mouth.

As of the start of its second year in business, travelers on self-directed tours account for 70% of its business versus just 30% from tour groups.

Tai explains that the hotel has positioned itself to attract self-directed travelers with vision and that the focus on self-directed travelers offers greater stability. The management team hopes to make the hotel stay an enjoyable part of guests’ travel experience in its own right, thereby creating still more business opportunities.

In an effort to encourage travel to ­Chiayi, the hotel has also introduced programs aimed at bringing ­Chiayi natives living elsewhere back for a visit, and others oriented around eco-travel. It has also begun providing guests with walking maps showing the locations of restaurants selling shredded turkey over rice (a ­Chiayi specialty), and detailing points of interest such as the Arts Site of the ­Chiayi Railway Warehouse, independent bookshops, and koji pottery galleries.

­Chiayi has more of a laid-back, small-town feel than Tai­nan, which has seen its popularity with tourists soar in recent years. ­Chiayi also boasts incredible scenery: it rises at the feet of the majestic Central Mountain Range and its bustling downtown is just a 10-minute drive from peaceful mountain forests.

The emergence of Hotel Day+ has caused the hospitality industry to stand up and take note of ­Chiayi. In early 2012, Pan Shi-yuen, chairman of the Pan Pacific group, told Tai he was interested in buying. Ultimately, the two reached an agreement whereby Pan would buy Hotel Day+ for NT$320 million, then lease it back to the Hotel Day+ Corporation, which would continue to operate it. Under the agreement, Pan would also donate all the income from the lease to charity.

The high ceilings (top) at Hotel Day+ recall the building’s previous incarnation as the Yimei Opera House.

The company is now working on developing its own branded chain of hotels with a particular focus on ensuring that each new branch has its own distinctive identity rooted in the character of its locale. To that end, the team is going out of its way to make each one available to groups of artists to display their work.

In fact, the company sponsored the first solo exhibition by the now deceased Xiao Bing­huang in 2011. (The artist, a ­Chiayi native, had been fighting cancer.) Hotel Day+ head designer ­Huang Wei­wei was a good friend of the artist’s and a fellow native of Xin­gang Township. ­Huang pitched the show to Tai, and received his wholehearted support. Chan Yee Construction covered the exhibition’s costs, helped organize many years’ worth of sculptures and watercolors for the show, and even assisted with the artist’s notes on his pieces. Ultimately exhibited in both the Xin­gang Cultural Center and Hotel Day+, Xiao’s work received an enthusiastic reception.

Tai’s takeaway from his expansion into the hotel business has been that every day brings new challenges. Lately, he’s actually been more consumed by his hotel sideline, which now employs more than 100 people, than his core business. In spite of all the extra hours of work it has entailed, he feels that the new business has given him a better feel for the rhythms of life.

As the patriarch of his hotel business, Tai goes out of his way to take care of his employees, giving them eight days of leave per month (two more than the hospitality industry standard), and four days of paid vacation every year. His motivations aren’t entirely altruistic, however. He says that encouraging his workers to recharge their batteries helps them find more creative ways to inspire his guests.

The high ceilings (top) at Hotel Day+ recall the building’s previous incarnation as the Yimei Opera House.

The high ceilings (top) at Hotel Day+ recall the building’s previous incarnation as the Yimei Opera House.