Beitou Hot Spring Museum (北投溫泉博物館)

The experience

Built between 1911 and 1913 as the Hokuto Public Bathhouse and said to have been the largest bathhouse in East Asia, this Edwardian brick-and-weatherboard building later served as a police station and government offices before decaying under hot-spring corrosion. Saved by a local campaign, it was listed in 1995 and reopened on 31 October 1998 as Taiwan's first museum won by grassroots action. The ground floor holds the original brick bathing pools; the wooden upper floor carries six exhibition zones and a balcony.

The bathhouse that made Beitou a resort, rescued from demolition by its own neighbours.

What a membership adds.

Everything above is free: the name, the photo, the rating, the exact spot. What members get is the part you can't Google: the sourced insider tip for this place (what to order, when to go, what to skip), every day of your trips unlocked in full with the insider tip on every researched stop, and the concierge at full strength, answering with your own insider tips, no daily meter.