The Governor-General's Railway Bureau designated lodging houses throughout the island. The most luxurious was the Taiwan Railway Hotel, which was on the site of what is now the Asiaworld Department Store building across from the Taipei Railway Station. Only Japanese officials and a few Taiwanese gentry could stay there. When famed cultural figure Lin Hsien-tang came north on business he often stayed there.
當時總督府鐵道部在各地皆有特約觀光旅館，其中以位於台北車站對面、現址為大亞百貨的「台灣鐵道大飯店」最為宏偉，然其價格高昂，只有日本高官及少數台灣仕紳有能力居住，當年林獻堂北上洽公時，最常寄居的便是這家豪華飯店。