Wednesday Wall2Wall ☆ Hotels in Hoi An

What’s important to you when you chose a hotel? Location? Price? Decor? Breakfast? Service? Bed? For us, location is very important. I also like to stay at a hotel with a nice interior design, so I always look at photos before picking a place. Every time we get to a hotel, I get excited to see the interior of the hotel. I always check a bathroom of our room since I think that you can tell a lot about a hotel by checking its bathroom. Strange?

Why We Stayed At Two Hotels In Hoi An
We had to stay at two hotels in Hoi An, which we did not intend. The night we were leaving Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City to go to Hoi An by the overnight train, my husband received an email message from our hotel (Vinh Hung Riverside Resort) notifying us that they could not have us there on the first day as the room had a water issue. They put us in another hotel and all we got was that email, no discount or offer to apologize for the inconvenience.

I personally do not recommend Vinh Hung 2 hotel particularly in a sense that there are other options. There are heaps of hotels in Hoi An and I have no doubt that you can easily find something about the same or even better for less. Hoi An is a small town where you can walk the whole touristy area and hotels are everywhere. During the off-season, if you are not traveling with kids, you can just go to Hoi An and find a hotel.

Other People’s Experiences At Hotels In Hoi An
We met a very nice Swiss couple at a restaurant one night who told us that they arrived in Hoi An, looked for a hotel and found one for $15 a night and they said that the hotel had a nice bed with clean sheet, hot water, and is in a good location. My friend who went to Hoi An several years ago with her sister also stayed at a hotel for $15. In her case, she and her sister first stayed at a hotel with a $15 rate, then moved to another hotel that is more expensive for the second night, but it wasn’t any better, so she moved back to the original hotel with $15. So you get the picture of how much hotels are there.

Vinh Hung 2
Our room was equipped with a small tank of water heater (probably standard in Hoi An), which was enough for one person or maybe two to have a warm shower. So one of us had to take a cold shower. Taking a cold shower in January in Hoi An is a bit uncomfortable as it was chilly.

The room looked pretty with simple decor, but it smelled moldy in the room we stayed. Our room was on the first floor, facing the back street and was dark as buildings blocked the sun light, so maybe that’s why. My husband read in a Trip Advisor review that someone experienced bedbugs. One of our daughters woke up in the morning with a red rash on her right cheek that itched her, so it made me think of the review. The red rash went away after a couple of days, so no big deal.

At the front lobby, I saw a sign for their hotel rates: Standard Room 500,000 Dong ($25), Suite 700,000 Dong ($35). I went to the front desk to ask as we were paying $45 per night ($35 + $10 for the 3rd person in the room) for a Standard Room. The answer was that it was for Vietnamese people. Knowing that there are decent hotels in Hoi An that charge $15 per night for a room, I do not think this is even a bargain.

Positives
The good thing with this hotel is that it offered a decent breakfast. The bright side of this whole experience is that we got to see two areas of Hoi An (Hoi An is very small). Vinh Hung 2 is located near the lively area with many tailors and stores. The second hotel we stayed, Vinh Hung Riverside Resort, is close to the historical area.

Vinh Hung Riverside Resort
On the second day we moved to Vinh Hung Riverside Resort and stayed there for 2 nights. It is on the river and the hotel had a nice view. It’s also a short walk from the central tourist area. We, however, were surprised that they didn’t have much hot water, either.

I imagine Vinh Hung Riverside Hotel would be a fun place for the summer time. We could not take advantage of the charming facility that they have as it was winter and a bit chilly and all we did was to go back there to rest and sleep. For that I think it’s good enough to stay at a cheaper place that is in the center of Hoi An. However, it was definitely nice to stay there.

The breakfast they had was wonderful though! It was delicious. I love that the food and drinks were placed on boats. It is a neat design I’ve never seen and the way they designed the breakfast tables looked pretty.

Do I recommend this hotel to others? Yes.

The one thing that gave us a sour taste to our wonderful time in Hoi An was one small incident. We ordered a hotel shuttle service to go to the airport. When my husband made a reservation, he thought a regular size car (sedan) would be good enough for our small family, but the hotel insisted that he take a 7-person car for more space, which is $5 more. Hesitantly he accepted. The day we left, the car that looked like Honda Fit or Mazda 3 came to pick us up and there was no 3rd row. It was a hatchback that they called 7-person instead of an SUV with the 3rd row and they charge more for it. Classic.