Rough Guide to Vietnam - Jan Dodd [57]
Ngoc Minh 283/11-13 Pham Ngu Lao 08/3837 6407, ngocminh.hcm@gmail.com. Located in a narrow alley and tucked away from the honking horns on Pham Ngu Lao, this place has a range of competitively-priced rooms, all with a/c, cable TV and wi-fi. US$11–20
Orient 274-276 De Tham 08/3920 3993, www.orienthotel.vn. Decent mini-hotel with small but comfy rooms and friendly, helpful staff, right in the heart of the budget district. US$11–20
Que Huong–Liberty 4 265 Pham Ngu Lao 08/3836 4556, www.libertyhotels.com.vn. Run by the reliable Liberty group, this place offers stylish, well-equipped rooms in the budget district, with a decent buffet breakfast served in its ninth-floor restaurant. US$76–US$151 and over
Sen 82 Le Lai 08/3925 3873, senhotel82@yahoo.com. This recently-renovated place has bright, spacious rooms equipped with a/c, cable TV and wi-fi. US$21–50
Tram Anh 185/24 Pham Ngu Lao 08/3837 1004, tramanhhotel@yahoo.com. Located in a narrow alley away from traffic noise, this place has twenty decent-sized rooms, all with a/c and cable TV, plus there’s free internet access. US$11–20
Tu Do 267–269 Pham Ngu Lao 08/3836 7345, 08/3836 8171. This mini-hotel with thirty rooms is an attractive mid-range choice; all rooms have a/c and cable TV; some rooms have bathtubs. US$11–20
Vinh Guesthouse 269 De Tham 08/3836 8585, 08/3920 8127. Located at the heart of the action on De Tham, this tiny place has just a few fan and a/c rooms, plus a $4 dorm at the top of a seemingly endless staircase. US$10 and under
Ho Chi Minh City and around | Accommodation |
West of De Tham
All the following hotels and guesthouses are marked on the map "Ho Chi Minh City".
Equatorial 242 Tran Binh Trong 08/3839 7777, www.equatorial.com. This palatial hotel offers very comfortable rooms with the full gamut of facilities. It has a pool on the 4th floor as well as a gym, sauna and beauty salon, plus an excellent restaurant (""). US$151 and over
Four Roses 790/5 Nguyen Dinh Chieu 08/3832 5895, roseminne@hcm.vnn.vn. Located in no-man’s-land between Cho Lon and the city centre, the Four Roses is full of character. Set in a tranquil garden bordered by bougainvillea, it has just six immaculately clean, pleasantly furnished rooms all with balconies. Family-run with a distinctly French flavour, it offers the perfect antidote to hectic Ho Chi Minh City; there’s a beauty salon in the basement (the owner is a beautician) and meals can also be rustled up on request. US$11–30
Metropole 148 Tran Hung Dao 08/6295 8944, www.metropolesaigon.com. This is a sedate and friendly 74-room hotel, worth considering for its business facilities, modest pool and well-turned-out rooms with 24hr room service. US$76–US$151 and over
Windsor Plaza 18 An Duong Vuong 08/3833 6688, www.windsorplazahotel.com. It may be a short distance from the city centre in district 5, but the Windsor has a lot going for it. The rooms are luxurious and most have fantastic views, and there are good shopping, entertainment and dining options in the same building (see " Greater Ho Chi Minh City"). US$151 and over
Ho Chi Minh City and around |
The City
Ho Chi Minh City – or Thanh Pho Ho Chi Minh, to give it its full Vietnamese title – is divided into 24 districts, though tourists rarely travel beyond districts One, Three and Five. In addition, an increasing number of expats reside in Phu My Hung, aka South Saigon, in district Seven – a squeaky-clean suburb that wouldn’t look out of place in Singapore, making quite a contrast to the rest of this seething metropolis. The city proper hugs the west bank of the Saigon River, and its central area, District One, nestles in the hinge formed by the confluence of the river with the silty ooze of the Ben Nghe Channel; traditionally the French Quarter of the city, this area is still widely known as Saigon. Dong Khoi is its delicate backbone, and around