aussiedreamer

So, we've got Siem Reap sorted........... The Golden Temple Hotel & the Mekong Cruise booked & also our stay in Sapa...........Chapa Gardens Boutique Hotel.

Now we have to sort out HCMC & Hanoi, both will be for 3 nights in March, we are two couples. We enjoy being in walking distance to interesting places to eat, shop & sight see. We are getting a bit confused re areas in these two places.

We like a good level of comfort, lets say 4* and wondering if around the $100 per night per room will get us something good? Siem Reap is $114 & Sapa is $80 so don't want to blow the budget too much. But location is important. Any thoughts?
Thanks as always
AD

sf7307

The Hanoi Elegance Diamond is a wonderful hotel -- the rooms are roomy and very nicely designed, excellent bathrooms, the price very much in your budget, the staff fantastic, the breakfasts very good, and in a very good location, just a couple of blocks from the lake. If you're interested, be aware that the room is "a room", the "junior suite" is a bigger room, and the "executive suite" is yet a bigger room than that (none of them is actually a suite). Highly recommended.

aussiedreamer

Thats great thanks I'll check it out right now.

aussiedreamer

???? indiatravels ????

sf7307 that looks perfect, I've emailed for availability, fingers crossed.

Much thanks.

qwovadis

priceline.com betterbidding.com works well for 5 stars

from $50 everywhere for me Priceline HK also...

Best deals RECEBT honest reviews www.booking.com

www.asiarooms.com www.otel.com best for me for no bid.

Careful LOTS of troll/tout poo on your thread

Do careful research never waire money always insuremytrip.com

qwovadis

www.priceline.com.hk great deals

Intercontinental.com Sofitel 2 great ones based on budget

aussiedreamer

Still open for ideas for HCMC???

jcasale

You will love the Diamond Elegance. We are there right now and it is fabulous. Great location and very attentive staff. The rooms are very comfortable - the beds are the best we have had in a long time.

For HCMC we have booked at the Sanouva. Got good reviews on Trip Advisor - can't tell you yet what it is like. Will be there in about a week.

sf7307

Jacks ale, I saw your post about the airport pickup - have you told the front desk?

aussiedreamer

sf7307.....woh what great customer service, I had a phone call yesterday to confirm dates and some other things they were quoting for us. Very impressed.

Thanks jcasale, great to hear.

We had also been looking at a Halong Bay Cruise and two nights in Sapa. The hotel has suggested we do our one night Halong Bay cruise with Paradise Cruise and the Livitrans Express carriage,for the train to Sapa. Any thoughts on these two additions?

aprillilacs

We stayed at the Sanouva in Ho Chi Minh City -- a nice hotel, well-located closed to restaurants and the places most tourists want to visit. There are many other hotels on the same street. The staff are very helpful. Our room was on the small side (one side of the bed was against the wall)but quite comfortable. Nice bathroom, good view from our 7th-floor room. Breakfast is served in the lobby and can get busy, but allows a nice opportunity to chat with the people at tables next to you. We are staying there again for a night after we leave Cambodia, and have booked a slightly larger room ($65).

On Halong Bay we went with Dragon Pearl 1 (1 night). The same company has 2 other boats. Loved it! Would do it again for sure, but would stay 2 nights if the weather was as good as it was for our trip a couple of weeks ago.

Our train ride from Sapa to Hanoi was on the Fanxipan Express carriage (we had all 4 berths, which made the ride as comfortable as it can get). The train is the same--the only difference is what car you book. I imagine the Livitrans Express is about the same as the one we were in. Sapa was cool (in both senses of the word) despite being overrun with tourists and ethnic women trying to sell things to them (us). Worth the trip, though we were very happy to have experienced some of the more off-the-beaten-path areas of the Northwest as well.

aprillilacs

By the way, we are currently staying at the Golden Temple Hotel in Siem Reap. We really like it here--a small hotel, 4 floors, lovely small pool, extra special service, free massage, helpful booking service for tours of the area, international clientele, excellent restaurant. Our standard room on the 2nd floor is $58 a night. Only drawback is that the room faces the hostel next door, which is quiet enough, but it means we can't really leave our curtains open all the time like we prefer. I think a room facing the pool on the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th floor would be really nice (though more expensive, of course). The hotel is on a busy street walking distance (or a $1-2 tuk-tuk ride) from the main tourist part of town--a nice location though you can hear the traffic from the pool (muted somewhat by the waterfall at one end of the pool). Would stay here again for sure.

aussiedreamer

Thanks aprillilacs, great to hear. We have actually booked pool view rooms, so thats good to know. I'll be waiting for your T/R ;-)