Fodor's Expert Review Huynh Thuy Le Ancient House

This house is famous for being the home of Huynh Thuy Le, upon whom French novelist Marguerite Duras based the title character of The Lover, a 1984 semiautobiographical book about a schoolgirl's love affair with a rich Chinese man. The house, built in 1895 by a wealthy Chinese family, was used as a government building for many years (which meant the 1992 film The Lover was shot at another colonial house in Can Tho). But it's been restored reasonably faithfully—without the original gold leaf decorations—and it's possible to stay in one of the bedrooms for about $25 a night, including dinner and breakfast. The architecture is interesting—French colonial on the outside but ornately Chinese on the inside—with many photographs of the "The Lover," both in real life and as he was portrayed on screen.