Hotels in Vietnam/Laos/Cambodia/Halong Bay Cruise
 

Hi,

We are thinking of booking these hotels, please give us your opinion.

Saigon: Oscar Saigon Hotel - deluxe
Siem Reap - Somadevi Angkor Hotel
Can Tho - Victoria Can Tho
Chau Doc - Victoria Chau Doc
Ho An - Ha An Hotel
Hanoi - Galaxy
Sapa - Chau Long Hotel
Luang Prabang - Sala Prabang Hotel or Aspara

In Mid March - is the weather good enough to go for several days to Halong Bay kayaking etc.? How is the 55m overnight Emeraude Cruise Ship?

Your assistance is SO SO appreciated.

The two Victoria hotels are very good although somewhat expensive for the places they are in. But you will be quite comfortable there.

The Somadevi Angkor is a new 3* hotel in the downtown section of SR. I don't know of anyone that has stayed there as yet. Around $55 a night including taxes/service charge/breakfast.

We really enjoyed the Apsara earlier this year - had a deluxe upstairs room on the corner (#1) - lovely room and very good service

We stayed at the Aspara in LP earlier this year for one night only. The room was reasonable but nothing special. We moved to the 3 Nagas and stayed a week - very nice old hotel on the main street.

We stayed at the Oscar Hotel in Feb. 2007. It was fine and a really good location. The room was nice and the breakfast good. This is a tourist hotel, not luxury. I would stay there again if I were to be in Saigon.

Thank you all for your input. We appreciate it so much.

Now, we have to book hotel for Hanoi but with little luck.

We wanted the Guoman Hotel, but they're full.

Having trouble booking with the Army Hotel directly.

Can you please give us 2-3 other suggestions for Hanoi for a quiet hotel around $100 for mid - late March for 8 nights.

Would we have trouble booking for Halong Bay if we leave it till we arrive in Saigon in late February?

Thank you and Thank you again!

I'm at the Van Loi hotel in Hoi An right now. It's quiet, clean and the staff is attentive. The swimming pool is clean and very pretty. Rooms clean. Average size. Beds are harder than a park bench. I thought it was a joke at first when I sat down on the bed. Air Conditioning is border-line functioning. Hot, sticky during the day, cool nights. The beds come with only a sheet, no blanket but just ask for one if you need it. Tariff is $50, $60 and $70. The hotel is 5 stories high with an elevator that is fast. Each room has a balcony over the swimming pool. French-Colonial rails. Restaraunt on roof. Good food. Fresh cooked eggs in the morning as you watch. Rooster across the street is the 5 am alarm clock and he's darn proud of it. Wonder views of the river from the roof and top 2 floors. To find the hotel, cross the Cam Nam bridge going south on Hoang Dieu Street. The hotel is a few minutes walk, on the right hand side. Word of caution when walking. If it rains, and you chose to walk there from the Old Quarter, the street walking to the hotel is narrow can get quite muddy with puddles that require either jumping over or just have to walk through water to advance. Motorbikes wiz by and splash water on you if you don't stay far over to the side. Wear clothes that can be easily washed and shoes that are water-mud resistant. Free internet but only one computer near the front desk.

I enjoyed my stay at the Chau Long Hotel in Sa Pa last month.

The rooms are large, clean and well furnished. The beds are typical asian FIRM. Turn down service and roooms refreshed in the evening (as well as remade during the day)

Great views from the balconies, excellent food reasonably priced, decent spa with plenty of massage options, free wifi in the lobby.

I stayed at Chau Long in Sapa in November. Unlike cjbryant, we were not happy with it. It was the poorest of the hotels we experienced in VN.

That said, I think the lodging alternatives in Sapa are limited. I don't know what to suggest as a better alternative...maybe some other Fodorites do. We tried to book the well-known Victoria hotel, but it was full long in advance.

I know your question was about hotels, but since I mentioned Victoria hotel I have to also post a caution about the restaurant at that hotel. I took my wife there for her birthday dinner. Though the ambiance was special, the food was the worst we experienced in all of VN (at a price far higher than most restaurants). A much better restaurant in Sapa was Baguette and Chocolat.

Gallaxy Hotel in Hanoi is on a busy street. I think some would call it a 'square'. I can't think of the exact word. But it's a place where a lot of action takes place for motos and taxis. Hanoians honk constantly all day and all night. If you stay there I suggest you ask for a room in the rear of the building. It is deafening on the street right outside the hotel. The lobby looked clean and pretty but nothing real fancy. I loved the bellhops with the pill-box hats. We ate lunch there I believe. Western food is available. Always full of tourists inside when we walked by.

We stayed at the De Syloia on our last visit to Hanoi and loved it. There are about 32 good sized rooms ... quite nice, very clean, and the beds are great. It's in a quiet location and although not in Hanoi's busiest area it's not far away ... we walked there easily. The De Syloia's restaurant is considered one of the best in Hanoi .. you'll get a discount there if you stay in the hotel.

We'll be in Hanoi in February and have booked it again both at the beginning for 3 days and for another 2 days at the end. We know we can get cheaper hotels but really enjoy the De Syloia. We're paying US$95 for a standard room which includes full breakfast, welcome drinks, daily fresh fruit basket, bottled water, privileges in their (small) gym and internet access. They've also arranged a taxi from the airport at additional cost ... all done by email through their web site. We're really looking forward to crashing there after 2 days of flying.