Hue and Saigon
 

1. If we plan to leave Hoi An in the morning and fly from Hue to Saigon @8:40PM that day , will we have sufficient time to see the Imperial City? How long is the drive from Hoi An to Hue?

2. Has anyone been to the Park Hyatt in Saigon? What is the best hotel if we cannot get into the Caravelle? The Duxton? New World?Renaissance?Sofitel? Park Hyatt?

You are planning from driving to Hue from HoiAn and then that same day fly from Hue to Saigon? That seems a little much to me - unless you are planning on leaving HoiAn very early in the morning. I think the train ride from Danang to Hue was almost two hours so I guess you could drive it in three or so - not sure about that.

We did manage to see one of the mausoleums, the Citadel and a pagoda in a period of about six or seven hours so yes it can be done. The airport is at least a half hour from the historic part of Hue so be sure and allow for that .

It seems rushed but I guess it would be do-able.

We stayed at the Majestic in Saigon and just loved it. I know the Caravelle is much more expensive but we were very happy with the Majestic - great rooftop bar and the rooms were very comfortable.

Pam

We drove past the Park Hyatt and it looked very nice. We stayed in the Sheraton, and were very happy with every aspect of the hotel. It is in a fantastic location, and the lobby is a hub of activity all day and evening. A friend of mine has stayed in the New World Hotel a few times, and recommends it, particularly for its location.

The drive from Hoi An to Hue is 2 1/2 hours to 3 depending on traffic and school letting out/ starting which is around 7:00, 11:30, 1:00 and 4:30. Tons of school kids on the roads at those times and causes slowdowns. It depends on what you want to see. I think Hue is worth at least 2 days to get the feel of it as the same as Hoi An. I was there in the last 2 weeks and it was a nice change from the bigger cities. The Caravelle is nice and guess it depends on if you are a 5 star person, but I stayed at the Majestic and it was an older French nice hote without the cost of the 5 star price. Also, Hue is a one horse airport as only Veitnam airlines flys there so it should be easy to get through but VAL does fly big planes on internal routes.

It's definitely do-able and I would recommend it. We flew into Hue first thing in the morning (from Hanoi), and saw two tombs, the Citadel and the pagoda (including a boat ride on the perfume river) by 3 pm. We wanted to leave that evening for HoiAn because while the sites were amazing, we did not like the accomodations and didn't love the city, but we couldn't get into our hotel in Danang for the evening so we were stuck.