I am hoping for someone who has been to the Perfume Pagoda area and/or Hoa Lu and Tam Coc and Can Tho. We are trying to finalize some plans and are looking for info. We are also overnighting on Halong Bay if that helps. Also, any hotels that you thought were great in the major cities - Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, etc. Looking at Guonman vs. Hilton Opera, Grand vs. Caravelle vs. Rex, Victoria vs. Hoian Riverside I have been looking at some reviews - but thought I would ask here for any opinions on these or others hotel that are highly recommended. And finally - any tips on airfare from Denver to Bangkok or Hanoi. Thanks in advance.

Hi,Connette!
I have visited Ho Chi Minh from Japan and stayed at Majestic Hotel in a room facing Saigon River. The room was spacious with Art-Deco interior and we could walk to everywhere from there. It was recently renovated, so looks refined than Rex. It has got an old charm at same time. We will definitely stay there again.

Hoa Lu and Tam Coc are much less touristy than Halong Bay. If you're going to Halong Bay I'm not sure you also need to do this -- although I loved it.

I stayed at the Rex and loved it -- largely because of its history. Same would be true of Caravelle.

In Hanoi, I didn't like the looks of the Hilton - pretty institutional. Many people like the Sofitel Metropole. I stayed in a small boutique hotel in Hanoi, the deSyloia, which I loved. We took a day trip to the Perfume Pagoda while we were stying in Hanoi. A day trip was plenty.

PS as for airfares, you'll likely find it is least expensive to buy a ticket on United from Denver to Bangkok and buy a separate ticket Bangkok to Hanoi.

Many thanks for all of the replies. We ended up with the Majestic river view in Ho Chi Minh. Also are going to the Perfume Pagoda. Regarding the airfare. We found Den-Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh-Den to be the cheapest option. I was very surprised myself. We can then save Bangkok for another trip. We used Eva air and got the best rate by calling them direct. $150-300 less than the several so called consolidators we checked. As I said I was really surprised myself. Sometimes they are cheaper, sometimes not. It is worth checking though. We used the saving to upgrade to Evergreen Deluxe.

P.S. Regarding consolidators. They are definitely worth checking with. We saved alittle over $100.00 each on our Peru flights for next month, but for our flights to Argentina in December we saved a whopping $500.00 + each. So one should always check with them.

I just returned from HCM, Hue and Hanoi. In HCM we stayed at the Majestic and found it to be a great Hotel. Mind you it is more a classical Vietnamese french colonial structure but right on the river. The Rex did not impress me very much. It's not bad but just middle of the road. THe Caravelle and the Sheraton(new) are the more modern hotels where your frequent visitors to Saigon stay.

In Hanoi we stayed at the Hilton and this was very nice. Good location and nice facilities. We stopped in at the Metropole and it was nice but but you'd have to check the rates to make sure you don't end up paying too much.