Chào! Which means “Hello” in Vietnam. If you planning to visit this country then Ho Chi Minh is a must in my opinion. Holding the title as the largest city in this Vietnam, it can get quite overwhelming searching for a place to stay because there is soo many options!
On our last trip to Ho Chi Minh, we were staying at Duc Vuong Hotel. We found this hotel from continuous searching online and ended up loving it for a couple of reason. If you are still searching for a place to stay then this might be for you.
Western District, Mister!
The Duc Vuong Hotel is located on Bui Vien Street. It’s really easy to find this hotel, we just gave the address to the taxi driver and they drove us straight from the airport. Their location is just beside the road, narrow but famous one.
This was our first time in this city, so the location is important. We want to be in the center of everything. And what’s more appropriate than the backpacker district. Safe bet, I know. Pham Ngu Lao, De Tham, and Bui Vien Street are known as Western Street.
If you read our Ho Chi Minh travel journal you will know that we walk around literally everywhere here. Because it’s really close to all the touristy places. All located in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.
Staying in the “Western” area had its own up and downsides. The upside is it’s fairly easy to find and navigate around. Also finding tour operator, tourist information, or cafe with wifi (millennial problems) is a piece of cake.
The downside is that majority of the shop and restaurant are somewhat “westernize”. I don’t know about you but I ain’t eating pizza while in Saigon. But we just venture a bit off the main road and walk through the alley where it felt more “local”.
And at night time the whole blocks turn into a night market with bars popping up and food stall all along the street. It’s totally a traveler’s heaven! But also because this hotel is located almost at the end of the street, so you can’t really hear the crowds outside.
The (Careless) Booking
We made our booking online via Agoda, after much searching and comparing here and there. The Duc Vuong Hotel cost us around USD 38.00 / night for Family Deluxe Room. We choose the family room because it wasn’t much of a different between this and the lower kind of rooms. So, why not?
If you compare to other accommodations, yes this is not the cheapest option. But we weren’t really trying to save our budget and being super frugal. Comfort plays quite big of a role when we decide for a place to stay. Just our personal preference, sometimes good sleep means good mood. 😴
But when we were checking in, we were ended up being charged another VND 446,000 which is around USD 20.00 for both of us. It turned out a small mistake that we made was to not realizing how many people we choose when making the booking. Even though we booked Family Room, we choose 1 person instead of 2 and they charged for each person.
Well, it’s completely our mistake so we paid for it but it kinda hurt a bit. Not about the money but the pride of being able to snatch the great deals which turned out to be not. Dramatic much? LOL! #lessonlearned
The Room
As I said before, we were staying at the Family Deluxe Room. This room has 1 double plus 1 single bed and also much bigger space than the standard room. We can lay out our suitcase on the floor and still have plenty of space left. Also, don’t mind me in the frame sleeping with a weird position. I was having my recovery nap. Diarrhea is no fun.
The room itself was clean and spacious, again, this is the Family Room. They provide all the basic amenities, mineral waters, hair dryer, etc. The bed is comfortable. The AC is powerful enough to beat the humid and hot Vietnam weather outside. The bathroom is clean and the basic toiletries are provided. Hot water is available and the towels are clean.
Nothing to complain about the room. Except maybe the noise coming through the connecting door. There is a connecting door in our room and we can hear the other person in the next room. But since we are not noisy nor a noisy person in general, I think we can overlook that.
Breakfast
Breakfast is served in their restaurant upstair but not in the rooftop. The restaurant area is small, really small in fact. The food selection was alright but it tastes really good. I really enjoyed our breakfast here and even the small space filled with the sunlight made a good #instagrammable breakfast.
Service
Now, this is why I loved this hotel soo much. Their service is just top-notch! I think they have mastered the art of being friendly without crossing the borderline. They really put up with their motto “We are Family”.
From the moment we were checking in, they manage to ask me politely about the extra charge without making me feel offended. Then we were accompanied by one guy to our room who joked around. Also shoutout to Lee and Christine who helped us a lot during our stay.
I think it’s because all the staff mostly are young people, they’re more like a friend which is great! It feels like staying at the hotel with guesthouse vibes hospitality. They even have this welcome sign outside with the list of people staying that period of time. Small touch like this that I think made this place somewhat feels like home.
They also have the Tours service, just downstair from the reception area. You can also see it from outside. We also booked Chu Chi package here which we talk more about that on our Chu Chi Tunnels post if you interested to read about our experience, how much it cost, etc.
Final Thought
Yes, I totally recommend this hotel if you plan to visit Ho Chi Minh. The location is perfect, just near everywhere you need to be. Comfortable enough with reasonable price. But the service is their strongest point. Can you tell that I am smitten by all the hospitality already? 😊 I see there are a couple of OK reviews about this hotel but the majority of the reviews are giving a thumbs up for the service. 👍
But you need to experience yourself to be able to judge that. So, try for yourself and let us know in the comments your experience. Or if you have any recommendation for any great hotel for us to stay next time, please let us know!
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