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After several years working in hospitality, from budget hotels to luxury hotels in Vietnam and for some tour companies, I want to share with you some of my experiences and tips on booking hotels in Vietnam. Hopefully, this will be helpful for you.
According to the administration of Tourism, There are now more than 4,000 hotels in Vietnam. However, there are only 25 five star hotels, 64 four star hotels and 141 three star hotels. The rest are small hotels which range from zero to 2 star hotels. Thus, finding a budget hotel is simple, but looking for an upmarket hotel can be a hard work for anyone wishing to visit Vietnam.
Five star hotels often belong to international hotel chains so the quality is very good. For example, the Sofitel hotels and Novotel hotels, the interContinental hotels...However, the room rates of these hotels are still higher than those in other countries in the region. You should expect to pay around $150 or higher for one night.
For 3 or 4 star hotels, the rooms and the services are just fine but the price varies from hotel to hotel depending on the location and the services they provide. You should expect to pay around $60 for a 3 star hotel and around $100 for a 4 star hotel.
Mini hotels are normally family-owned hotels which have less than 20 rooms and the services are at local standard. You can get a room with less than $10 for one night but you will get what you pay for. The facilities of these hotels are very basic, just a bed, a bathroom, a TV, a fan and sometimes just a small window which near the ceiling. These hotels do not often provide daily breakfast for their guests. Some can offer this by buying something from an outside restaurant for their guests to make their breakfast.
Please notice the following points when you book a hotel in Vietnam
* The standard check in and check out time is 14:00 and 12:00. Sometimes, you can check in earlier or check out later depending on the availability of the hotel. You should ask for this and provide necessary information about your arrival and departure time when you book.
* Most of hotels in Vietnam provide free daily breakfast, except budget hotels or guest houses. You should consider this before you book. A good breakfast in Vietnam costs from 5$ to $10 for one person depending on where you eat and what you order.
* Please ask for the detailed information of your room such as the size of the room, number of beds in the room, and if the room has window, balcony or not because many hoteliers do not keep their promise, they will sell your room to other walk-in people to get better money and put you at cheaper room if you are not sure what type of room you paid for.
* You should also ask what are included in the room rate such as free daily breakfast, free swimming pool or if the price is inclusive of all taxes and service charges (15% of the net price) because normally hotels do not often display these charges onlineĀ .
* For most of hotels in Vietnam, the maximum number of guests in a room is 02 adults. They can put a small extra bed but this is only applied for rooms with big size. Only some big hotels have connecting rooms or family suites which can accommodate maximum 04 adults.
* All hotels in Vietnam are using three types of rates. The cheapest rate is for tour operators and travel agents so they can make profit on this rate. This rate sometimes can be hundreds of dollars lower than other rates, especially luxury hotels. The second rate is for their frequent guests or those who stay for a long time. The most expensive rate is public rate which is displayed on their websites or the rate they sell to walk-in guests. Only budget hotels do not offer better rates for travel agents or tour operators. The price of these hotels is too cheap to offer better one.
* Please ask for detailed contactable information such as phone number (fixed phone which can be contactable at any time), fax number and an official (paid) email if you book a budget hotel or guesthouse. One time when my Thai friend booked a guest house called "Traveller guest house" in Hanoi then it disappeared when I went to the address to check the hotel for them. None picked up the cell phone too. Luckily we realized this and reported to the administration of tourism as well as the website that sold that guest house before my friend came.
Vietnam Hotel Tips:
- It is pretty acceptable to ask to see a hotel or hostel room before you decide to book it. - Staying in family-run hotels or homestay is a good way to get to know Vietnamese people. However, detailed information of the hotels should be obtained before you go. - If the hotel in which you are staying has a safe, be sure to take advantage of it and leave your money and valuables in the safe. - Take a business card of the hotel before you go downtown to know the address and phone number in case you lost your way. - All hotels have tour information desk which can organize train tickets, domestic airline tickets, car rental very well and efficiently... but do not expect all-inclusive tours from the hotels, especially high quality tours. - Internet connection (Cable & Wifi) can be good at big cities such as Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, but it will be hard at other places, especially in some islands.
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