Ca Va Vietnam

Just when I thought there would be no suprises on my 4th visit in Ho CHi Minh City, right at the moment I stepped out of the plane. I had a feeling of something strange about the terminal but I couldn't tell what it was.

Passing through the sky bridge, I saw a spacious Customs area with more than 15 lines open for checking passports and visas that certainly shortens waiting time a great deal; tranparent elevators, steel frames patched with huge glass windows brighten up the building giving me a DejaVu as if I was in Suvarnabhumi airport, in Thailand. The crowd waiting at the exits for arrivals are now divided into two terminals which gives an international airport atmosphere back to the Tan Son Nhat International Airport rather than that of a refugee camp.

The hotel I stayed in this time was the Elios Hotel, a 3 star hotel on D Pham Ngu Lao. My passport was held at the counter after checking in which is a weird rule but it doesn't apply to every hotel in Vietnam. There are 3 types of rooms available: the standard room (18-20 square meters) – one double bed US$45; Deluxe Room (32 square meters) – one Queen sized bed & one single bed US$70; Executive room (32 square meters) – one Queen sized bed (bath room with jacuzzi) US$80. Rates are nett for single use, inclusive of 10% VAT & 5% service charge; buffet Breakfast daily.

Facilities are: Conference room • Business center • Fitness center • Satellite TV (including Star World Channel!)• Mini-bar • IDD telephone.• In-room safe (I can't find one in my standard room)• Individual controlled air conditioning • Spacious bathroom with shower / bath-tub /Jacuzzi (really big, about 1/3 of the room size)• Complimentary in-room Wi-Fi.

On my last visit (April, 2007) the hotel was just opened for business, they were still setting up the fitness center and hotel website; 6 months later, the rudimental website design might be one of the reasons of high vacnacy. I was thrilled by the roof top fitness center that overlooks the HCM City, equipped with brand new machines and a set of stereo. Soon later, I found out the setero was malfunctioning, and attempts at fixing it by the hotel staff were in vain. During my stay in the Elios, 8 days, no one ever tried to fix it again despite the fact that this stereo might still has its warranty valid.

I've learned to turn a blind eye on hygiene issues in restaurants in Vietnam after seeing cockroaches and ants running across my table in a 4 stars hotel restaurant, so when I spotted ants on my table in the roof top restaurant of the Elios hotel, I stayed calm. But what I saw next made me loose my cool. There were two glass tables outdoors and one of them had no tabletop. Despite its toplessness, somebody put an ashtray on the frame right at the center of the table, making it look like a normal table. It was amusing to see people drop their plates on the floor looking bewildered.

I couldn't help thinking of the Broken Windows Theory: consider a building with a few broken windows. If the windows are not repaired, the tendency is for vandals to break a few more windows. Eventually, they may even break into the building, and if it's unoccupied, perhaps become squatters or light fires inside. 6 Months from its opening, the hotel started having some damage yet left unfixed, how long would it take to run down the system, I wonder?

In the hospital, as I expected, when I asked the Lab technicians to prepare some ground ice to keep specimens of interest frozen while sorting from all specimens collected for the past year; the technicians took me to a room where a handcranked ice shaver was and shaved some ice then showed it to me waiting for my approval. I shrugged and told them as long as them could fill up two medium size styrofoam boxes, why not. The day when we were preparing the specimens, I couldn't help asking them if they really spent hours shaving ice? the answer was they bought it as I requested in my email before my visit.

Hotels in HCM City 2

Unlike those luxurious hotels around the D Dong Khoi area, hotels around D Pham Ngu Lao area are made for backpackers, except for the New World Hotel. The density of hotels in this region makes it difficult to label individual hotels precisely on the map and this hotel review only lists a few of them located on Pham Ngu Lao road. You don’t really have to worry about amenities in hotels in this area-- fitness center, massage, restaurants, bars, wireless internet access, budget tour agencies and of course souvenir shops etc. you can find them all somewhere in this area.

Hotels around D Pham Ngu Lao area on Google Maps

New World Hotel, Duna Hotel, Giant Dragon Hotel, Hotel Que Huong (Liberty 3 hotel), Tan Thanh Hotel, Hotel 211 Hotel, Spring House Hotel, Elios Hotel, Hanh Hoa Hotel, Libery 4 Hotel, Vien Dong Hotel, Canadian 281 Hotel

Hotel websites for detail information
New World Hotel, Liberty 3 and 4 Hotel, Elios Hotel

Hotels in HCM City

I tried to book a hotel via a travel agency in Taiwan but the agent told me that the hotels they are affiliated with were all fully booked. I didn’t believe what the agent had told me because most of the time that was a polite way to say that the commission wasn’t high enough to do the booking service for you. So I looked it up online and tried to find a hotel that has internet access in the rooms and free access to gym and swimming pool. Hotels around the Dong Khoi Area were my first choices and of course price was a key for decision making. I was scheduled to stay in HCMC for 2 weeks and all hotels were not available for one or two days during my stay, then I wrote an email to the Kim Do Royal Hotel to request a single room and here I am in this 4 stars hotel about 150 meters down from the Hotel de Ville (People committee Building).

I was trying to book a hotel via an online booking agency 'Hotels in Vietnam dotcom' which provides detailed information on hotels in Vietnam and a better rate than booking directly through hotel websites. However, the agency didn’t process the booking within 24-48 hours as they had declared in their confirmation letter. Even 2 emails and one international phone call after 48 hours of my first request; I still didn’t get a response before my check in date, pity.

I had trouble checking in at the Kim DO Royal Hotel because whoever is responsible for online email requests didn’t print out my confirmation letter and I couldn’t login to my NHRI web-mail server to prove that I had the reservation. It took 20 minutes for the reception to contact the staff for email booking then checked me into a room. The air conditioned room looks great, a giant bed, bath-tub, refrigerator, TV with international programs including the Star World Channel, a safe box, ADSL internet access, free local city phone calls, complimentary English newspaper, 2 bottles of water daily and buffet breakfast-- no complaints here.

I checked the gym and the swimming pool enthusiastically and soon the excitement was dampened by the reality. There is one cycler, one treadmill, one rolling machine and a set of weight training set in a 4 meter squares gym room. The staff told me that only the treadmill didn't work, but the reality was that the rollers of the rolling machine were crooked not to mention the paddles of the cycler were both facing down! The width of the pool is a standard racing trial size and the length is about 10 meters. There is only a changing room with a shower built in located in the center of the entrance. I have been staying here for one week and I haven’t seen anyone in the gym or the baby swimming pool. The idea of changing hotels soon was expelled from my mind after checking out the gym at the Oscar Hotel (3 stars) and the facilities of Rex Hotel (4 stars). I guess facilities like gyms and swimming pools are not a factor for tourists in choosing a hotel in HCMC or am I spoiled by the amenities of star hotels in Taiwan?

Hotels around D Dong Khoi area on Google Maps

Asian Hotel, Continental Hotel, Caravelle Hotel, Sheraton Hotel, Saigon Hotel, Bong Sen Hotel, Bong Sen 2, Huong Sen Hotel, Kim Long/Thang Long Hotel, Dong Do/Bach Dang Hotel, Grand Hotel, Majestic Hotel, Rex Hotel, Kim Do Royal Hotel, Oscar Hotel, Palace Hotel, Lucky Hotel, Duxton Hotel, Legen Hotel, Renaissance Riverside Hotel, Park Hyatt Saigon, Norfolk Hotel


Hotel websites for detail information
Continental Hotel, Caravelle Hotel, Sheraton Hotel, Saigon Hotel, Bong Sen Hotel, Huong Sen Hotel, Grand Hotel, Majestic Hotel, Rex Hotel, Kim Do Royal Hotel, Oscar Hotel, Palace Hotel, Duxton Hotel, Legen Hotel, Renaissance Riverside Hotel, Norfolk Hotel, Park Hyatt Saigon

Another week in HCM City-the legend of the Ky Hoa Hotel

One day after work, I walked back to my hotel and the staff at the front counter told me that because they were going to replace the carpets on the 3rd floor, where I have been staying for the pass two weeks, they would like to ask me to move to the 4^th floor and they would send someone to help with my luggage. I agreed and told the staff that I didn’t need help with my luggage, just give me a moment to pack and we’ll be set. The moment I stepped in my room and closed the door someone came knocking. I opened the door two staff people came in and started helping me to pack. Obviously my message wasn’t delivered correctly as always, so I watched one man taking care of my underwear and socks while the other stuffed all my toiletries into a bag then disappeared. Before I’d finished packing, they came back and grabbed anything that wasn’t packed by hand and took me to my new room.

Later that night, I discovered the programming of the cable TV on 4^th floor were different from the 3^rd or from rooms on the left side of corridor to the right side. Anyway, I watched the discovery channel; a program called “A haunting” was on. It’s about a family living in a haunted house and when the program was about to show the most scary paranormal phenomenon my room went black! Well, I am not that chicken but this scared the hell out of me. Soon I realized it was not a paranormal phenomenon happening in my room but the power failure in the entire hotel. A few minutes later the power was restored but it went off again minutes later. I was happy that I was not in one of the freaky elevators of the hotel when it happened.

Speaking of the elevators, to my surprise, they had the elevator installed! I wasn’t expecting to see that elevator installed before my departure since I barely saw any construction going during my stay. Well, I am happy they did it because now I won’t have to take the elevator that doesn’t always stop at an exact position every time you open its gate. Sometimes the gap could be 10cm different in height. Now they are tearing down the other old elevator and installing a new one. Who knows I might be able to see it before I leave.

I use the laundry service in the hotel. Usually staff would have laundry delivered around 17:00 the next day. I always get naked while I am in the room to save my butt from burning off in the high temperature, so it takes a moment for me to get dressed before opening the door when the bell rings for my delivery. Every time I called out “A moment please”, but the bell ringing just wouldn’t stop, they press it almost every 10 seconds, and one time the staff even opened the door with the master key! I don’t know if it’s because they didn’t hear me or they didn’t know what I was talking about but now every time I hear the bell ring, I get nervous. I even put the “Do Not Disturb” sign on the doorknob at 17:00 around once and when I was just feeling relaxed the bell ran! I’ve never known a staff so determined on delivering laundry to their customers as in the Ky Hoa hotel. I am still thinking of a way to have my laundry delivered at an appropriate time.

Since I have been staying in the Ky Hoa hotel for more than 2 weeks, I have tried almost everything on the menu for breakfast. Now, I don’t even have to open my mouth to have staff in the restaurant deliver the only good drink in the restaurant, Lemon Juice, to my table. But there is a mysterious page I haven’t ordered from yet because it’s written in Vietnamese only. That’s news for next week; the legend of the Ky Hoa hotel goes on.