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| cyclo ride |
Sai Gon, A little while ago I finished up a three month stay at the Dong Huy hotel in Sai Gon's district 1. It's a small place with only 11 rooms, located mid way down a narrow alley between Nguyen Tri and Le Lai street, a block away from 23-9 park and on the other side of the park from the Pham Nhu Lao backpackers area. Note: addresses in Vietnam can be tricky and in this case the address is 71/12-14 Nguyen Tri - 71 is the alley number off of Nguyen Tri, and the 12-14 is the hotels physical address. Le Lai Street is on the opposite end from Nguyen Tri street but alley access at this point is closed around 12:00 am. So the alley experiences limited motorbike traffic and in turn is relatively quiet and peaceful at night. Also only a few businesses are located here along with a smattering of private residences and a few places offering rooms for rent. You'll see only a few foreigners and then it's mostly of the expat variety but for the most part it's your typical Vietnamese neighborhood.
During my stay at the Dong Huy the front desk was manned by Nam, a personable young guy with strong English skills, so communication is easy. At night, things change, as the night staff lack Nam's English skills but try hard. So it's still a pleasant experience interacting with them. For example one late night or closer to early one morning the motorbike guy I hired to get me back to the hotel decided to shake me down for more money in front of the hotel. The night shift desk guy looked out and saw what was happening and in a flash was outside and before he could say anything, the motorbike guy pocketed our agreed to fare and was gone.
The rooms are small but pleasant with western style bathrooms, shower stall, hot water and nice fixtures in good condition. Floors are tile, a decent bed with nice linens, small refrigerator, workable and quiet AC, no elevator but the stairs are easy to navigate. A minus was that their was some water damage at the base of one of the walls in my room.
They offer two types of rooms, the ones in front and a bit more pricier have small balconies overlooking the alley,while the ones facing the back are cheaper and only have the one window.
A couple handy tips: take a right out the front door of the Dong Huy and then a left at Le Lai street and you will see a little laundry that offers next day service at very reasonable prices, wash and iron a shirt for less than $1.00 and bulk wash and fold at less than a dollar per kilo. Go to the right out of the front door of Dong Huy and a left at Nguyen Tri, up a ways in Pho 99 and other interesting restaurants or walk across the park to Pham Nhu Lao and there are many inexpensive places to eat, western and Vietnamese fare.
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| snack wagon - Vietnamese style |
The Dong Huy was booked on line through bookings.com and I highly recomend using them. This is the link to the Dong Huy
http://www.booking.com/hotel/vn/dong-huy.html?aid=383305
Click for a complete offering in Sai Gon
http://www.booking.com/district/vn/ho-chi-minh-city/quan1.html?aid=383305
