Vietnam & Singapore - Jan/Feb 2012

[albatross710]

Finally an airport that caters to passengers, Da Nang was a welcome respite to Hanoi and it seemed we were the only flight to land at that particular time.

The DAD airport is very nice and modern. When we were there at Christmas the had a taxiway or runway under construction. For both our aircraft movements there we had a long taxi. On arrival the aircraft rolled to the end of the runway, to the turnaround area and then back tracked the entire runway back to the taxiway at the threshold, then along the taxiway to the terminal. On our departure a few days later, the operating runway was reversed so we had the complete opposite taxiing.

2) I heard that Mai Linh taxis were recommended and the bits of info I came across the web proved this to be the case. When you head outside the airport look for a guy wearing a green jacket/tie who will direct you to one of the waiting Mai Linh taxi's - also green in colour. The rates are clearly marked on the door and inside the cab and the whole ride is metered. Although the rates vary the rough guide seems to be:


10,000VND flagfall
10,000VND for the first 0.7 km
14,000VND per km after 0.7km upto 30km
9,500VND per km after 31km


Note: If you end up in a people mover the per km rates are slightly higher.


Taxi driver was terrific, knew the hotel and got us there in about 35 mins. Cost was 400,000VND.

The VN taxi drivers when asked to stick with the metre were happy to do so. We negotiated a rate from HoiAn back to our Danang hotel and it worked out within a 10,000VND of the metre.

Great trip report, keep enjoying your trip as well.

 

[NDiddy]

Hotel Info

Breakfast is buffet style and is very substantial. In fact there is a whole room dedicated for the setup. You won't go hungry.

Food in general is astronomically expensive at the hotel but not by Australian standards. There are many options to eat as you walk out of the hotel to the right and take the first left on the road into Hoi An (about a 7 min walk).

Alternatively the hotel has a complimentary shuttle that takes you into Hoi An Old town which we used frequently.

Interesting story about this, we went for a spa treatment in town and made it to the shuttle stop about 5 mins before the schedule departure. However the bus was completely full. Residing ourselves to the fact that we would have to cab it back to the hotel we were told by the bus driver to wait and once he was ready to go he hailed us a Mai Linh taxi and told us the hotel would pick up the charge Trip back was about 77,000VND

Staff at the hotel are very friendly and courteous and go out of their way to assist in any way they can. Can't commend them highly enough.
Hoi An

Beautiful town and probably my fav place I've visited in Asia. If you plan on walking around the town or doing a walking tour ala Lonely Planet then I suggest you do this early in the morning as it can get very hot and busy after about 11:00am. We took the 9:00am shuttle from the hotel and managed to catch the 11:30am shuttle back.

A few pics to whet the appetite:

Tet Trees everywhere:



Japanese Bridge:





Random:

 

[NDiddy]

SPA

The Mrs was keen to do a spa but not at hotel prices, so a quick look up in tripadvisor showed the Hoi An Day Spa as well reviewed and recommended. It's in town and about a 10min walk from where the shuttle drops you off but easily doable.

It's a hole in the wall kind of place but the service and the treatments were top notch. Mrs Diddy also commented on the use of high end nail polish called OPI or something like that. 2hr 45 min treatment costs $29USD per person.

There are plenty of places like this all over Hoi An but we only chose this based on TA.

Restaurants

I must admit I found the restaurants in Hoi An old town to be average serving very bland food. Mermaid restaurant is a good choice and if you're near the aforementioned day spa then try the Mandarin Cafe - best and cheapest food we had in Hoi An.

Rest of the time was spent lazing by the pool/beach and generally enjoying our time. Next stop Nha Trang...

 

[NDiddy]

Hotel organised a Mai Linh taxi to pick us up at 8:00am from the hotel for a 10:10 flight from DAD to NHA.

Taxi was on time and was one of the people movers but again very friendly driver who loaded and unloaded the bags for us. Cost to the airport was 425,000VND and took about 30mins (no traffic on the road and the guy drove safely over the speed limit)

Metal was an ATR72-500 with no J class so choice of seats was basically as far back as possible without being in the back row as the seats don't recline. Did a web checkin but could not see a counter so just check in via the normal line as there were no passengers. However 10 mins later there was a massive line for VN:



Departure Area:



The bus to the plane:



The plane (Love the VN livery):

 

[NDiddy]

Seats were 12 A & B and were the furthest back I could get when we did the web check-in. Space to the front seat wasn't bad and the leg room underneath was very adequate:





Obligatory bottle of water and refresher towel:



Flight was completely full - not one spare seat:



Flight details:

DAD -> NHA

Scheduled departure 10:10AM
Actual departure 10:30AM

Scheduled arrival 11:25AM
Actual arrival 11:40AM

Nice flight although seemed a lot longer for a 1hr 15min flight but it was uneventful and we arrived to a Nha Trang airport that was completely deserted.

Again baggage was quick to arrive and we caught a Mai Linh taxi from the airport to the Sheraton Nha Trang which took about 40min and cost 500,000VND.

Well you guys are pretty much up to date with where the Diddy's are. I'll post more about the Sheraton and Nha Trang in general a little bit later. Having a great time and loving Vietnam and the Vietnamese people.

If anyone needs more info on anything I have written or just after general advice on the areas we've visited feel free to ask and I'll be happy to respond. Take care and will post real soon.

 

[amaroo]

The Nam Hai is very good......would have been worth squeezing the budget a little more.

 

[NDiddy]

The Nam Hai is very good......would have been worth squeezing the budget a little more.

We agonized over this one amaroo but just couldn't justify the spend.

Seems like the Nam Hai heavily discount their rates during the off season so a trip back to Da Nang is certainly on the cards. Very keen to try out the Montgomery Links course as well. Looks amazing!

 

[hummel]

Really enjoying the trip report NDiddy, brings back a few memories from a couple of years ago.

I've been to VN 5 times for work/holiday and love it, recently came back from 8 days motorcycling the north west. I stayed at Life Resort in Hoi An and while it didnt have beach acces the location was superb and value was great. Agree about the food though.. normally am pretty adventours with food but didn't find many that were very good.

My first/only flight on VN was Hue to Hanoi in J, really comfortable old school seats and great service

 

[NDiddy]

Really enjoying the trip report NDiddy, brings back a few memories from a couple of years ago.

I've been to VN 5 times for work/holiday and love it, recently came back from 8 days motorcycling the north west.

Thanks hummel. I would have thought your motorcycling exploits would be very worthy of a TR? I'm sure there are some great stories to tell outside of the 8 day adventure itself

Definitely looking forward to J tomorrow. Just realised to my horror that our flight is scheduled to depart at 7.45AM which means no later than a 5.30AM departure from the hotel :/ And I tried really hard not to have any early morning flights on this trip especially.

Unfortunately this was one of only 2 available flights for tomorrow with the second arriving very late into SAI effectively losing us a day. But still looking forward to SAI and SIN in the next week or so.

Might be a question to throw out to the AFF community but does anyone know if there is a VN lounge in Nha Trang airport? Can't find anything online but a google search shows pics from a few people claiming to be in the VN lounge in NHA?

 

[NDiddy]

Arrive at the Sheraton in Nha Trang which is about 1km further up the road than the main drag but well within walking distance to sample some great restaurants that we've managed to eat at during our stay.

Greeting for the doorman/bell boy/check in staff was one of not seeing a relative for a very long time. It's a pity this service didn't fully apply to all staff at the hotel.

A quick check of our booking confirmed we had booked a Club Room and we were promptly sent up to the 25th floor with our porter.

Check In

Was quick and efficient and to our surprise we were upgraded to an Executive Suite.....Sweeeet! A quick swipe of our cc and we were on our way down to the 23rd floor. Process was smooth and the staff at the lounge although quite robotic were friendly enough.

Room

Brilliant room (2325) see pics below. Lovely, spacious and just the tonic from coming of a full ATR flight. If there was one criticism of the room is that it's door separation make it feel boxier than it actually is but that's the only thing I can fault with it. Heaps of complimentary water as well so you won't go thirsty.

Room Tip:

Obviously choose a club room but more importantly chose an odd number room as they seem to be the only ones in the hotel with a balcony (if you value it). The biggest balconies seem to be the last room towards the beach (which is our case was our room so I assume anything that ends in 25)

Let the pics do some talking:

Entrance into the lounge with a giant 42" inch TV:



Separated wardrobe/baggage storage/safe:



Bedroom with another huge 42" TV:



Sitting area to sift through your collection of diamonds and solitaires:



Beach view from bedroom window:

 

[NDiddy]

Bathroom:





Huge Jacuzzi in a separate area:



Balcony with lovely beach view:



And to top it off some complimentary petit fours:



Best thing about this hotel is definitely the room - We absolutely loved it!

 

[NDiddy]

The Lounge

Sometimes I feel that I judge lounges rather harshly since my first (and subsequent) stays at the Traders Hotel in KL. It has been very rare that I've come across a brilliant setup with a great staff and service to match.

Sadly I feel that the Sheraton fell well short of the mark in this area. The location is lovely with brilliant views of the ocean/beach and there are a lot of tables/couches and a huge outdoor/smoking area which provides a welcome relief to the icy air con temp they have running in the lounge. However that's all that can be said about the good points.

Some interesting notes that make you have a quizzical look on your face:

Only continental breakfast is served in the lounge - not even an egg station so you really are forced to head down to the Feast restaurant (which you should anyway) but would have been a nice to have.

Afternoon tea is woeful - Coffee/Tea is dispensed from a self serve insta-appliance that is permanently set to the lukewarm setting. The selection of afternoon delights is limited to some fruit tarts/some good chocolate cake and a sponge thing all in portions about the size of 2 50 cent pieces.

Free drinks run from 5 - 7.30 which is good but the selection is average - Beer is limited to Tiger/Hieneken - Wine is a small selection of South African Shiraz, Marlborough Pinot/Don't know what the whites were. Spirits were stock standard Grants Whisky/Some Vodka brand for the numerous Russian guests at the hotel and some Gin!

Complimentary internet access/wifi is only available in the lounge and is actually pretty good. Forget about using the PC's in the lounge as they are overrun with kids playing games/watching cartoons/IM'ing. Wifi is a saving grace and at good speeds.

Some pics:

 

[NDiddy]

This is a bit sad but apparently I've reached my quota of file uploads

Anyone know if I can delete them from the "Manage Attachments" section and it not affect the already uploaded files? And if so how does one delete them?

 

[lmere12]

Thinking of going to Vietnam this year, really enjoyed your TR ! Very helpful ..

 

[NDiddy]

Thinking of going to Vietnam this year, really enjoyed your TR ! Very helpful ..

Thanks lmere12 - Glad this has been helpful. Let me know if you need any specific info and I'll be happy to help

Ok some more photo's of the lounge in Nha Trang courtesy of the flickr account I had to open. Let me know if there are any issues accessing them:

2012-01-27 18.24.23 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

2012-01-27 18.23.37 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

2012-01-27 18.23.12 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

2012-01-27 18.22.36 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

2012-01-27 18.24.40 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Last word on the Sheraton - It was certainly one of the bigger hotel rooms in a chain that we have stayed in. However the lounge is disappointing and the extra $$'s are only just worth it if not to booze yourself up for the walk to the main drag.

The service in the lounge is a bit non-existent so don't expect too much and self serve rules here.

The infinity pool while very pretty is on the small side and there are certainly not enough loungers if all the hotel decided to use the pool. Big tip is to head to the pool straight after breakfast and you won't have any issues.

Lastly, the lifts are atrocious, slow, small and you will stop on every second floor especially on your way down. Patience and a good nose to handle the hordes of masses that have come back from the beach are a necessity.

 

[NDiddy]

So as previously mentioned we had a 7.45AM flight from Nha Trang to Ho Chi Minh.

While in the lounge we decided to "check out" and organise a taxi to the airport. The lady was actually quite helpful on this occasion and informed us that a Mai Linh taxi would cost around 500,000VND or an "Airport Taxi" would cost 250,000 + 20,000 for something (I think airport parking). Keen to try we decided on the airport taxi.

The taxi's are actually branded Airport Taxi's and I did remember seeing them at the airport as well so may be try your luck with negotiating a price and you'll see why I say negotiate in a moment.

4:30AM alarm - NDiddy is not the happiest of morning people but a quick shower and an instant coffee in the room took the edge off. We booked the taxi for 5.30AM and right on time he was out the front waiting for us.

Once we got in we confirmed the 250,000 price and he happily nodded and mentioned the 20,000 for airport parking which was fine. Drive started off fine and once we got out of town and onto the mountain road to the airport I noticed the metre had come on. Thinking that he was just trying to get the metre to hit 250K I left it alone.

However it became apparent that this metre wasn't being turned off and by the time we arrived at the airport the metre read 400Kish. Calmly confirmed with the guy that the price was 270K and he was like ummm yeah how many times do you want to ask Handed the money and we were at the airport at 6.05AM.

Next post Nha Trang airport, VN check-in and J lounge + J flight

 

[amaroo]

NDiddy man whats going on with the photos?

Didn't know about a upload quota.....terrible luck - your TR is shaping up to be one of the best I've seen on AFF.

 

[NDiddy]

NDiddy man whats going on with the photos?

Didn't know about a upload quota.....terrible luck - your TR is shaping up to be one of the best I've seen on AFF.

Sorry amaroo - Tried to get some input but more luck, I've hit my 8MB limit. I could go and downsize some of the photo's but just don't have the time during this trip. Did the flickr photo's come out OK?

Thanks for your kind words about the TR - The standards on AFF are very high and I just want to make sure that this TR is helpful and insightful

 

[amaroo]

Sorry amaroo - Tried to get some input but more luck, I've hit my 8MB limit. I could go and downsize some of the photo's but just don't have the time during this trip. Did the flickr photo's come out OK?

Thanks for your kind words about the TR - The standards on AFF are very high and I just want to make sure that this TR is helpful and insightful

All ok - worked a treat

 

[NDiddy]

So we walk into the airport and wouldn't you know it there is no one at the check in counters or the ticketing office but about 20 people already lining up for Y.

I vaguely recall the hotel saying they don't bother sending guests to the airport than 6:00AM and I can see why.

About 25 mins later a whole busload of VN crew materialise from a few Mai Linh taxi's and began the process of setting up. We stood inline for the Y checkin but I told Mrs Diddy that as soon as someone made it into the J check-in seat we would be off speedy gonsalez style.

And sure enough we dashed through the queue building up and plonked ourselves in the J line with a well worn blue carpet that hasn't been vacuumed since the airport opened.

Check in was quick, seats 1A & C in hand and off to the lounge - Yes all your google searches are pointing to here, there is a Bus Class lounge for VN in Nha Trang.

Check in prior to staff arriving:

2012-01-28 06.22.01 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

A quick trudge up the escalators and past security on the left and the J lounge appeared:

2012-01-28 07.19.35 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

(in case anyone was wondering that IS a cardboard cutout. Believe me I had a couple of double takes)

Lounge is well what I expected for Nha Trang. Staff are friendly but the decor is dated with limited good food options. Internet is available on 3 computers at the back of the lounge and works reasonably well.

2012-01-28 06.50.07 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

2012-01-28 06.49.50 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

We mulled around eating a couple of bits and pieces but I mostly had coffee. The lounge filled up quite quickly with 2 groups of families of 6 but there was still room.

No announcements over the PA and no help from the staff at the lounge but I could see the gate and waited in the lounge until the last of the Y passengers boarded - no priority for J pax

Flight was an A321 with 16 J seats. Entire J and Y were full. In fact the flights for the next 4 days were completed sold out J & Y so if you are thinking about travelling during TET keep this in mind and book early.

Seats were very comfy even though they looked old. Unluckily for us the entire 2 families made up the rest of J along with another couple which made the J cabin quite noisy. Still an hour flight tops so it wasn't going to bother me, until junior behind began singing the bloody Woolworths theme song from their ad's over and over and over and over..........and over again.

Still highly recommend the J esp at the price we paid which I think was $5AUD more than the Y ticket. Some pics (I realise that in my early morning daze I forgot to take some photo's of the actual seats and cabin. Best way to describe them would be the Thalys first class seats you get between Brussels and Amsterdam. They were really quite comfy and one could easily fall asleep even on such a short flight):

2012-01-28 07.42.41 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

A slight upgrade from Y on VN - You get juice (apple or orange) and a proper wet towel with some roasted nuts and that's it:

2012-01-28 07.42.53 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Played with the lighting to try to make it look like JW Black :

2012-01-28 08.07.16 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

2012-01-28 08.07.30 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

And 55 minutes later we were at Ho Chi Minh

Flight details:

NHA -> SAI

Scheduled departure 07:45
Actual departure 07:50

Scheduled arrival: 08:40
Actual arrival: 08:45

Priority baggage tags means that we were able to disembark and catch a taxi within 15 mins. Bags were 5 & 6 on the belt

On the taxi situation at Ho Chi Minh - There is a prepaid coupon that you can purchase but you're overpaying by about 60,000VND ($2). Just walk to the main line and you'll get allocated a taxi (if not Mai Linh try Vinasun as they were very good). Cost to the Intercontinental was about 100,000VND (and at this price tip your driver).

Next post the wonderful Intercontinental!!