Mustachioventures: Bed Hopping

Monday, October 1, 2012

Bed Hopping

Three places. Three beds.

From Google Maps

Y Nhi Guesthouse

241/30 Pham Ngu Lao Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City

ynhihotel@gmail.com

Early morning at Y Nhi, the gate has just been half opened

The alleys and streets perpendicular to Pham Ngu Lao Street (Saigon's backpackers' area) are packed with hostels and guesthouses. For three nonconsecutive days, we called Y Nhi Guesthouse our home in alley 241.

Take off your shoes before entering the guesthouse

The first time we stayed at Y Nhi, there were five in our group and we were given a twin room (US$15) and a triple room (US$18). Second time, our group grew to six, we were given a triple and a double room and was charged US$6 per person. The third time was for four and we were assigned the triple room for US$6 per person. All rooms have AC and its own toilet and bath. Towels are provided.

The guesthouse has free WiFi. Two PCs with internet access are also available in the lobby. Bus tickets and tours can be arranged by the guesthouse. You can also have them arrange a taxi to take you to the airport for US$8 per taxi (can accommodate up to 4 persons). Y Nhi has no restaurant, but you won't go hungry in this area. There are many restaurants along Pham Ngu Lao Street and many food vendors pop up in the alley around 7AM. A convenience store can also be found on the corner of alley 241 and Pham Ngu Lao.

Double room at the topmost floor
Forgot to take a photo of the twin and triple rooms we stayed in.

Why did we keep coming back to Y Nhi? The lady owner, Loen, is very accommodating and motherly. She carefully wrote down the dates of when we were going out of town and when we were coming back for us to confirm that she got the room reservations and bus tickets and destinations right. She (or her husband when she is not available) would accompany us to the main street to make sure we got on the right bus or taxi. We were also allowed to leave some of our things while we were running around Southern Vietnam.

Mui Ne Backpackers Resort

88 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Ham Tien, Mui Ne, Phan Tiet

info@muinebackpackers.com

Mui Ne Backpackers Resort has twin rooms, family rooms, beachside bungalows, and dorm rooms. The resort does not have a restaurant but, no worries, restaurants are just next door or across the street. WiFi is available in the rooms and in the lobby. There is one PC with internet access at the lobby for the use of the guests.

The resort's lobby (left) and the beachfront (right)

Room reservations (except for dorm beds which are for walk-ins) require advance payment but after countless failed attempts in paying thru PayPal, Dan, the manager, was kind enough to hold one family room for us. The family room (US$30) is good for 4 persons. Since we were five in the group, we added US$5 for an extra mattress. The family room has a queen size bed and a bunk bed, TV, mini ref, large lockers, and a spacious toilet and bath. All the rooms in the resort have AC. Towels are also provided.

The family room

A daily tour around Mui Ne is offered by the resort for US$8 per person. The tour will take you to the fairy spring, fishing village, white sand dunes, lotus lake, and the red sand dunes. If you miss their schedule (2PM), you can avail of the tour offered by TM Brothers, just across the street. The tour offered by TM Brothers costs US$6 per person but will only cover the fishing village, white sand dunes, and red sand dunes. Bus tickets can be bought from them or from the resort.

TM Brothers

Dalat 24H

22B Phan Nhu Thach, Da Lat

dalat24hhotel@gmail.com

The rooms in Dalat 24H are huge with queen size beds. The triple room costs US$15. It has its own toilet and bath, mini ref, a TV, and small terrace too. Watch out though, the locks don't look too secure (and the doorknob of the terrace door in our room is broken!). The rate supposedly includes free breakfast, but when we received our bill, after having our bread and eggs, it wasn't. There is no AC nor fan in the room for Da Lat is in the highlands and blessed with cool temperatures (average range of 15°C to 24°C) year round. The hotel has WiFi and PCs with internet access are also available in the lobby. As with most hotels in Vietnam, tours can be arranged and bus tickets can be bought from the hotel.