Where to Stay in Vietnam: Areas and Resorts Honestly Compared

Vietnam is long. Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City is about 1,700 km, roughly Delhi to Chennai, and the usual mistake Indian travellers make is booking one hotel and hoping to see the country from it. What works is picking two or three bases and hopping between them on short domestic flights. Here is where to stay in Vietnam area by area, who each one suits, rough nightly rupee rates, and the split stay that settles it for most first trips. Prices are approximate and climb around Tet and Christmas.

Hanoi: Old Quarter or Tay Ho

The Old Quarter is where nearly every first-timer stays, and for a two night stop it is the right call. You can walk to Hoan Kiem Lake, the night market, Ta Hien beer street and about forty bowls of pho without a taxi. The trade-off: rooms facing Ta Hien are loud until 1 am on weekends, and the quiet rooms are usually windowless. Ask for an upper floor set back from the street.

• Old Quarter 3-star: approx Rs 2,500 to 4,500
• Old Quarter boutique 4-star (Hanoi La Siesta, Peridot Grand): approx Rs 5,000 to 9,000
• Tay Ho (West Lake): approx Rs 4,000 to 8,000, calmer, but 20 to 30 minutes back to the sights in traffic

Couples and families with small children who value sleep should take Tay Ho or the French Quarter. Everyone else: Old Quarter, two nights, no more.

Halong Bay versus Lan Ha Bay

This is what most guides get wrong. The main Halong cruise route is crowded, with dozens of boats anchoring in the same coves for the same sunset. Lan Ha Bay, the next bay south off Cat Ba island, has identical limestone scenery with a fraction of the boats, and the drive from Hanoi is the same at roughly 2.5 hours.

Skip the one day Halong trip from Hanoi. It is five hours of bus for four hours on the water.

• Solid overnight cabin: approx Rs 8,000 to 14,000 per cabin, all meals included
• Higher end (Orchid, Heritage Binh Chuan, Stellar of the Seas): approx Rs 16,000 to 28,000

Da Nang and Hoi An: the best all-rounder

If you get one beach base in Vietnam, make it this stretch. Da Nang has a long clean city beach (My Khe), five star resorts at prices that would embarrass Goa, and an airport 10 minutes from the sand. Hoi An is 40 to 45 minutes south, so you can base in one and day trip the other.

• Da Nang beachfront (Hyatt Regency, Furama, Premier Village): families who want a pool and a kids club. Approx Rs 9,000 to 18,000.
• Da Nang An Thuong: budget and solo travellers, walkable bars, cheap seafood. Approx Rs 2,500 to 5,000.
• Hoi An An Bang beach: couples. Low-rise resorts, bicycles into the Old Town in 15 minutes. Approx Rs 5,000 to 12,000.
• Hoi An Old Town edge: first-timers who want lanterns at 7 pm without arranging a car. Approx Rs 3,500 to 8,000.

Honest warning: Hoi An's Old Town floods most Octobers and Novembers, sometimes knee-deep. Book An Bang or Da Nang on those dates and visit on a dry morning.

Phu Quoc: the proper island stay

Phu Quoc is the island for the sit-still half of the trip. It is bigger than Singapore, so where you land changes the holiday.

• Long Beach (Bai Truong) and Duong Dong: the sensible default. 15 to 20 minutes from the airport, sunsets, night market, food outside the resort. Approx Rs 4,500 to 9,000 for a good 4-star.
• Ong Lang: quieter coves, 25 minutes out, for couples who plan to stay put. Approx Rs 6,000 to 14,000.
• The far north (Bai Dai, Vinpearl and Grand World): a self-contained resort city, 45 to 55 minutes from the airport and an hour from anything local. Good for families who want a safari and theme park on tap, poor if you want to see actual Vietnam.

The best resorts in Vietnam sit here (JW Marriott Emerald Bay, Regent, Premier Village) at approx Rs 20,000 to 50,000, under a comparable Maldives villa.

Nightlife, honestly

Ho Chi Minh City wins comfortably. District 1 is walking distance from rooftop bars, Ben Thanh and Bui Vien walking street, which is loud, neon, and either great fun or your idea of hell. Approx Rs 3,500 to 8,000 for a good 4-star. Da Nang and Hoi An have beach bars and little after midnight. Phu Quoc nightlife is the night market and your resort bar. Skip Nha Trang if Da Nang or Phu Quoc is already on the plan, and skip Mui Ne altogether: three hours from Saigon for something Goa already does better.

The split stays that work

• 8 nights, classic first trip: Hanoi 2 + overnight cruise 1 + Da Nang or Hoi An 3 + Ho Chi Minh City 2. One internal flight of about 80 minutes, usually Rs 3,000 to 6,000.
• 8 nights, beach heavy for couples: Hoi An 4 + Phu Quoc 4, connecting through Ho Chi Minh City.
• 6 nights, north only: Hanoi 2 + Lan Ha Bay cruise 1 + Ninh Binh 1 + Hanoi 2. Add Sapa only with a spare night, since it is roughly 5 hours each way by road.
• 10 nights with kids: Hanoi 2 + cruise 1 + Da Nang 4 + Phu Quoc 3.

Whichever Vietnam areas you pick, two bases beat five. Every extra hop costs half a day in airports.

Know before you go

• Flights: direct from Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City on IndiGo, VietJet and Vietnam Airlines, typically approx Rs 22,000 to 40,000 return. Da Nang gets seasonal direct flights. Phu Quoc always needs a domestic connection.
• Visa: Indian passport holders use the Vietnam e-visa, valid up to 90 days. The fee is roughly USD 25 for single entry, but confirm the current fee and processing time on the official government e-visa portal.
• Vegetarian food: com chay (Buddhist vegetarian) restaurants exist in every city. Uu Dam Chay in Hanoi and Hum Vegetarian in Ho Chi Minh City are reliable. Learn khong nuoc mam (no fish sauce), which hides in broths that look vegetarian. Indian restaurants are easy in the big cities and thin on Phu Quoc, so tell the resort in advance.
• Plenty of Da Nang hotels sit across a six lane road and still say beachfront. Check the map pin, not the photos.
• Carry small dong notes for Grab bikes and markets. Vietnam hotels take cards; street stalls often do not.

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Pick your bases first, then hotels. The other way round and you spend the holiday in a car.