Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam and Singapore
For 2025, I wanted to visit Vietnam’s central coast and debated various cities before committing to visit Da Nang. It took me a few months to decide what part of central Vietnam to visit so I didn’t pay attention to the fact that the government would be celebrating Reunification Day in the month I was visiting. For the history buffs, this marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam conflict with America.
I was using a number of itineraries to make this travel work. The complications came from booking an extra seat for the transpacific flight and using miles and promotions for the shorter legs. My flight path was one short trip to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and then three seats for a party of two from SFO to Changi Airport (SIN) and then miles from SIN to Da Nang International Airport (DAD)/Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN). I basically had three round trip itineraries for this trip! I did this because I have found that booking an extra economy seat is more appealing to me than upgrading to business or premier class on international flights. I don’t need an extra seat for local/domestic flights under two hours. Hence the three separate round trips. United started offering direct service from SFO to SIN and I was able to get direct flight from SIN to Vietnam on Singapore Airlines using points reducing my cash expense. Using the United miles on the Singapore segments saved me a few hundred dollars and maximized my mile valuation.
At SIN, I was granted access to the basic lounge which was fine. Popped in for a quick break before each flights (inbound and outbound) for quick meals.
SINGAPORE
Since I had to overnight in Singapore on both ends, I opted to stay at two very different hotels. For the initial stay, I opted to redeem my Hilton certificate for a night at the new Conrad Orchard Singapore. It was formerly the Regent Hotel and they converted in 2024. It was also an Inter-Continental hotel earlier in its history, so they have a reputation of luxury hospitality. Although it was only one night, I would look forward to coming back to Singapore to stay here. I would rank this Conrad in my top two favorites. They have these in house pineapple cookies that made me drool for more and the concierge was gracious enough to give me another box as a parting gift. They sometimes sell them in the cafe. I don’t normally like pineapple cookies, but this version set the bar for me.
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| Conrad Orchard Singapore Pineapple Cakes |
The hotel upgraded me to a suite and all the amenities are very nice.
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| Conrad Orchard Singapore Coffee Station |
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| Conrad Orchard Singapore Suite |
The breakfast buffet is hosted in Basilico inside the Conrad lobby. Overall, I found the breakfast satisfying.
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| Conrad Orchard Singapore Basilico |
I did double dip and checked out the Diamond Lounge for both afternoon tea and breakfast. Overall, the restaurant is always the better option but the afternoon snacks were tasty. The staff even gave me a to go bag of treats!
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| Conrad Orchard Singapore Lounge |
On my return to Singapore, I redeemed another hotel certificate to the Marriott Courtyard Novena. Since this was a tighter layover, I chose this location for both proximity to Changi Airport and attached to a mall. I correctly assumed that I could get access to dinner by choosing this particular hotel. The welcome gift was nice, it included a hard seltzer and the room was comfortable. It also felt relatively new.
Dining was limited to what was readily available at the hotel or the attached mall (at the Courtyard). I enjoyed my Jollibee meal.
DA NANG
The bulk of my time was spent in Da Nang and some surrounding cities/areas. Travelling with family, I booked a villa at the Da Nang Marriott Resort & Spa, Non Nuoc Beach Villas and booked a two-bedroom villa. The hotel upgraded the room to the three-bedroom villa. In general, the space was more than generous for my group of 5 people. I was completely impressed that each villa was its own unique building. It almost felt like a gated community. This is also my first time in Vietnam where I was staying at a "beach" resort. Due to the timing of the year, it was actually not warm enough to go into the water and it was also very rough. I can see how in the summer the beach area is popular for sun worshippers.
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| Marriott Da Nang Villas 3 bedroom living room |
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| Marriott Da Nang Villas 3 bedroom dining area |
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| Marriott Da Nang Villas 3 bedroom main bedroom |
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| Marriott Da Nang Villas 3 bedroom secondary bedroom |
While at the Marriott, I used a laundry service nearby and connect with Smile Laundry via Whatsapp. They were easy to connect with and the prices are worth it as they will pick up and drop off in a day.
On my last day in Da Nang, I switched to the Hilton Da Nang to experience what staying "in town" would feel like and didn't need the space as my group size reduced to half. I was able to walk around the city center for the day, buy a tailored ao dai, and see how many Koreans come through Vietnam as a tourist destination. The hotel rolled out the red carpet by giving me a suite and making sure I was aware of the lounge. Overall, they were very nice for my one night stay. I forget how much the international locations rarely see Diamonds.
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| Hilton Da Nang King Suite Living Room |
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| Hilton Da Nang King Suite Living Room |
Ba Na Hills - The viral pictures of a "hand bridge" is actually in the outskirts of Da Nang. Ba Na Hills is a theme park/resort. Personally, I didn't really understand the purpose of the theme park in the traditional western sense. It was more of a park than a theme park. It does take about an hour to get to the theme park. I had booked through Tripadvisor ground transportation and private guide to the theme park with Tommy Dao Tours. Overall, I found the guide helpful in the sense of understanding how the theme park operates. Would I say you need to visit the theme park? No, I don't think it is worth the effort compared to other natural parks/sites.
HOI AN
One of the day trips I took while in Da Nang was to Hoi An. A smaller city about 50 minutes from Da Nang city center, it is a much more foreign tourist area than Da Nang. If I could give it a comparison, the center of Hoi An is a Vietnamese version of the Old Quarter in New Orleans. Many little shops, cafes, and restaurants catering to foreign and local tourists. I had befriended a local driver when I was using Grab. He was able to get "grab" rates without paying the grab fees and I didn't mind. I had bargained a deal for him to take the group for the day to Hoi An. On his suggestion, I visited a tailor for ao daos and ordered a dress which took most of the afternoon. While waiting for the clothing, our group wandered the city center having coffee, dinner and dessert from the local vendors. I couldn't tell you who or what but you can readily enjoy. I was able to find a local vendor selling traditional desserts and that was nice when we were strolling around. Picked up a number of souvenirs as well.
Uncle Hoan Coffee - enjoyed this artfully done ca phe sua da.
HUE
I have only visited central Vietnam once before and it was during a time I was sick and couldn't leave the hotel room. On this trip, I wanted to visit the things I had missed out on. I booked a tour through Viator (with Dacotours) for transportation and private guide to Hue. I knew I was getting a sanitized version since I was booking as a foreign tourist but I didn't mind. Once the guide saw that I was more familiar with the culture, she was good at describing things and focusing on the more interesting parts.
One of the things I wanted to do was see the countryside in this trip. The day trip to Hue was intentional in that I was also traveling along the Hai Van Mountain Pass. We did a pit stop at a former military outpost in the middle and stopped for scenic photos.
Part of the tour included a stop at The Citadel, similar to the concept of the Forbidden City. It is the last home of the last Vietnamese monarch.
The obligatory stop at local restaurant for lunch, overall the meal was nice and clearly catering to tourists.
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| Yes, they reuse the chicken pineapple to other tables. |
Thien Mu Pagoda was visited after lunch. Of all the things in Hue, our final stop at the Khai Dinh Royal Tomb is one landmark I remember visiting in my first trip to Vietnam. I had gotten well enough of that trip to visit the tomb. In the 25 years since I had visited the tomb, the surrounding area has changed significantly. I recall the tomb unsecured and a couple of local dining spots across the entrance. This time around, there were large parking lots for the tourist busses, a ticketing booth/gates, displays showing the history of the tomb, and gift shop. Clearly, the Vietnamese upped the cultural heritage site to capture $$.
SAIGON (HO CHI MINH CITY)
A quick two-night stay in Saigon led me back to the Le Meridien Saigon. I flirted with the idea of staying somewhere else but I decided that I wanted to return to the Le Meridien. Since my last visit to Vietnam, the number of international hotels has increased and Hilton has increased their presence in country. The familiar room layout and lounge was ever present. There was also a cotton candy vending machine that I spent money to see the robot make cotton candy.
With such a tight layover, I didn't spend time outside of enjoying local food and coffee.
Ben Thanh Market - The marketplace has "modernized" in the sense that there is more room to walk between vendors and the prices have gone up. I picked up some coconut candy, keo doi lac, in bulk.
Crystal Jade Palace - When I was looking through Google maps for this trip, I noticed my favorite Singaporean restaurant chain was in Ho Chi Minh. So I enjoyed my last group dinner at this location. It is inside the Lotte Hotel. For the locals, Crystal Jade is as expensive as any western restaurant. I did get to enjoy an order of Peking Duck even if it was the same cost as home.
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