Peeking out from behind a courtyard decorated with colourful French cafe-style tables and chairs, bright red umbrellas and a frangipani tree, Hoi An’s Hoang Trinh Hotel is an excellent, quiet, under-$20 place to stay surrounded by some of the town’s most beautiful architecture. Front-facing rooms and the second-floor breakfast balcony look straight over the magnificent Confucius temple … read the full post

An offshoot of long established social enterprise Just Massage, Ms Dzung’s Massage employs blind and partially-sighted staff and offers quality massages in a calming environment at good prices in Hanoi. Just Massage closed in 2012 (it has now re-opened — see below) so Ms Dzung, a skilled blind masseuse and trainer, decided to set up her own massage … read the full post

There’s something about camping down on a tiny plastic stool and experiencing dining the Vietnamese way in Hoi An, even if said stool is hanging treacherously over the gutter of a busy road, you’re ankle deep in bits of screwed up paper and you’ve not a clue what you’ll be served because you’ve followed that … read the full post

Saigon has a quite a few street food-style restaurants with great reputations, such as Hoang Ty, which stands out for a few dishes: banh canh in the mornings, morphing into banh trang dishes from lunch-time onwards. While the restaurant has a thick menu, featuring a version of most southern dishes, banh canh is what you should go for to … read the full post

Hoi An has got a bit of a reputation as a place to shop, and one area it excels in is shoes. Cobblers are lined back to back just outside the old town, each one displaying an arousing selection of dusty, dirty, badly glued pumps and sneakers, sandals and the odd bejewelled, eight-inch stacked heeled … read the full post

Before the new crop of hostels in Saigon emerged, the best deals for a bed in the city were found at guesthouses. While guesthouses may no longer be the cheapest places to sleep in HCMC, they still offer some of the best bang for your lodging buck. If you value your privacy and want to stay … read the full post

Com ga originated a few tens of kilometres down the coast, away from Hoi An, in Tam Ky. It’s similar to the Hainanese dish wenchang, which was introduced by immigrants to Central Vietnam during the marine silk road trading era. Hoi An then claimed the title of being the main shipping and R&R port for … read the full post

Rooms at Hanoi’s Hibiscus Hotel come in three shapes and sizes: the front, the back and the attic. Standard rooms are spacious and reasonable value, but the attic room is the best we’ve seen for the budget price and the whole reason we are reviewing this place. Be warned though: there’s only one. Rooms at … read the full post

While everybody raves about the low prices of massages in Saigon, fewer people know that you can find great prices for other wellness treatments. Acupuncture, called cham cuu locally, is just one you can get at pennies on the dollar compared to what you’d find in the West. Here’s what to expect in HCMC. Acupuncture, … read the full post

Especen Hotel is in a great Hanoi location, near to St Joseph’s cathedral, the lake and heaps of shops and food spots, and offers bright and well decked out rooms at really good value. It’s a good choice for those prepared to spend a little more than backpacker rates for extra comfort and space. Rooms differ slightly depending … read the full post