Great value in Can Tho
Minh Vuong Hotel makes budget travel a civilised affair, with rooms that are clean and tidy, the little details thought out right down to the cute wee rubbish bin. The compact rooms are well organised and it comes as no surprise that for a time the owner worked in Japan.
In addition to being brightly lit, the rooms have quiet air-con, a desk, mirror, fan, flatscreen TV, fresh clean linens and unmarked walls. The wetroom bathrooms, which are a bit cramped, feature electric heated showers with decent pressure. The somewhat stark, small standard rooms have no windows and aren’t glamorous but are ok for a night. Superior rooms have frosted windows for natural light. In front of the hotel is a quiet parkette and across the adjacent street Tran Phu is Vincom Centre mall, which has a grocery store should you need any supplies.
The minor downside is the hotel is inland, one kilometre from the river’s main strip and tourist centre which you’ll want to visit and walk along if you’ve got time. Getting to the river for the tour won’t be a problem: the helpful, friendly English speaking reception can book a tour directly with a small motorised sampan and the boat driver will pick up and drop off at the hotel (we recommend booking private trips like this rather than going on a big tour boat).
Also, if you arrive/depart to Can Tho with Phuong Trang bus company, you can grab their free shuttle between the bus station and your hotel. So for some, being outside of the tourist strip won’t be an issue. Otherwise, to get around and hit up Can Tho’s excellent eats you’ll need the hotel to call a taxi or rent one of their motorbikes, which aren’t in great shape. Rentals are 150,000 dong a day. It’s not so easy to find and flag down a taxi in this part of the city.
The hotel is a quiet place, as most people stay for only one night, hop on the morning tour before returning, refreshing and checking out. Some travellers even arrive in the dead of night, squeezing in a couple of hours of shut eye before their floating market tour. Whether for one night or a few, Minh Vuong is an excellent choice for the flashpacker who doesn’t mind being away from the tourist centre.
Address: 25 Phan Dang Luu, Thoi Binh Ward
T: (0292) 382 6590; (0122) 217 1217;
Email: hotelminhvuong@gmail.com
Coordinates (for GPS): 105º46'48.07" E, 10º2'40.15" N
See position in Apple or Google Maps: Apple Maps | Google Maps
Room rates: US$10 to 20
What we were quoted as a walk-in.
Standard double room | 300,000 dong | 300,000 dong |
Superior double room | 340,000 dong | 340,000 dong |
Deluxe double room | 570,000 dong | 570,000 dong |
Reviewed by
Cindy Fan
Cindy Fan is a Canadian writer/photographer and author of So Many Miles, a website that chronicles the love of adventure, food and culture. After falling in love with sticky rice and Mekong sunsets, in 2011 she uprooted her life in Toronto to live la vida Laos. She’s travelled to over 40 countries and harbours a deep affection for Africa and Southeast Asia. In between jaunts around the world, she calls Laos and Vietnam home where you’ll find her traipsing through rice paddies, standing beside broken-down buses and in villages laughing with the locals.
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