Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
75%
75%
What's Hot
Value For Money, Eating Out, Getting Around, Culture
Value For Money, Eating Out, Getting Around, Culture
What's Not
Chilling Out, Partying, Things To Do, Weather
Chilling Out, Partying, Things To Do, Weather
Also Check Out …
Self-catering
Sightseeing
Bars
Ho Chi Minh Reviews ( 50 reviews )
| Ho Chi Minh Reviews |
by ilikeelep
| 26 Sep 2006 | 60% |
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I really enjoyed my time in this city lots to do great food. The only bad thing is all that traffic |
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by maxperform
| 8 May 2007 | 80% |
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Saigon - (Than Pho Ho Chi Minh) Gone the time of " Le grand Monde " (1954) the brothel, casino, Opium den of Chô Lon that was in the hands of the Binh Xuan .. No more partiedepoker around either ... Today the Ho Chi Minh city offers a poluted version of a hell of a striving to succeed life. An amazing place for those who love movement & busy cities. Any business ideas could allow you to make a fortune .. if you are aware on how to fight your way through the vietnamese crafty peoples. Do not let the civil servants grab your hard earned Dongs! Also: Beware not to be lured by the lovely sirens in white "Ao Dai" as they are fast on spotting healty foreign investors. Travel: Ho Chi Minh is a nice place to strart up your journey. Hotels pricings can range from 70.000 VND onwards (7usd) - Rent a Honda or better: Use a "moto hom" (honda taxi) in order to avoid hours of traffic jams (do not forget to buy a gaz mask (available for 10 000 vnd at street vendors) Vietnam: If you are there just to enjoy the scenery: visit the Mekong Delta early morning and visit Hoi an - get lost in the late night street of Hanoï even if there are no more "traction avant" 11 L Citröen and foreign legionnaires.. The Along bay is a marvel but tourism has been there to spoil the beauty of the once peacefull place. I shall report for each city a little report... in due time. Meanwhile: You have little time left to visit a country that is still "virgin" .. ! |
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by JAnast
| 13 Mar 2007 | 80% |
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HCM City is a unique experience - where there are 12 million people and the motorbikes still outnumber the population. A good place to start your travels in IndoChina. Good value for money. Good food. |
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by AussieDM
| 9 Jan 2007 | 80% |
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Its getting very dangerous now to ride on schooters. We saw atkeast one accident a day, although they were not serious it could put a dampener on ur holiday. Better to pay a little more and get a cab. |
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by Wilsk
| 13 Feb 2007 | 40% |
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Ho Chi Minh was a stepping stone to go to Cambodia. Couldnt wait to get out of there. |
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by ncisc
| 17 May 2006 | 60% |
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I did went in May and was very, very hot already. Very humid, just wanted to stay in the hotel with the air conditioning! |
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by gibson1435
| 15 Feb 2007 | 80% |
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Had to change dates twice due to unforseen circumstances -staff very accomodating-were unable to stay at redsun -staff arranged for another hotel nearby |
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by dougjones
| 30 Nov 2006 | 60% |
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We were in Saigon for a 7 day stay, which we found more than enough. The major tour excursion, city attractions a few and although the shopping can be great, 2-3 days would have been enough. |
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by natalie1037
| 17 Aug 2006 | 60% |
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Ho Chi Minh City has a lot to offer and is a major metropolis with a diverse array of things to offer. However we wish it had a decent public transportation system. We felt like the typical tourist traps were underwhelming. Especially the War Museum and the Botanical Gardens/Zoo. But the shopping is excellent and the people are friendly. |
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by gl3451
| 18 Mar 2006 | 80% |
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Bed and Breakfast Ho Van Hue really provided all necessary information to make out most of your stay in Ho Chi Minh city/ Vietnam |
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by gl3451
| 28 Aug 2006 | 80% |
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I was totally pleased with my stay at the Bed and Breakfast Ho Van Hue. Very quiet place, friendly and helpful staff, very clean room... It will surely be my first choice for all my next trips to Vietnam. I had a wonderful time in Vietnam especially in Ho Chi Minh city. Bustling but peaceful. People here are very friendly. Iideal destination for everyone ! |
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by premya
| 8 Sep 2006 | 60% |
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Taxis especially the drivers with the neckties are quite safe and honest but the way to go is through motorcycle rides with a driver preferably as Vietnamese driving is not for the fainthearted. Try doing a panorama of Saigon City at night and end in a Pho snack at one of the best pho shops Pho Anh then do the shopping or more intensive sightseeing after together with the Cu Chi tunnel or Mekong River tours. |
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by Rickd2295
| 11 Jul 2006 | 80% |
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Although this place was a hostel - they treated it like a hotel. The people who work here are extremely nice - fresh towels everyday and breakfast, though simple, is included. We highly recommend it and will stay here again if we return. |
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by AndyB2457
| 12 Nov 2006 | 60% |
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Compared to other cities in the region, Ho Chi Minh is developing nicely. It combines its cultural roots with a new western flavour and there is enough to see and do to keep you interested. Unfortunately the people are far too Anti-American and some of the war memorial stuff is un-balanced and glorifies torture and killing. |
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by andrew9073
| 18 Aug 2006 | 80% |
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If you are stopping here as the first place in Vietnam you see - DONT get stuck here - Vietnam has much better places to be...I have been to every major city and I would recommend Dalat (for cool mountain retreat), Nha Trang (for OK beaches, but not great compared to Thailand or Aus), Hue (get some suits made or just cyle around on an old rusty bike!), Hanoi - great city, especially in the old quarter, Halong Bay - breathtaking and Sapa - the best place I ever visited in Vietnam - more than breathtaking...hire a motor bike and drive them around the downhill villages. Amazing. |
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by Jovit9423
| 14 Jul 2006 | 80% |
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The place and great and the only hang up I have is to climb 5 storeys of stairs to my room. |
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by jenhar1113
| 6 Jul 2006 | 60% |
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Ho Chi Minh is an intersting place, and we are glad we visited and got a chance to experience the culture of the locals rather than just remain tourists. However you don't need to stay long to get the feel of it. Take a look at the war museums, but you won't need more than a day or 2 to see all you need to see, unless you love big noisy cities! |
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by kogee
| 7 Jul 2006 | 60% |
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the city is full of life at all times and has loads of great cheap eats. the beer is always at full flow as well as the taxi and motor bike drives (which becomes a head ache at times). |
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| 28 Aug 2006 | 100% |
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I really enjoyed the breakfast, it was nice to be served in the table and the breakfast in general was very pleasing. Tee was excellent. The staff helped me to get a prepaid card for the phone, I was very happy about this service :) I will recommend you to my friends! |
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by alison7401
| 30 Aug 2006 | 100% |
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I have to say one of the things I enjoyed most was getting a pedicure almost everyday here! The price is fair and the service is great, a good opportunity to catch up on the gossip magazines. I also got my haircut here and I have to say it was the best haircut ever! a good chance to pamper yourself for a quarter of the cost. |
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by jacqui3244
| 24 Aug 2006 | 80% |
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Busy, noisey, bustling, traffic, people, crazey drivers, shops, resstaurants, massage, fantastic! |
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by Sharonpa
| 8 Oct 2006 | 100% |
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Great experience with a culture so different to ours!! Everyone is so friendly. |
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by raffr
| 21 Apr 2007 | 80% |
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It's easy to plan your own holiday in Ho Chi Minh City. If you want a budget stay that's comfortable, the best place to be is the Pham Ngu Lao/De Tham/Bui Vien area. Tour agents offer day trips to the Mekong River and Cu Chi Tunnels daily, and there are no lack of tours in this busy area. Just note that all these day tours start at 8 in the morning, so if you arrive in the late morning, don't expect to get on a cheap day tour that these agents are providing. |
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1 out of 1 members found this review useful
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by peterlew
| 5 Feb 2007 | 80% |
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There is no lift and the water got cut off from time to time. On the 3rd floor the water pressure was really bad actually but the helpfulness and friendliness of the staff made up for that. |
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by saleen
| 29 Dec 2006 | 100% |
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We found the staff helpful. The breakfast included cooked eggs, tea/coffee, breads and jam, bananas. The a/c was dodgy and necessary in a windowless room, but we sort of got it working. It was very basic but for the price - good value and great location. |
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by xanskinner
| 5 Oct 2006 | 40% |
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Didn't really see anything that would inspire me to go back. Food was great though. Enjoyed sampling food on the river dinner cruise that was recommended by guest house staff. |
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| 9 Oct 2006 | 80% |
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The city is very interesting and quite safe. Food and drinks are extremily cheap. The service is great!! |
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by alasdair382
| 2 Feb 2007 | 80% |
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Saigon was great till, a nice ending to Vietnam, except when we got shafted leaving by crooked border gaurds - check your visas before you leave |
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by TomVanho477
| 30 Oct 2006 | 60% |
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Very hectic and loud city, but you can party for 24 hours a day. Nice bars, even better restaurants in the backpackers district. Not that much to see in the city, but the trips to the surrounding regions are very cheap. |
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by alexla122
| 17 Nov 2006 | 100% |
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Ho Chi Minh is like traveling back in time about 30 years in South East Asia. However, it is growing so fast that things are quickly changing. I find it very affordable, nice people, awesome food. Like most South East Asian countries, it is really hot weathered. |
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by Tazoboy
| 15 Jan 2007 | 100% |
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Didnt' know what to expect, but the city was very vibrant and fun! I loved Saigon. |
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by Hoofn
| 14 Jan 2007 | 100% |
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Ho Chi Minh City is a very exciting place, I'm very glad I went and will return someday. It's very inexpensive and there's just so much to do. Be careful, too many inexpensive things become expensive. I spent a little too much money there. If you need any advice just find a motorbike driver to talk with. They know the ins and outs of the cities. If you can try to travel north as well. I went to Da Lat and it was literally breathtaking. At the moment I'm in Nha Trang...on the beach. Vietnam is such an amazing country. |
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by pitzzz
| 29 Dec 2006 | 80% |
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saigon is a nice city with the cultural places to see as well as partying scenes. there're a lot of tourists and u get to meet a lot of different people. the best part was every is sooo cheap! i spent $150 only within 4 days... this included accomodation, tour, massages, a lot of food and drinks. it was just awesome! u've gotta watch the roads when u're crossing the streets though, there're millions of bikes in saigon. |
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by edward9574
| 14 Jan 2007 | 80% |
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A great historic and informative city. We learned a lot about Vietnam 1965 - present. Quite Americanised compared to the rest of Vietnam. |
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by cleorabbit
| 23 Mar 2007 | 60% |
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i booked online for An An, but they moved me to a different hotel around the corner, called An An 2. I suspect An An is nicer (according to picture online) overall, but my room was worth the $25. in general the staff is very friendly and eager to please. however, the internet is incredibly slow, to the point that i went 8 days without email access. i could have gone elsewhere and paid, but was annoyed that the 'free internet' really didn't exist. this might be a general problem in the area, or maybe not. also, i decided to extend my stay following a mekong river delta tour and had made a verbal agreement with one of the desk staff about booking the same priced room. she said no problem, and the next day when i asked again, she said, don't worry. then, the day before i left for the tour, i asked a different girl about my assumed reservation, and she told me that all the rooms were booked except for the $30 luxury penthouse suite. i had been paying $25 a night, which was already above my budget for HCMC. i wish they had told me earlier that this was the case, because maybe a cheaper room had been available but was booked by the time i asked the 'right' person who does the actual bookings. overall, AnAn 2 was the cleanest hotel I stayed in Vietnam, and the price is indicative of that. The cable tv reception was fuzzy, which again might just be HCMC and not the hotel. Recommended for cleanliness. |
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by Irenewal7707
| 15 Mar 2007 | 80% |
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loved ho chi minh city but crossing the street was terrifying....... plenty of sight seeing but be careful of the motor bike taxi they will try to screw you. |
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| 28 Mar 2007 | 20% |
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My inital impression of Saigon was the incredible traffic. I've never seen so many scooters in my life. The number of scooters in Paris and Rome pale in comparison to the overwhelming number of scooters in Saigon. As I explored more of the city, I really began to enjoy it. It's a city full of energy and vitality. Like Tokyo, Saigon is fairly stade and boring during the day, but at night, it transforms itself. People from all age groups are out strolling, and young couples pack the cafes. Saigon demands mulitple visits. |
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by ppeini6135
| 30 Mar 2007 | 60% |
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Surprisingly modern, Ho Chi Minh City has some qualities of a developed city yet is rich in culture and heritage. Within the city, there are shopping malls, historically sites, night market and excellent variety of food. HCM is also the gateway to beach resort in Vietnam as well as the Mekong Delta. Previously a french colony, architecture of some parts of the city is strong influenced by the french culture. Hence, one might feel that she is in paris when sitting at a small french bistro, sipping coffee and admiring the buildings and architecture. |
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| 8 Apr 2007 | 60% |
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Very lively city. Half of the population seems to be riding a motorbike at any given time. The food is very good if you can avoid the touist Vietnamese food in the city centre. The same goes for shopping. We found the outer fringes of the city centre had the most to offer on these front - thats where the locals go |
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| 3 Nov 2007 | 100% |
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The food are cheap and the locals are friendly. It\'s a young city and you see a lot of hope there! |
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by Jocatti
| 6 Nov 2007 | 60% |
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Mad mad city, great fun, feels very safe. Never seen so many motorbikes in my life. A drink at the Saigon Saigon bar was a great experience, watching the busy city from above while enjoying a lychee martini - perfect! |
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by jasperjugan
| 13 Dec 2007 | 60% |
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Nice city, rich in culture and taste. War lovers (not me) would definitely love it. |
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by ramzi8313
| 3 Feb 2008 | 80% |
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There are hundreds of thousands of motorbikes in HCMC, the noise they generate can be unbearable. Eating out and shopping is very affordable to this day. |
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by italktocats
| 6 Jan 2008 | 160% |
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On our trip we actually stopped over in HCMC two other times before finally staying for more than one night and having a decent look. The first time we were located outside the centre of town so didn\'t do much. The second time we were located somewhere nearby the airport so were even more out of the way. But the third time we stayed right in the heart of the backpacker distric just down the road from the central markets and right next to heaps of pubs and restaurants. It was SUCH a good area to stay in. We met heaps of other aussies (holiday season) and generally had a blast. |
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