Da Nang, Hoi An Vietnam

[origami]

I have been so busy I haven't done much research at all on Da Nang/Hoi An and I'm going there this week. Any suggestions for sightseeing? We have 1 hotel room for the week in Da Nang so I can't hop around, but willing to hire a taxi/driver. I am also traveling with young kids so I can't do anything too adventurous. But we still like to see cultural sites and things.

rupertpenny!

[rupertpenny]

origami I actually didn't do much in either place besides walk around old town Hoi An, eat, and lounge. We had a driver on the way from Hue to Hoi An and we stopped at Hai Van Pass and Marble Mountian and I think both are worth going to. Hai Van is a little north of Da Nang, but not far. Marble Mountain is right between Da Nang and Hoi An. When we were in Hoi An we went to An Bang beach which was great. Pretty calm water, chairs for rent, restaurants on the beach. It is supposed to be better than Cua Dai Beach but I didn't go there so who knows. And you will probably be beach front in Da Nang so traveling for the beach may not make sense anyway. B was so young when we went that we didn't do any tours or activities, but if we go back I might try something like the farming and fishing tour mentioned here: www.mumonthemove.com/things-to-do-in-hoi-an-with-kids/

In Hoi An we liked Morning Glory so much we ate there twice. It is definitely a place for tourists, but it was really good. The menu was large so you could probably find something for your boys. In Da Nang we just went to a bunch of seafood places by the beach. They were all excellent. We stayed near the corner of Nguyễn Văn Thoại and Võ Nguyên Giáp and I swear every restaurant there was so good. Our hotel was called Song Cong Hotel if you are interested in google mapping the location.

I had some shoes made in Hoi An and I was really excited about them at the time, but unfortunately they have all stretched out a lot since then so I'm not sure I'd recommend it.

[majesty318]

We were in Hoi An for one day and mostly just wandered around town. It's such a quaint city. I recommend eating at the local market. We had such a delicious lunch for about 4 usd total. There are many different stalls, so there should be something your kids would like.

[mdgirl]

All we did in Da Nang was hang around the beach (which is gorgeous) and pool. I don't know how easy it would be with kids, but we had some clothes made in Hoi An. I can try to hunt up the name of the tailor. And we got banh mi at Banh Mi Phuong two days in a row for lunch, which were amazing and cheap.

www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g298082-d2365673-Reviews-Banh_Mi_Phuong-Hoi_An_Quang_Nam_Province.html

[mabillon]

Hey, origami - I think we're headed to Da Nang and Hoi An (plus Ha Long Bay and Hanoi) later this spring. I'd love any hotel recs and ESPECIALLY a car/driver rec if you found somebody with good working seatbelts that could accomodate carseats!

[majesty318]

Feb 10, 2016 8:46:21 GMT -5 mabillon said:

Hey, origami - I think we're headed to Da Nang and Hoi An (plus Ha Long Bay and Hanoi) later this spring. I'd love any hotel recs and ESPECIALLY a car/driver rec if you found somebody with good working seatbelts that could accomodate carseats!

If you want a hotel rec for Hanoi: www.goldensunhotel.com/suites

We stayed there one night in a giant room. We were treated like royalty and ate a gigantic, delicious, included breakfast. We paid like $45. It was fantastic.

The car service we used to get between Ha Long Bay & Hanoi was this one: www.hanoitransferservice.com/

They were good, and both times the cars had seatbelts. One was a minivan and one was a normal 4-door car. We don't have kids or need carseats, but the cars seemed like they would have been accommodating.

[origami]

Feb 10, 2016 8:46:21 GMT -5 mabillon said:

Hey, origami - I think we're headed to Da Nang and Hoi An (plus Ha Long Bay and Hanoi) later this spring. I'd love any hotel recs and ESPECIALLY a car/driver rec if you found somebody with good working seatbelts that could accomodate carseats!

awesome! We are staying at the Hyatt in Danang. It's great if you're looking for a family resort. Right on the beach, great kids pool, etc. It's about 20-30 min from Hoi An and 5min from the marble mountain. If you're just looking for a place to sleep (non-resort) then the Hyatt is overkill. We have been taking the hotel shuttle to Hoi An (more of a bus, so no car seat needed) and taxis. When I asked the hotel about hiring a driver they were confused and thought I wanted to rent my own car, which can be done easily but not what I wanted. Then they told me taxis are best. So I don't know if drivers are less common or what the deal is. Maybe they just didn't understand what I was asking. I'll pay close attention to the seatbelts in today's taxi and report back.

[origami]

mabillon the 3 taxis (2 different companies) we had today all had working seatbelts in the 2nd row (seats by the doors, not the middle). I have no idea if they locked because to be honest I don't even really know what that means, but they seemed normal. HTH!
ETA: the 2nd row seats were also pretty flat. More like a bench, less like bucket seats. Not sure if that matters but I thought I'd mention it because most taxis we saw were similar models.

[mabillon]

Thanks origami!

We may be adding time on to our Danang stay so Halong Bay looks...tough to do with a preschooler and crawling baby (we weren't planning on more than a day cruise anyways but even that may pose excess obstacles). The Hyatt looks lovely - do you know if they are tough on having kids in the room with you (a suite isn't doable for us)?

[origami]

Feb 11, 2016 22:43:12 GMT -5 mabillon said:

Thanks origami!

We may be adding time on to our Danang stay so Halong Bay looks...tough to do with a preschooler and crawling baby (we weren't planning on more than a day cruise anyways but even that may pose excess obstacles). The Hyatt looks lovely - do you know if they are tough on having kids in the room with you (a suite isn't doable for us)?

Nope not at all! We stayed in a standard room. I'm cheap. It had 1 King bed and they put sheets on the couch to make a kids bed. It's not a pull out couch but it's long enough to fit one of my kids (they're 5). We actually brought travel cots so that I wouldn't have to sleep next to the other kid. But a preschooler would easily fit on the couch and a pack n play* would also fit easily so you're good. If you can get a room on the first floor you can walk right out of your patio onto the hotel grounds. Really nice if you're by a pool.

*i think they said online that hotel cribs are ok in the standard rooms. For sure they'll fit.

Have fun! We had crap weather for most of our trip, unfortunately, and the pool isn't heated so it was super cold. But now that it's hot there it should be nice.

[idiotabroad]

Just wanted to second the Hyatt Da Nang recommendation. I've stayed there twice and just booked it again for this coming March that's how much I love it!  It's a fantastic property and the basic rooms are quite big, can definitely put a kid on the couch which is where my 12-year old always sleeps.

[mabillon]

origami and idiotabroad - we just booked the Hyatt Danang for a couple nights in April! We're staying at a boutique hotel in Hoi An beforehand so plan on basically just being pool/beach bums when we hit the Hyatt. However, do either of you have prior experience with the hotel babysitting service? I'm sure we'll check out the kids club either way for the preschooler but I'm wondering if we can rely on a decent sitter for the 10-month-old to do an adult meal or get a tandem massage or something.

[idiotabroad]

mabillon , I am actually heading there on Sunday and can see if the Hyatt offers something besides the kid's club. We have used the kid's club several times before and have had good luck with that. It seems like the Hyatt would offer child care beyond that though.

[mabillon]

Mar 16, 2016 6:55:09 GMT -5 idiotabroad said:

mabillon , I am actually heading there on Sunday and can see if the Hyatt offers something besides the kid's club. We have used the kid's club several times before and have had good luck with that. It seems like the Hyatt would offer child care beyond that though.

Enjoy!  I'm so excited and am quite jealous that your vacation is starting right away!

According to the website, they do offer babysitting.  I guess I'm just wondering if it's the type of thing where I'd actually feel comfortable leaving my baby!  It sounds like you don't have to worry about that with the age of your kids but perhaps you could see if any other parents around mention using the service?  

It's hardly the end of the world but the one thing I'm a little nervous about going into this vacation is that it's our longest trip with kids - much less two kids - and DH and I might reeeeeally benefit from a little solo time!  DH is most nervous about the random sitter and thinks we could hire somebody during the day who could hang out in the kids club with the baby (and DD also, obviously).

[origami]

Mar 16, 2016 3:40:28 GMT -5 mabillon said:

origami and idiotabroad - we just booked the Hyatt Danang for a couple nights in April! We're staying at a boutique hotel in Hoi An beforehand so plan on basically just being pool/beach bums when we hit the Hyatt. However, do either of you have prior experience with the hotel babysitting service? I'm sure we'll check out the kids club either way for the preschooler but I'm wondering if we can rely on a decent sitter for the 10-month-old to do an adult meal or get a tandem massage or something.

I didn't use their babysitting service because we didn't need it, but I've used other resorts' babysitting before and I would have no reservations about doing that at the Hyatt. We used to put the kids to bed early, get a hotel babysitter to watch them sleep, and do our own dinner/spa appts at night. We were really nervous the first time we did it, but we've never had a problem so over time it has become less nerve wracking. I don't remember if I saw other families use the hotel babysitters, but maybe that is because I felt like we were the only family there who didn't bring a nanny with us.

The kids' club was good for about an hour. My kids were bored after that. They seriously need to restock that thing with better toys/movies/video games. Or do some bigger, planned activities with the kids. I mean it was clean, safe and well-staffed. It just would have been awesome to drop them off for a couple hours instead of just one. 

[idiotabroad]

mabillon,I will keep my ears open for other parents who may be using the hotel's babysitting service. I'm with origami though. If there's anywhere in Da Nang that I would leave my child it would be at the Hyatt. She's also correct that many people there had their helpers with them so didn't need a sitter. I had forgotten that.

[rupertpenny]

mabillon I haven't been to the Danang Hyatt but I am all about hotel babysitters, especially if you can arrange it for after bedtime. We've done it in Thailand, Bali (2 different hotels), and Vietnam and it's always been fine. The worst that's happened is B stayed up too late and the. woke up asking for "auntie."

[idiotabroad]

mabillon, We got back from DaNang yesterday and there isn't much to report as far as the babysitting service at the Hyatt is concerned. The hotel was full during most of our stay and there were only a handful of Westerners at the resort this time so I didn't get a sense at all of the babysitting service. The mainly Chinese tourists didn't seem to be utilizing either the kid's club or the babysitting service because they were traveling with grandparents etc.

[mabillon]

Mar 27, 2016 19:15:32 GMT -5 idiotabroad said:

mabillon , We got back from DaNang yesterday and there isn't much to report as far as the babysitting service at the Hyatt is concerned. The hotel was full during most of our stay and there were only a handful of Westerners at the resort this time so I didn't get a sense at all of the babysitting service. The mainly Chinese tourists didn't seem to be utilizing either the kid's club or the babysitting service because they were traveling with grandparents etc.

Thanks for keeping your eyes open!  If we hire a sitter, I'll report back since this may be the Official GBCN Family Hotel of SE Asia.