Vi Da Riverside Hotel, Hue

My family and I spent 3 nights in early March (2007) at this hotel and had a great time. I admit I was initially a little disappointed to see that the hotel was actually situated on the banks of a (large) tributary to the Huong river, rather than the river itself. Note that this hotel is not in central Hue and you need to take a 5-10 minute walk over the Dap Da Dam to reach the centre of town. Our room (a Deluxe or Superior - cannot remember exactly which) was very clean, large and spacious. Everything worked fine and the bed linen was clean, although the level of bed comfort was still in line with the poor standard we'd come to expect from Vietnamese hotels (i.e., nasty hard latex mattress and pillows of similar texture). We found the staff all very friendly, although having a 21 month old baby as an accessory automatically brings a lot of favourable attention. We arrived at 8am and early check in was no problem whatsoever. Buffet breakfast was great, especially in the outdoor area on the 5th floor. Equally pleasant was eating at the outdoor tables down by the river. The main things I was disappointed by were the absurdly high laundry costs (in line with a 5-star hotel and 4-5 times the cost of the place down the street that we used) and similar sky high costs for boat tours. We ended up booking our tours from a place in central Hue. Be carefull also of the internet usage - it's not free, but the costing is usually hidden on the back of the room containing the PCs. As with many internet places in Vietnam, the connection speed was barely adequate.

I looked forward to staying at this hotel, having experienced some charming hotels throughout southeast Asia. The name alone boded well. Imagine my surprise when I arrived. Not only was I not greeted by anyone, I was immediately asked to purchase city tours( I had not even completed registration) . There were no lights on the way to my room, the hotel staff and I were unable to open the door for many minutes (humidity and lack of light). There was no listing of hotel services or amenities in any language ...enough of the small stuff. Hotels in Hue centre are not expensive, and plentiful. This hotel was not in the city centre and was listed as 3 star...no way! The crowning touch was the rat which ran past me at the front desk. the reception agent said it was a mouse...7 inches of long tailed rat?..I think not!!!..oh, by the way..they had problems with the electricity ..lost power twice in one day and no cable reception. My concerns were shrugged off, because the manager had left. Save your self time, money and aggravation, stay some place else! John Whelan Toronto, Canada