Discover The Best Boutique Hotels In Vietnam With Lauren Pienaar | PodSwap Vietnam Is Awesome

The Vietnam Is Awesome Podcast will help you discover the real Vietnam with awesome experiences.

In this episode, we’ll share our recommendations for boutique hotels across Vietnam.

My guest today is Lauren Pienaar. She has been in Vietnam now for 7 years, she's from South Africa originally. She's a singer-songwriter with Moon Rise City and is now the Head of Communications for Vietnam Is Awesome. The very maker of this podcast, she has traveled all over Vietnam to many different luxury and eco-friendly boutiques.

Hotels and activities mentioned.

Phu Quoc

• Mango Bay
• Fusion Resorts
• Premier Village

Saigon

• Myst
• An Lam Retreat
• Mia Resort
• Villa Song

Mui Ne

• 
  
• Clown Car
• Minh On Hotel
• Cargo Remote
• The Cliff
• Joe’s Cafe
• Bo Khe
• Mini Golf

Da Lat

• Twin Lam Lake (sic
• Lavender Valley
• Mo Stay
• Lang Biang Peak

Phong Nha

• Victory Villas
• Phong Nha Homestay

Da Nang

• La Salle de Mer

Hoi An

• An Bang Beach
• Royal Riverside Hotel
• Cao Lau
• Nem
• Mi Quang

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Transcript

Niall Mackay: 2:28

If you came here for a Vietnam podcast. Thank you so, so much. You may or may not know Aveena. Vena and podcast is on a bit of a long hiatus at the moment while I have to focus on other projects, that will be the odd new episode every now and again. And you may have listened to the previous episode With Elizabeth and win, which was my first new episode in a long time. There may be new ones coming soon, but for now I'm sharing episodes with you that are still about Vietnam, but from other projects that I'm working on, this one is from the Vietnam is awesome podcasts that I'm a host of and brand ambassador. So check out this episode with Lauren PNR. Super loads and loads of useful information in here about boutique hotels across Vietnam. And I definitely sure how bougie I am by the amount of these hotels that have been to. But. What's the point in living in Vietnam. If you can check out all these amazing hotels, so enjoy the episode. Thank you very much for listening and keep tuning into a Vietnam podcast. Follow me on social media on Seven Million Bikes podcast, and you'll be able to see more about all the podcasts that I'm producing here in Vietnam and around the world. Jews. Welcome to the Vietnam is Awesome podcast. We'll help you discover the real Vietnam with awesome experiences. I'm Niall Mackay, your host. I've lived in Vietnam since 2016. And I'm the host. of a Vietnam podcast, a comedian, and now brand ambassador for Vietnam is Awesome. I came to Vietnam for a two week vacation in 2015 and was immediately taken by the beauty, friendliness, energy, and even all the quirks of Vietnam. Welcome back to the Vietnam is Awesome podcast, sharing awesome experiences of Vietnam. My guest today has been in Vietnam now for seven years. She's from South Africa originally. She's a singer songwriter with Moonrise City, and she is now the head of communications for Vietnam is Awesome, the very makers of this podcast. And she has traveled all over Vietnam to many different luxury and eco friendly boutiques. My guest today is Lauren Pienaar. Thanks for having me, Niall. I'm so excited. So how did you end up going from a tourist to somebody that lives in Vietnam? I

Lauren Pienaar: 5:05

actually came here for a summer seven years ago to work at a summer camp. as like a little gap year. And I was supposed to be on my way to London actually. And I chose Saigon because I'm a singer songwriter. And I heard that Saigon is one of the best places for live music in Vietnam. I literally Googled that. Where is the best place for live music in Vietnam? And I found Saigon and I really didn't know much about Vietnam at that stage. I'd Only travel to like neighboring countries, but I love Asia and I love the idea of being in a country that's so different to my own, where people aren't speaking the first languages, English, because that's like a huge opportunity to grow because when you, I mean, I love Europe, I've been to Europe a lot of times, but it's easy there, but when you come to Asia, it's kind of, it's kind of difficult at first because when you, when you come from South Africa and you're doing your gap year and I'm doing, I was doing my second one. Yeah. Usually you either go to work on the yachts or, which I did, which kind of got me into like the F& B and hospitality industry and having like a keen eye for like hotels. Hence why I'm excited to talk about this topic or you come to Vietnam or Asia to teach English or you go work on the ski slopes. Like those are three very common things to do when you leave South Africa or other countries too, I'm guessing. But it's, there's something really cool and magical about coming to Vietnam or coming to Asia and immersing yourself in a completely different culture. So that's one of the reasons that I, that I came to Vietnam and I just fell in love, really, and then I just

Niall Mackay: 6:41

never left. Well, you came here, you said you wanted to immerse yourself in the culture, somewhere that they don't speak English. So how's your Vietnamese?

Lauren Pienaar: 6:51

It's okay.

Niall Mackay: 6:51

It's okay. There's more than I can speak,

Lauren Pienaar: 6:54

Yeah, I try a little bit, just like directions, food, money, the basic survival, the AC is too cold in the spa,

Niall Mackay: 7:01

kind of thing. How did your passion grow then for luxury tourism? Because, again, I think a stereotype of somebody wanting to come to Vietnam is cheap. And it is an attraction of Vietnam that it is inexpensive and maybe people aren't thinking so much on the luxury end. Yeah, exactly.

Lauren Pienaar: 7:23

That's why, that's what I love, not stereotype, I love to challenge it because if you think about it, like in your home country, if you want to stay at like a luxury three to five star resort, which is like amazing on the beach, has yoga in the mornings, breakfast. You wouldn't really afford that. I mean, you could, but it would break the bank. Whereas in Vietnam, if you just spend a little bit more, you can really have some amazing like experiences. And for a fraction of the price of what you'd pay back home. I mean, I'm from South Africa, which is not even expensive, but it's way more affordable to, to travel at like luxury boutique hotels here. And also, I mean, I'm 31 now, so. I've ditched the backpack. A friend of mine who just visited here, and she's a travel writer, she just wrote a blog about traveling with suitcases and not backpacks, and like, I feel like that's the phase of the life I'm in. I mean, I will go to a backpackers if it's super fun and super nice, like a really nice one, but for me it's not really about the price, it's about, sometimes I go like cheaper, sometimes more expensive, but it's about the vibe, like It needs to be beautiful, surrounded by nature, kind of arty, boutique vibes, and eco. Like you can tell it even by the products that they have in the bathroom, lemongrass, and like, there's not like plastic wrapped around everything, bamboo toothbrushes, I don't know, that all attention to detail, I don't know. One

Niall Mackay: 8:44

question I always wonder myself, what's the difference between a three star and a five star resort? I honestly have no idea.

Lauren Pienaar: 8:52

Yeah, I guess that's a good question, especially in Vietnam sometimes. It's fluid. Well, five stars is usually like really, really expensive. And actually I'm not the biggest fan of five star. I find that's not always boutique. There are some boutique five star luxury experiences, but I find five star resorts really nice, obviously, but it's like super big, lots of people, the bedrooms are all very uniform and it doesn't feel like special and intimate. It just feels like this giant, I don't know, I feel like hospital in a way, like really clean, but like very basic. Um, where's like three, four stars. That's usually where I, where I go. But I mean, cause if it's eco, that's a problem. If it's eco, a lot of people, it could be like five star luxury, but it's eco. So you might have a lizard coming into your room at night and like things like that. So people will say, Oh, that's not five star. And like, like, do you know Phu Quoc in, in Mango Bay? Mango Bay Resort. Sorry. That was one of my, that's actually my top favorite resort in Vietnam. It's on Fuquok Island and I researched Fuquok. It's only an hour flight, obviously, which is awesome. And I thought, I want to go live there for a while. And then we were trying to find some places where we could possibly play. And I found Mango Bay and actually they didn't even have a stage and they didn't even do live music. So we went there on a business trip and I met the general manager and yeah, we made a deal with them, built the stage, and then we started performing at Mango Bay. That was like honestly a dream for me because I just love that area of Fuquok, it's in Onglang, it's not like the main touristy spot and yeah, so beautiful, these little beach huts.

Niall Mackay: 10:34

I've not stayed, I've been there for food, I've been there to the restaurant. Yeah, the food is so good.

Lauren Pienaar: 10:39

Yeah, no, the food is so good. See, that's three star technically, but it feels like what

Niall Mackay: 10:43

makes it a three star like this? I read something one time. It's like if there's a TV in the room, like it automatically bumps up a star. Yeah, there's stuff like that. It's pointless because I never watch TV in a hotel. I never would go to a hotel. Maybe the TV is on in the background while I'm getting ready. But That's a weird one to me, like you get a star for having a TV or having a fridge, I think I read as well, which is pretty useful to have a fridge if you need it. Yeah,

Lauren Pienaar: 11:07

if you need it. But I mean, Mango Bay is eco, so they don't have AC in the room, but the rooms are, but actually they've got this thing called midnight breeze. It goes over the bed and it's just as good as like an AC. It's, it gives us cool breeze on you at night and it's eco friendly. It uses less electricity in that. A lot of people, they want to stay there because they're like, Oh, there's no AC, but there is actually, it's like really not hot in the rooms. But it's on the water, right? It's on the water. And the room is designed in like a traditional Vietnamese way. Like there's like a little space at the top of the, the hut and the air can flow through the bathrooms and outdoors, the bathrooms outdoors with, in the garden. And yeah, you've got that midnight breeze. So you do keep like cool at night.

Niall Mackay: 11:51

I would recommend Mango Bay 100%. I love when we go to Fuquok, we've had a birthday dinner there before, I've had an anniversary dinner there before, and it's a beautiful location right on the water, and I've not stayed, but I will definitely look at staying. One thing I think people might be concerned about is that well, eco gets thrown about so easily, and greenwashing is such a big problem, and I'm almost like roll my eyes at it now as well because Are you really eco? So what for you, if you're looking for an eco place, and you've mentioned obviously no AC, what other things are you looking at in a venue or a hotel? And you actually are like, yeah, okay, you are eco. And have you seen examples of that greenwashing?

Lauren Pienaar: 12:30

Oh, yeah, the greenwashing is my absolute worst. At hotels, it's usually like in the small little details, like the kind of products that they use. Usually, I find like a hotel that is like, generous or conscious or enough to give you like shampoo and conditioner and body wash that's like natural. You can tell it's not like that, like giant, like just like soap, like factory soap. They're usually like eco minded, like there's the, the toothbrushes will be bamboo or there won't even be a toothbrush and they'll say like request if you need one and they won't be, they won't just be giving you a bunch of junk.

Niall Mackay: 13:09

Yeah. One of the things I always love in every hotel, especially the big five star ones is like if you want to be more eco friendly, we won't wash your towels. But then they do wash your towels. Well, I want them to. I'm like, I'm in a hotel, I don't want a dirty towel, at home I don't wash my towels every day. I'm okay if you do that. For the whole two days that I'm here. Yeah,

Lauren Pienaar: 13:29

no, I mean, in Vietnam also, let's be serious. It's really hot here. So I don't always want to stay somewhere with, I don't want to stay somewhere with absolutely no AC, but there are certain stays like on the beach or maybe they have something else like this midnight breeze thing I was talking about or fans, then it is, then it's definitely doable, but you can literally just read the, the reviews usually. I mean, if a review on good or booking or whatever is over like nine out of 10. And you're pretty much guaranteed

Niall Mackay: 13:56

safe. So what are some of your other top locations, top hotels that you've been to? I lived in

Lauren Pienaar: 14:02

Fukuoka for a year, but over two high seasons because I didn't want to be there during rainy season. So from like November onwards and yeah, Mango Bay was my top, but then there was also two, which are a bit more expensive, but also really cool is Fusion Resort. But that's like five star. You get your own private villa and a premier village. But I also performed at both of those places. On Fuquok besides Mango Bay, there's also Premier Village in the South, which is like right in the peninsula, which is beautiful. And there's Fusion Resort, which is kind of in the North, which is also amazing, but that's like five, that's five star, like. expensive and five star, but for maybe a very special occasion, it's really, really, really nice. You drive around in golf

Niall Mackay: 14:44

carts. My wife and I went there for our fifth wedding anniversary and we had our own private villa, private swimming pool. Didn't look up about rainy season and it rained for five days straight. I'm not even kidding. Like every morning we woke up, it was rain on the ceiling every night, every day. We went still crazy by the end. We had our own pool, we could barely use it. I ended up like jumping in the pool with an umbrella, cause I was just going crazy, I was like out in the rain. There was one hour, the whole 5 days, where it didn't

Lauren Pienaar: 15:15

rain. Yeah, so you definitely don't want to go there if it's a walking rainy season. It's still beautiful, like, I mean, you have your own villa and whatever, but you wanna be able to go to the beach and the spa is nice. You get free spa included. You get a free spa

Niall Mackay: 15:27

treatment, free spa treatment everyday. Yeah, and it's pretty good. Yeah, so I mean, we were all tame. But at the same time, we did not look up the weather at all. We didn't even realize that Phu Quoc had a rainy season. It's just like July, let's go to Phu Quoc. It's the beach. It's beautiful. And so, but as a resort, yeah, that's absolutely beautiful. And I would recommend it. Yeah. That would be

Lauren Pienaar: 15:44

my first tip when you're traveling. Vietnam is depending on what season it is kind of like might influence your trip and where you go. Check the weather. Yeah. Check the weather. Um, yeah. And then in, in, in Ho Chi Minh City, because I've lived here for seven years, almost more than. I want to escape the city sometimes. Like I'm not a city girl. That's the thing. Like, I'm, I like nature and art and like living in the city is a lot. Like anyone that travels here, a lot of people that travel here are like, wow, how do you live in Richmond city? It's so crazy. I'm like, I know. But the thing is, if you go to all the tourist places, like the very popular tourist places, it is kind of crazy. And like, yeah, maybe it's fun to see those like main tourist sites. Once or twice, but I kind of like, well, I escape out of the city and when I have friends visiting here, I often recommend these three hotels, my favorite three ones in, in, in Saigon. The first one is The Mist, Dong Khoi. I was about to say,

Niall Mackay: 16:39

is it going to be The Mist? That is my favourite as well by far. It's one of my

Lauren Pienaar: 16:42

favourites. Yeah. It's not my top favourite, but it's one

Niall Mackay: 16:44

of my favourites. Oh, I absolutely love it. My aunt came to visit in December and she wanted somewhere to stay in Saigon, so I recommended The Mist. She was only going to stay for one night. I think she stayed for like three or four.

Lauren Pienaar: 16:55

It's so beautiful. It even smells

Niall Mackay: 16:57

nice. Yeah, it's just that this is a really nice vibe. It's all wooden paneling inside. Kind of like, is it based on the inside of a boat?

Lauren Pienaar: 17:04

Yeah, it's very antique and they even have those old like telephones and a big giant rose quartz at the entrance of the,

Niall Mackay: 17:11

of the hotel. Yeah, it's just a really cool vibe. It did have a beautiful view over the Saigon river until they decided to build a Hilton right in front of it, which is still not opened.

Lauren Pienaar: 17:21

Yeah, I know. I actually was when stayed there before the Hilton was built. So we had the amazing view and you have those jacuzzis on the balcony. Just so much fun. That's right.

Niall Mackay: 17:30

So the other great thing about the Mist is I don't know if it's every room, but I think every room has its own bath, jacuzzi on the balcony. And so even if you didn't have a river view, you still had your own bath, like beautiful bathtub outside. So there's just something about the Myst, it's a really cool place. Mystical. Mystical, yeah, yeah, there you go. No, it's really special. I would be, I want to go and stay there again soon, actually. Yeah. It's just a really cool

Lauren Pienaar: 17:52

place. Yeah, and it's in the center of town and that's by the, close to the walking street. And from that Don Quay, you can walk down to the Ang Bang water bus station and you can take a water bus into Taurine or anywhere. I love taking, I take the water bus a lot. Whenever I can get onto the river by boat or water bus, I do that. I've never

18:10

been

Niall Mackay: 18:10

on it. Where? Because we went to go on it one time, and here's a good piece of advice, book your tickets in advance, because we went, I think it was like, for the 4. 30 ferry, we'd had a day in town, and we were like, right, we'll get the ferry back, and they were like, oh, next ferry's not till 7. 30, like, the next available ticket, and we were like, wait, what? So, if you do want to do it, I would absolutely recommend it, it looks so, so fun, it's quite a relatively new thing in the last few years, and you can get the water, it's like a water taxi from Taudine to, To the city, but book your tickets in advance.

Lauren Pienaar: 18:40

Yeah, you can, you can do it on Google Maps actually, but it's difficult because the, the, if you don't speak Vietnamese, because the actual stations have like interesting names. Well, Vietnamese names, you have to know which station is in which district that you want to go to, and then it's all in Vietnamese. I use Google Translate, take a screenshot and then go over to Google Translate, quickly check, make sure that that's the right bus that I'm booking. And then do it that way. But yeah, the evening times at sunsets are very popular. Sometimes we even buy a little beer on the streets and take it for the ride. And it's really fun because then you arrive in district one and take a nice walk up the walking streets and then go for dinner and whatnot. So, um, and that actually leads me to my next, which is probably my favorite boutique hotel in, in Ho Chi Minh City. Oh yeah, my favorite. It's called An Lam Retreat. It's actually up the river. So it's a little bit out of Saigon. It's about a 15 to 20 minute river ride, but included in your stay, they pick you up at that water bus station. So yeah, you could like spend the day being a full on tourist and doing like being in the city, going, doing all the history things or going around town, shopping, whatever it is that you want to do. And then at the end of a long bustling day, you get picked up by this little It's not a yacht, a little speed boat, a little speed boat. But, and then you arrive like up the river at this beautiful, it's actually a retreat, an alum retreat.

Niall Mackay: 19:59

I've heard of it and I've looked into it before, and if my memory serves me right, it's quite expensive, right? But

Lauren Pienaar: 20:05

they have a lot of sales, like on a go to booking. com, they often have like 50% off or whatever, if it's not on like a weekend or whatever, so when we went, we got it on

Niall Mackay: 20:15

sale. Well, we should mention the prices, so, mist, the mist cost, the last time I looked at the mist, it's 5 million a night, which is about 200 US dollars, and like you mentioned at the beginning, When I think of what you can get for 200 US dollars in the US or anywhere else in the world It would be a fraction of what you would get at The Mist. So yeah, it is and you do want to, lots of people come to Vietnam because it is inexpensive and you are on a budget And you can get a lot for a little but even if it's for a night or two and you're visiting Saigon Splash out that little bit extra you you absolutely not regret it. So it's I think it's about five million and An Lam Retreat I think

20:51

I

Lauren Pienaar: 20:52

paid only 2. 2 million VND, which I don't know what that is in dollars. A hundred dollars. Yeah, because I got it on sale. Like you look on a good and booking. com and these, there's always a sale. Like, well, not always, but, but it is worth, even if you just do one night, cause you've been traveling and you're tired, or if you live in the city and you want to get out, it's just like a nice little, a little

Niall Mackay: 21:11

escape. When the other danger is, I think a lot of people come to Vietnam and they book the cheap hotel. We'll come to Saigon, sorry. They book a cheap hotel, not realizing that it's right next to boy VN noisy, and you are not gonna get a quiet night's sleep if you're next to boy vn. And I've heard stories like this where people have booked a relatively cheap guest house, and it's right next to like one of these massively noisy bars. So again, if you, if you read the reviews, you would probably realize that, but like anything in life, you get what you pay for. So if you're gonna pay$20 for a hotel room, It's probably not going to have a fridge or a TV here. And you might have some cockroaches or lizards to eat

Lauren Pienaar: 21:48

possibly. I don't mind geckos and lizards, but I do not, and they eat cockroaches, but I do not want

Niall Mackay: 21:52

to see a cockroach. Yeah, exactly. So you can splash out a little bit. And then so after An Lam Retreat, what's

Lauren Pienaar: 21:58

the next one? My other favorite one in Saigon is Mia Resort and that's a boutique. That's definitely five stars. But it's so beautiful. There's a giant swimming pool on the, on the river and the service is amazing. The food is so good. You literally can have a swim in the pool and order pizza and drinks and they're like, bring it right to you. The staff are super friendly. I've been there on like a girls trip. So even if you just, they also pick you up at, on the river, if you want to come from district one, they also pick you up included in the stay. That's really, really cool,

Niall Mackay: 22:27

I must say. How much is that? Because I've not been to that one, because I know that is quite expensive.

Lauren Pienaar: 22:32

It is expensive, but as I say, they always have sales, like mid week sales and that. And you can also pay like 500k or a mil or something, and then you rent a, like a tanning bed for the day and get like a, A tanning bed? They have like those beds, like, what do you call them? A lounger,

Niall Mackay: 22:48

a not a tanning bed.

Lauren Pienaar: 22:49

Not a tanning bear. A lounger. The A cabana. Cabana. A cabana with a cabana. Yeah. You, yeah, you can, you can rent a cabana for the day. Yeah. But if it's a special occasion, you know, like definitely spend a night or two there. Yeah.

Niall Mackay: 23:03

And it's not the Park Hyatt, the Park Hyatt is about 10 million a night,

Lauren Pienaar: 23:07

that's crazy. Oh, like Mango Bay, you pay, it's actually not expensive, too expensive, it's pretty good. But for breakfast, which is also at, at Mia, the breakfast is insane. And also Unlimited Treat, like you have like a buffet, but you also have a la carte, you can have champagne, like, and the breakfast, you have such a beautiful breakfast that you don't want to even eat lunch. So like, if you actually had to go out for a Western breakfast, breakfast of that, like, scale in Saigon. You would pay like quite a lot. So if you want, if you're after having like proper cappuccinos and, and a really good breakfast when you stay at a more expensive resort

Niall Mackay: 23:43

than this. No, a hundred percent of some of the breakfasts you get, you're like, this would be so expensive outside of the hotel. The only thing sometimes I'm like, I don't know if I would buy this anyway. It's not like a substitution. Like if I wasn't here, I don't think I'd be going and doing that. But if you do have one of these nice hotels, I'll normally get a couple of cappuccinos. Cause you. Because they're all included, you're like, yeah, okay, I'll have a second one, okay, and then you eat more food than you possibly can. The other hotel that we went to was on the river here in District 2 was Villa Song. Oh, I know that one. They also do the river pickup, and that's why we did that. We did that seven, six, seven years ago. And it was because we could get picked up in a boat, and they picked us up from District 4, and... and take you there and drop you right off. And then are they still around?

Lauren Pienaar: 24:28

Yeah. Oh, cool. That's next on my list.

Niall Mackay: 24:33

That's like four or five star as well. That's really, really nice. Yeah. I

Lauren Pienaar: 24:35

think in Ho Chi Minh City, I would stay in like quite a nice place. And then, but the thing is, there's also like cheaper boutique hotels to stay at too. Like, like in Mui Ne, there's a lot of good options. which now is only like two and a half hours from Saigon because of the new highway.

Niall Mackay: 24:53

So they've just opened up a new highway. So I have never been that big of a fan of Moiné. One, because there's not the best beach in the world. You really, you got to go to the White Sand Resort, which has the beach backed onto it, but the rest of the town, there's not really much of a beach. It's also, for me, it was always too far because it took about five hours to get there. And some of our friends would go for a weekend or a long weekend, even just a weekend. So they would leave Friday, five hours in the car, come back Sunday, another five hours back. Oh yeah, it's too far. Ten hours to go for like two nights. So I've obviously been quite a lot, but I've never been like the biggest fan, but now they've just opened up a new highway that goes almost direct from Saigon, which is cut it down. I had talking to friends about it on the weekend, they're like two

Lauren Pienaar: 25:38

hours. Two hours, 20 minutes. Exactly. But I, I love Moonee. I've been there like a million times. I can't even count how many times. That's like my low, like where I go,

Niall Mackay: 25:47

put me in my place. Why don't you, we've got two sides here. So I'm not the biggest fan. Why do you love

Lauren Pienaar: 25:52

it? Well, when it was still far to get there, we, we, we used to take the, the local sleeper bus and then just leave really early in the morning, like maybe 6am or something, and then just sleep for five hours and read and whatnot. How tall is your boyfriend? I'm Oh, we're about the same height, 171, 173, 173 meters.

Niall Mackay: 26:12

Yeah, I do feet, I don't know. I'm six foot, so I think that's 184 centimeters. So if you're listening to this and you're about my height, you cannot go on a sleeper bus. It's the most uncomfortable, I did it once and it is the most uncomfortable thing. They are not made for western heights, they're made for, Females mostly, like my wife is smaller, like a female can fit in it fine, or a Vietnamese person. If you're over 5'10 5'11 it's gonna be a pretty uncomfortable ride. But

Lauren Pienaar: 26:37

actually now I'm quite into, because now that there's the two, and like the two hour route, some of the big buses are still going the long route. So, I made that mistake last time I went to Moyne, and then I came back by luxury limousine. Luxury limousine is the best way, or private car, like they, and, you know, it's a pretty good price if you like two or three

Niall Mackay: 26:56

or four people. We normally get a private car, we're bougie like that, but no, we have a dog as well, so here's another tip as well, if you do want to take your dog to Moyne, there's some dog friendly hotels as well, and if you get a private car and they agree to it, the one that we always use is called Clown Car, and they're dog friendly, and they're amazing to deal with. So, If you want to get a taxi, a private taxi, but then the limousine is like, what, 10 seats? Like 10, 12 seats? Yeah.

Lauren Pienaar: 27:19

Yeah. There was, there's like 3S limo. There's another one that I just used that was so good. Or like private drivers. You can find all of these kind of drivers, honestly, on Zollo. Yeah. Yeah, you can just write Driver Muineh, and then, like, travel companies will come up. Local ones with, like, local prices. I wouldn't, I don't, I don't really book on, like, Expedia or any of those big sites. No, no,

Niall Mackay: 27:39

I just, we've just always used Clown Car and... I've heard about that one. Funny name. So they're really reliable, really good, and dog friendly as well. So

Lauren Pienaar: 27:47

this is why I love Moyne. Yeah, why do you love Moyne? Well, the first reason is they have what's called bouquet, and I hope that I'm pronouncing that right. I love bouquet. It's like seafood and street food. Like, it's not really street food. It's along, all along the ocean. And then they have, I mean, you know what it is, but. Just to explain, it's all along the ocean. It's basically fresh caught seafood on the beach, but it's very informal. You can sometimes buy, take your own bottle of wine from outside, because you're not always going to get a good bottle of wine in there if you're into drinking wine, which is what I do. And then I usually order off the menu because sometimes when you order from the, the, the, the tanks, you get shocked by the prices. So I order usually off the menu and then unless there's like some other stuff, I check the price first. Cause I, I mean, you are at a very informal restaurant. You don't want to pay like a lot of money, but a lot of the places are super delicious. But yeah, eating the fresh seafood on the beach. And then also there's a lot of boutique stays there. Really, really beautiful ones and for all different price ranges. My favorite one, which is the most expensive one is called the Sailing Club. It's the sister or like hotel from Mia, but wow, that is just honestly insane. It's so beautiful. The pool is perfect. The beach is like white sand. They keep it really clean in front there. And it's like super, the food's delicious. Actually the chef's South African. I think if they've still got the same chef. Gorgeous. I've also sung there. So I got to stay there a couple of times. Lucky me, but also forked out to go stay there with on girls trips or with my partner. Cause it's so beautiful. It's worth it. But then there's two other ones. One, which I really love is called Minhon, M I N H O N, Minhon Hotel. And it's super cheap. It's like 600, 000 a night, which is like, how many dollars is that? 30 and you get breakfast included. There's a beautiful swimming pool. Like you look up and there's palm trees everywhere. The rooms are clean and beautiful. It's not five star, but it's clean, beautiful. The food's really good, very Vietnamese. And you're in like this little village and you can take bicycles and cycle around. So it's a little bit more rustic, but still beautiful. Good service, like clean. I really love Mignon. So if I'm going to go for like a week, I'll, I would stay probably there. And there's also a sister one of, of Mignon, it's called La Marina. And they actually also owned by the same people. And those ones have sea views. Yeah. And it's like the price points is where, I mean, the pool that pools in the shade. So like for Westerners, we want pool in the sun, but the actual rooms are so beautiful. So. Yeah, you can also, you can stay, and then there's also, I go there a lot, so there's Villa Aria, which is beautiful on the beach, and Sunsea Resort, which is beautiful and also has an amazing Thai restaurant. Yeah.

Niall Mackay: 30:32

And you've missed my favorite one. I've been waiting for you to mention it. Cargo Remote.

Lauren Pienaar: 30:36

Oh, I haven't stayed there. You haven't stayed there? And they've got live music.

Niall Mackay: 30:40

Yeah, I'm going to be heading up there soon, so Cargo Remote. is one of my favorite places in all of Vietnam. Really? It's just this little place of paradise. So Cargo is owned and run by a guy called, who's quite well known, his name's Rod Quinton, and he was a big music producer, uh, music promoter. in Saigon and I think in Australia as well. They used to run a venue called Cargo that was in Saigon and it closed down before I ever moved here. I went to there.

Lauren Pienaar: 31:07

You went to there? Yeah, as I

Niall Mackay: 31:09

moved here. Yeah, it must have been, yeah. And my favorite, one of my favorite bands in the world ever is Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. And they played there. I think the, uh, the vaccines or the horrors played there. So it was like a really cool indie music venue and which we don't really have in Saigon, unfortunately, and there's not really the market for it because it closed down. Yeah. But what they did was they, with him and his wife, they opened up a little place in Moine, but it's not on the beach. It's up on the hill. So it's actually really cool to get to. They have to come and pick you up in a buggy, like a little golf buggy. Cars can't get up there and then they bring you up to it. and you just feel like you're away from the world. There's like palm trees all around. All the rooms are like the, the, the restaurant and everything is above the rooms. Like it's on grass on top. Wow. And it's all containers. The pool is all natural water. No chlorine. It's all like, it's got plants in it that clean it naturally. And it's just like this little slice of heaven. So we absolutely love going up there. You can spend a couple of days there. You go down to the beach if you want to, but you could honestly just stay. In cargo, remote, shut off, relax, the people are awesome, the staff are amazing, and it's also dog friendly as well, so if you do have a dog, you can take your dog there as well. Is there a sea view? Not really, no. I mean, if you look out far enough, you'll maybe be able to see the sea, but you're not going there for the sea view, it's back up on the hills, it's more you can just see the top of all the palm trees, which is beautiful, just being able to see the top of all the green, but that's, that's definitely... My, my top recommendation for Moynihan is Cardwell Remote. I'll definitely

Lauren Pienaar: 32:35

try it next time. Cause some of my friends have also told me that it's amazing. I just love being on the beach and I find that if you don't stay. On the beach at a nice resort in Moine, it's difficult to like find a good beach because the public beaches, as you say, aren't that nice. It's because it's a fishing, fisherman town. Yeah. Fishing town. Fisherman, fisherwoman town. So like that side of the beach is a little bit more like, you know, fished

Niall Mackay: 32:58

on. That's the only downside of it. If you want to go for a beach holiday, then Cargo Remote is not the place.

Lauren Pienaar: 33:04

But you can actually spend the day at some of the resorts like Sunsea, all those places. If you go, if you have lunch there, you can, you can tan there and access the beach and it's cleaner. And I

Niall Mackay: 33:13

think Cargo Remote, if I remember rightly, is about a million dong a night. So not super cheap, but not super expensive.

Lauren Pienaar: 33:19

Yeah. Oh, there's also the cliff, which is amazing. I don't know that one. It's as you drive in on the right hand side. Is it on a cliff? Yeah, it's on the cliff and it's, that's five star, but that's also really, really nice. Yeah. Very good service.

Niall Mackay: 33:32

To do in Moynihan's world is obviously Jules Caffey, which has live music, 365 days. of the year.

Lauren Pienaar: 33:38

And the spa, it's called Johnny's Spa. Wow. It is the best, best massage, best foot massage I've ever had in my life. Like this tiny little yellow spa with like, it's very like rustic and beautiful and clean. And wow, the service is really good. So it's like spa, seafood, beach. Joe's Cafe Live Music,

Niall Mackay: 33:58

Mini Golf, Mini Golf? You've never done the Mini Golf? No,

Lauren Pienaar: 34:00

I've been to

Niall Mackay: 34:00

the driving range. He's got a Mini Golf course, it's so much fun. Up on the, like, just on the main road. Oh, wow. Drink some beers, do, play some Mini Golf. Oh, that's fun. Right, we got more Need Covered, where's next?

Lauren Pienaar: 34:12

Next is Dalat. All right. Cool. My favorite place. One of my, I mean, my favorite two places to travel is definitely Dalat and Hoi An. But I mean, just for convenience sake, being in Saigon, obviously I go to Phu Ne frequently, but yeah, I love Dalat. Um, I'm from Cape Town, so I love the, I love the mountains and being there. I mean, first of all, the weather is amazing because it's nice and cool. There's hiking, there's beautiful lakes. Have you been? Twin Lum Lake is so beautiful. So I usually try to stay in that area. It's like one of the biggest, most, oh, it's so beautiful. Most beautiful lakes in Duluth. And then recently I've stayed at a few places, but recently I stayed at Moe's Stay. And it's like a retreat in the forest, literally. And you stay in these, you can rent a whole like villa, uh, if you have a big family, but you can also just rent a room. I stayed in like the entry level, like cheapest room. And it was amazing. I went with my mom and when you open the curtains, you just see like forest. And they pick you up in a little golf cart and take you to dinner and breakfast. The breakfast is amazing. And you literally, you're in the forest. It's beautiful. And you can also barbecue on your roof, on your rooftop. So if you wanted to like, you know, cause it's a bit out of the city. So you can't like easily pop into local restaurants and in Dulat the restaurant's amazing. There's some really good food in Dulat. So yeah, I would spend like maybe one or two nights there also a special occasion, like getaway retreats and then maybe spend two nights or in the city.

Niall Mackay: 35:43

Nice. I that list, Lavender

Lauren Pienaar: 35:45

Valley Farm. Lavender. Yes. That's one of the ones I was going to. That's on Twinlum Lake, the glamping. Yeah. And they've got an amazing like restaurant that overlooks the whole, but then my favorite thing to do in, in, in Delight is to go hiking. Yeah, I did that. What's the highest peak called again? Lang Bian Peak. Oh, I do know that. And do not underestimate that hike. Oh my goodness. I'm like, I'm a hiker. And I think in Vietnam people don't really, they're not that adventurous. Like people aren't like swimming a lot. And like everyone's, I just think everyone's city, PE city people. And then, oh my goodness, was that a rude awakening? And like I was completely unprepared. I was just in my normal. And then running shoes and my little shorts and top with my hat and my friend, and then there we go. And next minute we got to the top and it started to storm. It started to hail. We were like coming down the, the path was literally like an ice river. We were freezing cold. I didn't have it. Yeah. And it took hours and hours. It was absolutely beautiful. But yeah, go prepared

Niall Mackay: 36:44

for sure. You do have to be conscious of the weather in Vietnam because it can change. I've had friends that went over the Hai Van pass in outside of Da Nang. And similar thing, they went up in shorts and t shirt, and by the time they got up and came down it was like pouring with rain, sideways wind, and freezing cold, so the weather can change. The other, well the other thing for Langbiang Peak Mountain is you can get cars up of, up it, like really old jeeps, which are really cool, but you do have to book them in advance, so we went and it was like a two hour wait. So it's really, really popular with locals and with tourists, so you don't have to walk up it.

Lauren Pienaar: 37:17

But no, two peaks. So the one that the cars go up is a different peak and then the one that you hike up is another peak. And you could get lost if you did it by yourself. We did it with a guide. Right. Because a friend of mine, she tried to do it by herself before with a friend and, and, and they got, they got lost. So I would say get a, get a guide. Spend the money for a guide. Get the guide, yeah, for your own safety and take a proper rain jacket. And some snacks.

Niall Mackay: 37:42

All right. So where do we go next?

Lauren Pienaar: 37:43

So you're after, after Dalat, is Phung Nha, which is also maybe not as popular tourist destination, but everyone talks about Halong Bay in Vietnam, which is beautiful and I love Halong Bay, but it's become very touristy. And the, the ocean for me is not very clean to like swim in over there. I mean, there's a lot of boats in and out and whatnot. So, which is unfortunate, but in Fung Nha, it's the same sort of landscape, like those beautiful hills covered in that like mossy green. It's so, so beautiful. And there's a bunch of beautiful places to stay there. But my favorite, one of them is Fung Nha Farmstay and by the same owners is Victory Road Villas. And you get your own villa. So Fung Niu Farmstay is more like the affordable, like beautiful eco farmstay. And then the Victory Road Villas is a little bit more luxe, but it's beautiful. You get your own villa and it's like, it's super boutique, gorgeous swimming pool. And when you stare out in the distance, there's. All those buffalo grazing and you look out on the river and you can do cave tours and all sorts of adventurous things

Niall Mackay: 38:47

around there. Because Fung Yat is where Dong Sun Cave is, right? Yeah. Which, if you don't know what that is, it's the biggest cave in the world, which they only just discovered a few years ago. And the waiting list for that, I think, is like a year.

Lauren Pienaar: 38:59

Yeah, I didn't do Dong Sun Cave. I guess I should. go on the waiting list and do it. But there's a lot of other caves to do. We literally had like torches on our head and like swam in the dark through this cave. It was very adventurous and like trekked through the jungle. And I must say, take mosquito repellent and put on coconut oil too, because those mosquitoes bite you through mosquito repellent. And that was really, besides the mosquitoes, an amazing experience. And yeah, where you stay, where I, where I stay is so important for me. Like I really love after day of adventure, coming back to a beautiful place, having a glass of wine and. Delicious meal. And also sometimes when you stay in a, in a more expensive place, you don't have to eat there every night. You can have the breakfast, they enjoy it and then try local spots too, to balance it out. And

Niall Mackay: 39:40

I think we're going to finish up with two of the most popular places in Vietnam. And what is that? Hoi An and Da Nang. So where do you recommend to stay there?

Lauren Pienaar: 39:50

Well, I mean, if you're traveling to Vietnam for the first time, you wouldn't know that you have to fly into Da Nang and then take a car to Hoi An. Because that can be confusing. I

Niall Mackay: 39:58

still forget that. Like, let's go to Hoi An, and I was like, oh yeah, but we've got to go to Da Nang first.

Lauren Pienaar: 40:02

Yeah, but it's not, it's not that far. You just organize a driver to take you from, you know, Da Nang to Hoi An. But in Da Nang, I don't normally spend a lot of time there because it's like more the city, but when I have, I stayed in. Uh, La Salle de Mer, um, like the salt of the sea, I think that's the translation. It's kind of a big hotel, but it's on the beach and it's like, the design is really, really cool. The rooms are beautiful. The view is amazing of like the whole beach and the pool is like this infinity pools, like these big, like, it looks like salt blocks everywhere. So that was fun. But I would just make my way straight into Hoi An and stay either on Ang Bang Beach, which is like 10 minutes from Hoi An. Very confusing for people too. Hoi An does have a beach. It's just like five, ten minutes outside of the ancient town. So like, if you want to be on the beach, I'd stay there. My favorite hotel in Hoi An, to stay at, is called the Royal Riverside Hotel, and that's, I've been there like three, four times, uh, I've been there with a group of friends, with my mom, with my boyfriend, it's in Old Town, like, they give bicycles, so it's a two minute cycle, and then you're at the Japanese bridge. And it's boutique, they have bathtubs, which is a big one, because a lot of hotels and houses in Vietnam don't have bathtubs, so if you're missing a bathtub, you can go there. Little pool, little spa, and it's just like, the location is perfect. There's a lot of nice boutique ones in the area, but you have to look at which area it's in, and know where you want to be, yeah. I like being in the Old Town, or on Ang Bang Beach. Oh, and the, the food in Hoi An is also my favorite in the whole of Vietnam. Like, Lau, yeah. So good. When you come here, you have to research the best dishes in Vietnam and then like order them off the menu. Be brave and, and, and do it. There's good street food in Hoi An too, like Nem's off the side of the road, like don't be scared. I've never gotten sick from them. Don't just eat pho,

Niall Mackay: 41:51

yeah. And then in Da Nang as well you have Mee Kwang, right? So Lauren, what's your final recommendation for someone looking to come to Vietnam and book something a little bit different, a little bit nicer than their usual hotel?

Lauren Pienaar: 42:03

I would say first obviously look at the weather, see where you want to go, and then you can look on any booking sites and look between three to five stars and Maybe don't just look at the price bracket straight away and, and like definitely pick out one or two experiences that are, that are really, really special and then go for budget in between. I would really recommend trying out some really amazing stays with amazing hospitality and experiences, which you probably wouldn't want to fork out the budget for back in your home in another country. So I would really say take advantage of that. And usually I look for ratings over nine before I book, but maybe if I'm feeling generous, I'll look for like over eight.

Niall Mackay: 42:45

I think that's a great advice. Don't just look at the budget right away because that's what I'm guilty of. I just look at the budget and think about more, what are you going to get for that? Like what value do you get? So we just stayed, my wife and I just stayed at the MIA in Nha Trang. Yeah, ooh, it was so nice. It was amazing. So again, our anniversaries, we always like to splash out and do something nice. So this was our 10 year wedding anniversary. So we did the Mia Hotel and it was unbelievable. And part of that though was you got one spa package included, so like a massage each and then also had a cooking class. And we didn't realise it was a three course cooking class, and we got to cook it, so it was Bun Thit Nuong, Bo La La, and Spring Rolls. Yeah, my favourite. Yeah, and we, so that was like our meal for, we barely ate dinner that night, I don't even think we had dinner. Yeah. Cause that was, we had the breakfast buffet. Then we had the cooking class at lunch and we'd eaten so much food by that point. Yeah, you don't need that. Then you get the massages if you include that. So with the cost of it, we probably got another like 4 million worth of value. Yeah,

Lauren Pienaar: 43:47

definitely. Like when you travel to Mango Bay and you stay there, you almost don't need to leave. If you want like a relaxing, you can kayak, you can snorkel. That's all free. The breakfast is included. There's Tai Chi, there's yoga. There's so many things included. There's like spa discounts. So a lot of these places that do seem a bit more pricey, they have, it's like an experience. And if you just want like a few days to just chill and not actually move around, you can actually just stay at the resort and experience.

Niall Mackay: 44:12

And the other one is airport pickup. Yeah. So like we were there, they brought you to and from the airport. And when we looked it up, that was almost like probably going to be five, six, seven, 800, 000 dong. Yeah. If we booked our own grab and they're, they're going to do it for you. It's true. Yeah, look at the overall package. What are you gonna get? And you'll, you'll find some absolutely unbelievable experiences in Vietnam. And I feel very privileged to be able to have these opportunities because I do think the same as you. I've lived in New Zealand before here. I, I could not even contemplate being in New Zealand and being like, oh, let's go and splash out for a a weekend away, because that, the price of that would be so astronomical, it wouldn't even, splashing out, wouldn't even cover it. Splashing out

Lauren Pienaar: 44:53

here is so doable,

Niall Mackay: 44:54

yeah. Yeah, which is, we're, and I always like to couch it in the terms of like, whether you live here or whether you're coming from overseas, we're very lucky that we can have that opportunity, because not everybody does. So I do like to make that clear, like I don't want Sound like we're just being arrogant, bougie, all this money to throw about. No, we are in a very lucky position to be able to do that. Yeah. I

Lauren Pienaar: 45:14

think you can mix your holiday up with like some budget stays. But beautiful ones. Look for, look, look at the design, look at the reviews. They are cheaper places and I, I always go boutique when I can and support like small businesses rather than like these big corporations anyway.

Niall Mackay: 45:29

Yeah. Like the one that built right in front of the mist and ruined the view. Thank you very much, Lauren. This has been awesome. Thank you so

Lauren Pienaar: 45:37

much for having me, everyone. And enjoy your travels.

Niall Mackay: 45:44

I'm Niall Mackay. I'm your host of the Vietnam is Awesome podcast. We're here to help you discover the real Vietnam with awesome experiences. So make sure you go check out our social media pages, Vietnam is Awesome, and go to the website, vietnamisawesome. com, so you can see more about tours, read the blog, see pictures, give you everything you need to know about your trip to Vietnam. If you have enjoyed this podcast, don't forget to follow, subscribe, all of that good stuff, share it with people, send us any questions that you have, and we'll be more than happy to help you.