Excellent experience working with Long at Kimkim. Much revision of itinerary to meet my ideal Excellent experience working with Long at Kimkim. Much revision of itinerary to meet my ideal vacation.
Airport pickup and transport was everything I hoped. The VIP escort through customs when we arrived allowed us to cut the line after the long flight which made us all happy. Also got eSIM for phones to avoid international fees. Used Viettel kiosk at airport. Tony helped with currency exchange at the same kiosk too.
Enjoyed food tour with Tony in Hanoi. He continued with us as our guide to the mountain towns of Pu Luong and Ninh Binh. Both Long and Tony as well as driver, Mr. Huong were a great resource when my teenage daughter needed medical attention. Easy to work with healthcare in hospital. Everything worked out well. Also needed a special prescription filled and team was extremely helpful to find pharmacy.
Ha long Bay cruise was a nice new boat with good food. Not much educational tour component. Also diesel fumes from so many cruise boats around. Also have to pay for all water and drinks on the boat. Not too expensive but an extra cost to be aware of.
Family enjoyed Hoi An hotel Moon was a new resort. Good experience with John as our guide in Hoi An, making lanterns as well as custom clothing. Farming village tour and cooking class were in same location with some overlap of activity. Probably would just pick one of these activities next time. I enjoyed the produce and crafts market in Hoi An. Don’t miss street food, and famous banh mi restaurant. Night market in Hoi An was interesting and felt safe.
Getting money from ATM needed me to notify my bank I was traveling. Had me nervous for the first day until I was able to make withdrawals. While most hotels will take credit card, the small merchants will ask to ‘share the fee’ and mark up the price 3-5% if you use credit card.
The finalized itinerary gets uploaded to a convenient app that I could refer my teenagers to look at to know the next activity and schedule for the day. Also has some pictures to provide an idea of what is coming up and hotels etc.
Airport pickup and transport was everything I hoped. The VIP escort through customs when we arrived allowed us to cut the line after the long flight which made us all happy. Also got eSIM for phones to avoid international fees. Used Viettel kiosk at airport. Tony helped with currency exchange at the same kiosk too.
Enjoyed food tour with Tony in Hanoi. He continued with us as our guide to the mountain towns of Pu Luong and Ninh Binh. Both Long (through what’s app) and Tony as well as driver, Mr. Huong were a great resource when my teenage daughter needed medical attention. Easy to work with healthcare in hospital. Everything worked out well. Also needed a special prescription filled and team was extremely helpful to find pharmacy.
Ha long Bay cruise was a nice new boat with good food. Not much educational tour component. Also diesel fumes from so many cruise boats around. Also have to pay for all water and drinks on the boat. Not too expensive but an extra cost to be aware of.
Family enjoyed Hoi An hotel Moon was a new resort. Good experience with John as our guide in Hoi An, making lanterns as well as custom clothing. Farming village tour and cooking class were in same location with some overlap of activity. Probably would just pick one of these activities next time. I enjoyed the produce and crafts market in Hoi An. Don’t miss street food, and famous banh mi restaurant. Night market in Hoi An was interesting and felt safe.
Getting money from ATM needed me to notify my bank I was traveling. Had me nervous for the first day until I was able to make withdrawals. While most hotels will take credit card, the small merchants will ask to ‘share the fee’ and mark up the price 3-5% if you use credit card.
Another favorite activity was spa for massage. Hotels charged a little more than shops but were very convenient. If we had some down time wife and daughters were getting nails or facial for very inexpensive price. Great way to help back and legs recover on first morning after the long flight.
Hotel Reviews
Hoi An Moon Premium Boutique Hotel & Spa Resort hotel
Hoi An
Favorite hotel of our trip. This property just opened two days before we arrived. Staff was very enthusiastic. Excellent accommodation. Location very good on same street as old town area. Pool was fantastic, cool and refreshing. Definitely spoiled my family in this place.
Indochine Grand Cruise
Quang Ninh
New cruise boat, maybe one year old. Very nice rooms. Very nice food. Do not expect good Wi-Fi, data reception for your phone in the middle of the bay. The tours lacked any additional education about the region. More just to see the bay, caves. Several activities arranged by the crew to keep busy. Tai chi in the morning was a nice idea, but air quality surrounded by many diesel cruise boats was not enjoyable. The pool on board is more for show. Not worth going in. Also probably, skip swimming in the bay. Many jellyfish and pollution.
Pool is more of a hot tub, not so cool and refreshing. But hot tub can still be nice. Food was very nice, excellent presentation for dinner. Location was surprising at the edge of town, but felt private and countryside from the view. Used hotel laundry service and they accidentally mixed some of our clothes with another room. Took a few minutes to sort out but they didn’t charge us for that bag.
Pu Luong Retreat
Thanh Hoa
Very nice, large hotel rooms with excellent view over the countryside. Bring your insect repellent to this location. Deet wipes were great. Again, excellent breakfast. Infiniti pools were very cool and relaxing. There was some karaoke, music at night from a property near the edge of this hotel location. But air-conditioning helped eliminate the bother.
Le Jardin Hotel Haute Couture
Hotel in good location. Breakfast was complete with a nice view from the 12th floor restaurant. Staff was very pleasant, good recommendations for food nearby.