Marshalls Abroad

Life

Where We Stayed: Vietnam

 For the girls who have been asking me about where we stayed, what we did, etc., I hope this post helps! Blogs have sometimes given me the best travel tips, which I’m always grateful for, so I hope to return it. 
There’s a lot to take in and think about in Vietnam. 
In Hanoi, we stayed at the Hanoi Elegance Ruby and we could not recommend it more. 
It was honestly the best $45 we’ve ever spent on a hotel room!
The staff was just amazing. They picked us up from the airport, which I’d highly recommend because there are tons of scams in Hanoi. We were greeted by the most hospitable staff who served us mango smoothies and gave us cold hand towels while they turned on everything in our room for us.  Our room was small but so lovely and SPOTLESS. Everything is new; the bathroom was all marble with a rain-shower and teak floor. Breakfasts and coffee were fantastic. There was a complimentary basket of fruit {mangoes, bananas, papaya} & water bottles in our room each morning. But even with all of the incredible details, the service is really what stood out the most to us. It was that good.
We also really liked the location of it. It’s on this little side street in the Old Quarter, with markets everywhere and walking distance to just about everything you want to see.

There’s really yummy restaurants in the area too..

We took the hotel’s recommendations for our first night out at the Green Mango
and had a delicious traditional Vietnamese dinner that cost about $16 total.

We took another of their recommendations for our last night in Hanoi as well – and ate on the rooftop at the Gourmet Corner. The meal, service, prices and views overlooking the city were awesome.. and it was such a nice break from the chaos below. Cam and I lost count of how many mango & papaya juices I consumed.. it was a lot. Soo good.

The junk cruise in Halong Bay that we sailed on was the Indochina Dragon’s Pearl. We booked through our hotel and I would highly recommend that. They took care of all the details for us. All transportation {it’s a 3 hour crazy crazy fun drive from Hanoi} & meals were included.
Our room was tiny but perfect.. decorated along with the rest of the ship in Indochina style. That hard as a rock bed was surprisingly comfortable.. or maybe it was all the wine we drank? (:

Goodness, it was ammmazing and romantic.
We were just there a few weeks ago, right?!
One of the great things about this junk is that it goes to Bai Tu Long Bay, which is the more remote side of the Gulf of Tonkin.

 {his adorable put-down-your-camera-and-sit-your-butt-next-to-me-and-drink-your-wine face}

As I said already in this post, the staff was so wonderful. They knew our anniversary is coming up so they made us a huge cake, sang to us, and made me a pretty necklace out of local shells. They were so sweet and so good to us all. “Congras-lation Mr. Mrs. Ma-sha!”


Comments

  2. Lea says

    Wow! I just love looking at your travels. Makes me feel like I'm traveling myself. Great tips too!

  3. Ms. Random says

    Amazing pics lady! I can't believe that the trip was so cheap 🙂 Luv the caption in the last pic. , you guys are too cute. Have a great rest of the week. XX

  9. Emily says

    We are booked for 3 nights thanks to your recommendation. Now we'll have to check out those restaurants as well 🙂

  11. Anonymous says

    just a couple things that cost $16 here in the nation's capital:
    ++ TWO cards from Papyrus
    ++ an okay bottle of wine from Safeway
    ++ a nice GLASS of wine from a restaurant
    ++ a hot sandwich, Limonata, chips, and bar of chocolate from West Wing cafe
    ++ half of an appetizer
    I could continue… but you get the point. 🙂 MISS YOU! lanneybear

  12. Maureen Dillmore says

    I've had this post in the back of my mind for a while now, and was finally able to put it to use – I just booked us a couple nights at the Ruby and booked a trip to Halong Bay through them (as well as airport transfer)! We are so excited and your posts made it super easy! Can I ask where you stayed on the beach in Thailand? You did a post about a great hotel, but I don't think you mentioned the name. Thank you so much!

You Might Also Like