Let's watch a movie at Resorts World??!??

That was my very first reaction, actually. I signed up at THIS site to be included as one of the thirty bloggers to watch the premiere movie showing at Newport Cinema at Resorts World. My husband, Jojo, has his own blog too. You can find it HERE so I also signed him up.

Coming back from Malaysia, I immediately see the semblance between Resorts World Manila and Genting Highlands. Sure, we don't have the cable car, the huge indoor and outdoor amusement park but it definitely has the same feel. It's no wonder. Resorts World Manila is a joint venture between Genting and Megaworld! ;-) Needless to say, they also have condos put up here. It's right behind the St. Lourdes Church.

Resorts World is strategically located across NAIA 3. This place holds a lot of promise if and when (I hope!), all of the international flights at NAIA 1 is transferred to Terminal 3. Add to that a path or underground walkway from the airport to the Resorts World area and we're all set! There's still a lot of construction going on and this area is really nowhere near done. But for now, you can find the Marriott Hotel, our only 6-star hotel in Manila: Maxims, and Newport Plaza. On the other end of Marriott -- the third building, is where all the casinos, shops, restaurants, and now, cinemas, are located.

From a recent trip in Macau, I could immediately see the Newport Plaza's similarity to the Venetian Macao Hotel. I kid you not. For real! The establishment has potential. Once it's done, you'll see designer shops lining the first floor. There's only about two shops open on the first floor, I think. One is a watch shop, and the other, a jewellery store? It's really exciting though. The same owner of Rustans -- The Store Specialists, will be tasked to open a number of high-end shops here. I imagine all the other stores will be up and running in 6 months? Maybe just in time for Christmas or sooner.

There's one casino on the first floor too. Although Newport Plaza, altogether, seems empty, there were a lot of people at the casino though. The place was bustling with sounds of slot machines, people, and a live band right in the middle. We didn't go in the casino but we could see all of these from the hallway.

The second floor has about four restaurants that are open already. One is UCC, Red Crab Resto, a New Orleans restaurant that serves ribs and steaks, and another one right beside it -- Republiq. The third floor has two shops open: Bench and The Face Shop. When I asked them how late they close, the saleslady told me that Sundays to Thursdays they're open until 10 pm. Fridays and Saturdays they're open an hour later than that. Cool! ;-)

On the topmost floor -- the fourth floor, are the cinemas. I think only two are open and running right now. We watched "Salt" at Cinema 2. It being a premiere, representatives of Resorts World talked about future projects. One that got me and Jojo really excited is their plan for Cinema 1. How wonderful! It's the first time I've heard of something like this. It definitely beats the Director's Cut cinema of Mall of Asia. They were saying that for Cinema 1, they will only have 80 seats inside. And get this: each seat can be fully reclined and will have a sort of cubicle for utmost privacy. With the ticket comes bottomless drinks and unlimited popcorn too. But that's not all! (Gee, I sound like an infomercial!) ;-) Each seat has a button. Press that button and along comes a 'butler' that's personally assigned to you! Wow! ;-) Talk about spoiling yourself. ;-) Although I wonder why you'll need a butler for a 2-hour movie. I joked to Jojo that maybe the butler can be called on if maybe you need someone to scratch your back or something...;-) Hahaha! No word yet on how much this whole thing will cost per person. I'm very interested though. I'll keep you posted once I find this out.

For now, I checked on the prices and Cinema 2 showings cost 200 pesos per person. Cinema 2 shows "Salt" and Cinema 4 shows "The Last Airbender." Cinema 4 showings cost 300 pesos because they're in 3D. I believe movies are running now between noon to 11 pm.

As for our whole movie experience, we really did enjoy it! You can't recline the seats in Cinema 2 but the back of the seat adjusts a wee bit based on the weight you put in front of it. Does that make sense? What I'm trying to say is that they're not too sturdy so they're much more comfortable. There's a lot of leg room and it won't be too much of a bother for the people sitting beside you if in any case, you have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the movie. There's enough room to pass through there without fear of stepping on their feet. There's enough room too so none of them will have to get up to let you through.

The screen though, I think, is taller than it is wide. As a consequence to this, you won't have that great of a view if you sit in the first five or six rows. We were sitting in the fourth row but I think our view would be much better if we had moved back. As for the sound system, everything was loud and crisp. You can really tune into the movie and drown out any rustling or any annoying side conversations.

I can't comment on the popcorn because we didn't get to try it. We were already full from the cocktails and hors d'oevres that were provided at the premiere. If the popcorn tastes like the one at Powerplant, I'll be one very happy camper though. ;-)

As I said, Resorts World is very promising. I can't wait until all the shops and restos are open. For now, I guess you should visit this place while you can still have privacy. Everytime you want to avoid the lines at Greenbelt 3 or PowerPlant, why not just hie over to Newport's cinemas? After the movie, you can have coffee and dessert at UCC or go to Velocity --Marriott Hotel's sports bar or play casino or hey, shop at Bench or The Face Shop. ;-) I imagine this place will get crowded someday. Enjoy it now while you can still walk around freely without all the crowds. ;-)

The Bintang Warisan Hotel at KL, Malaysia

It's been a little more than a month since we got back from our 5-day trip to KL. Summer vacation has officially started and I now have a bit more time to focus on updating this blog and sharing with you our travel "adventure." It's one of the perks of being a teacher. TWO months vacation, baby! ;-) So this is where my blog series on our Kuala Lumpur trip starts. From our accommodation to shopping finds, top experiences, food recommendations, and tips -- I hope that this will be helpful to you in your next visit to Malaysia. ;-)

Let's start with the accommodation.

As always, I try to prepare myself with a lot of research before going on a trip. From my research, I found that when you're in Kuala Lumpur, the best area to stay in is Bukit Bintang. It is in what they call the Golden Triangle area. It's a very convenient location because you're a stone's throw away from the train station, major malls (like 7 of them), hawker stalls, massage places, and anything else that you'll ever need. It is literally where all the action is.

Instead of Bukit Bintang, you may choose to stay in the KLCC area. It's part of the Golden Triangle but it's a bit more laid back. Hotels in this area are a bit more upsscale too. What it's got going for it is the fact that it's near the Petronas Towers and the mall attached to it called Suria KLCC. The other malls like BB Plaza, Lot 10, Plaza Low Yat, Pavilion, Starhill, and all the others are in Bukit Bintang though. It's accessible from KLCC through what should be a short taxi ride away. But traffic can get really bad so if shopping is your thing, staying in the KLCC area might not be such a good idea.

In short, if you're a budget traveler and would like to be in the middle of the action, choose a hotel in Bukit Bintang. In particular, a hotel along or intersecting Jalan Bukit Bintang, Jalan Alor, Jalan Imbi, or Jalan Pudu.

Our hotel of choice for this trip was the Bintang Warisan Hotel. Their official website can be found HERE. I went on this trip with my husband and so we only needed a standard room with a queen-sized bed. For this, we paid RM155 per night. In Philippine pesos, that's about P2,200. Admittedly, there are hotels on that same row or around it that are cheaper by RM30 (P425). But from my research, Agora Hotel and Sungei Wang Hotel (at RM130) are both really run-down, dirty, and has bedbugs; Hotel Rae (on a promo for RM140) is nice but it's not that close to the malls -- maybe about a 10-minute walk?; and the others either don't include a free breakfast or don't accept credit card payments.

Our hotel, the Bintang Warisan, was not bad at all. Just like the format that I used for our Vietnam trip, let me enumerate the things that we liked about this hotel:

1.) The location of the hotel and the convenience that goes with it is worth the price alone!

We flew Cebu Pacific going to KL. We left at around 9 pm, add four hours' travel by plane, and another hour travel time from KL's airport (LCCT) to our hotel, and we're there around 2 am. We were just dead tired, putting into account that we went straight to the airport after a whole day of work and add to that the long travel time as well. But when we got to the hotel, we just got sooo excited! The area in front of the hotel and around it seemed like a "happenin' " place to be! And it was a Thursday! There were people still getting a massage right across the hotel, there were people milling around the restaurants, chatting along the street, the lights were bright and there were cars still passing by as if it was only 9 pm! It was tempting to drop off our bags in the room and come down again to be part of all the fun. But with a few hours left to sleep, we knew we had to postpone until the next day.

This hotel is really in the middle of everything. Jojo, my husband, was very pleased that it's only a 2-minute walk to Plaza Low Yat. You just cross the street, walk a few more steps, and there you are! Plaza Low Yat, by the way, is KL's version of our Greenhills. It's the gadget mecca of KL. You'll find everything there for all your "techie" needs. More on that on my next entry. ;-)

If you walk to the opposite direction, you'll find rows of malls in this order: Sungei Plaza, BB Plaza, Lot 10, Star Hill, and Pavilion. That is, not to mention, the row of reflexology massage places just right across the hotel too. To the left and the right of the hotel are various restaurants like Pappa Rich, McDonalds, KFC, and many many others. Jalan Alor, the famous hawker area, is just right behind us too. The location of this hotel definitely cannot be beat.

2.) The free breakfast at their cozy cafe is definitely a perk!

Going in to the hotel, you'll see the Heritage Coffeehouse to your left. This is where you have your free breakfast everyday. You can also order other things like Malaysian fare or Western dishes for lunch or dinner. Most nights though, I see a lot of locals and tourists sitting in this cafe with a beer on hand, just people-watching. After all, there's a lot to see from this vantage point. The restaurant juts out to the sidewalk and it's in the middle of everything!

We only stayed at the Heritage Coffeehouse really, to have our free breakfast everyday. I was hoping we could spend more time there like for cocktails or so, but it's very easy to get distracted -- especially when you have so many other choices or places to be in this area. ;-) Anyway, for the free breakfast, you are given a choice between the American breakfast or the traditional Malaysian one.

The American breakfast includes toast, eggs (you can choose the way you like it), wieners (Vienna sausage?), and get ready for this: pork and beans! ;-) Frankly, I didn't know that the typical American breakfast consisted of that! ;-) It was a nice addition though.

The Malaysian breakfast included white rice and Nasi Lemak -- accompanied with hardboiled egg, peanuts, and of course, the tasty chicken with chili and other spices. It tasted very good! But if you're used to having just toast or cereal for breakfast, this might be a bit much. It's heavy but being a Filipino used to the longganiza (Filipino sausage), fried egg, and rice breakfast combination, it was fine. I loved the burst of flavor and spicyness of their Nasi Lemak. Who needs coffee when you can have the Nasi Lemak to wake you up?!?? ;-) All of their breakfasts were served with free orange juice and coffee, by the way.

3.) The rooms were clean enough and their bed was comfortable.

Admittedly, it can be pretty obvious that this hotel has been around for a while. You can tell this from the bathroom tiles, furniture with a few dents and scratches, and the rust stains in the shower area. But the Bintang Warisan Hotel tries to make-do with what they have. Unlike the hotel that we stayed at in Bangkok which is probably just as old, I was pleased that there wasn't that 'closed-in' cigarette smoke smell in the room. The carpet was well-maintained too. The bed wasn't hard on the back and everything was the cleanest that they could be. Houseekeeping comes in everyday to clean the room.

The room was small but you have everything that you need there. You get clean towels everyday, free packets of coffee, soap, shower cap, and shampoo as well. As for their TV, I think, from memory, it had about 10 channels or so. Most of them were in Bahasa but there were maybe a couple of channels to please the English speakers. ;-)

4.) Yes, you are very close to all the action but you can also get a good night's sleep here too.

We stayed at Room 701. It doesn't face Jalan Bukit Bintang. It's on the opposite side, facing Jalan Alor. Despite being close to all this action though, we loved how quiet it was in the room. Except for the occasional 'ting' of the elevator opening, we couldn't hear anything else. Now, this is a surprise since the hotel was fully booked when we were there. Their walls must be very thick or they must have done something to block all the noise.

To add to the "good night's sleep" part, the airconditioner is pretty strong. In fact, I had to get up in the middle of the night to adjust the temp because it was just too cold. We loved that. ;-)

5.) From your window, you can get a good view of the Petronas Towers AND the KL Menara.

I'm not sure if all the rooms facing Jalan Alor have windows. But we did! ;-) It was sooo cool to see these two landmarks from our window! They looked even more stunning and majestic at night don't you think? ;-) It's a tiny thing but it definitely made our stay in this hotel more special. ;-)

Despite all these good things, the Bintang Warisan Hotel still has a number of things that they have to improve on before it can be considered KL's number 1 budget hotel in my book. Here we go for the negative:

1.) Where's the toothbrush? The toothpaste? And the blowdryer??!??

On a tray in the bathroom, you'll find a shower cap, soap, and a small bottle of generic shampoo. And then you wonder, where's the toothbrush and the toothpaste? Yes, there is a convenient store located across the street where you can get these things. But still. Shouldn't these things be included in the amenities?

Usually, in the other budget hotels that I've stayed at in Asia, the blowdryer is attached to the wall. At Bintang Warisan, you'll have to request it from the front desk. On our first day there, I realized too late that they didn't have a blowdryer in the room. After showering, I only had 30 minutes before we had to leave to get our viewing tickets at the Petronas Towers. To be assured of a ticket, the websites I visited suggested being there no later than 8 am.

Anyway, I told the front desk that I needed that blowdryer ASAP. Thirty minutes had passed on that first day and still no blow dryer. We had to leave and we never found out if anyone came to drop it off. We thought that housekeeping would just leave the blowdryer on the table. But when we got back, there was nothing.

We weren't in a rush the following day. I called at around 8:30 for that blowdryer and within a few minutes, I got it. It led me to think that maybe Housekeeping comes in past 8 and they're the ones expected to deliver these things. So on the first day, the people at the front desk probably waited for someone from Housekeeping to come in to deliver it instead of taking the initiative to deliver it themselves. Which leads me to my second "beef"...

2.) The service could definitely be improved even more.

We liked the staff at the Heritage Coffeehouse. They were all smiles and the waiters were very accommodating. In fact, we even "pestered" one of them when we asked for directions to go to the Petronas by train. The websites I've visited says to get on the monorail and get off at Bukit Nanas, then walk to transfer to another train and get off two stops later. Man, was I glad that we followed our waiter's suggestion. He said to yes, take the monorail and get off at Bukit Nanas. But instead of transferring to another train, he suggested to walk it instead. It was a much better idea because we soon realized that the walk from Bukit Nanas to the connecting train is really the distance from where we get off to the Petronas -- but just in the opposite direction. It didn't make sense to walk further away from the Petronas just so we can get on a train to get there.

And yet again, I digress...;-) Yes, the staff of the Heritage Coffeehouse were great. I assumed the owner of Bintang Warisan also owns that coffeehouse. But I wondered why the people at the front desk weren't as courteous. Yes, they give you what you ask for. But they just don't go the extra mile. There are no smiles, no 'Good Mornings,' and no one offered to help when we lugged our stuff up to our room after checking in at 2 am! Not the friendliest bunch at all. I wish they could improve this. With tough hotel competition along Jalan Bukit Bintang, this could cost them.

3.) The bathroom is a downer.

As I said, the bathroom tiles show their age. There are rust stains on the drain and a few other areas. If you're used to budget accommodation, these things are actually quite minor. But the thing that disappointed me the most was the shower. The water pressure wasn't that strong. And what's weird is that the shower had a semi-enclosure and in the middle -- a shower curtain. I wondered why not have a full enclosure with a door for the entrance to the shower?

I always felt clumsy when taking a shower. Not only is the shower area small but all you had there was a tiny soap dish on the wall. For a girl who uses a lot of toiletries, I had to put all of my stuff on top of the counter near the sink and step out of the shower each time I have to use them, and step out again to put it back. You can put all of the toiletries on the floor while you shower but since the area is small, you run the risk of bumping your head on the enclosure each time you bend down to get something. I think their bathrooms are definitely due for a renovation.

4.) The smell in the lobby is a bit much.

When you enter the hotel, you'll find a perfume shop across the elevator. I'm not talking about a perfume shop that sells Chanel, Carolina Herrera, and the like. I think they mix the oils themselves. And this really strong and musky scent of what seems like cheap perfume wafts through whole lobby. It's a bit strong and can give you a momentary headache. What I had to do each time was hold my breath and dash to the elevator to escape this. Thankfully, the smell doesn't reach the cafe. You'll only smell it when you're by the receptionist or waiting for the elevator.

So what is the verdict? If Jojo and I were to go back to KL, I think we would still choose Bintang Warisan as our hotel. Despite its shortcomings, it's not that bad of a hotel to stay at when you're on a budget. The location, cleanliness, and the free breakfast, I think, makes up for its shortcomings. ;-) Anyway, as tourists, we were really only at the hotel to sleep and shower. We're out the rest of the time so that lack in warmth and hospitality in their service wasn't too bothersome. As for the bathroom, I know that they're beginning to do renovations. So I'm hoping that they'll do something about these bathrooms very soon.

For more reviews of this hotel, you can visit Tripadvisor HERE.

Now, if you're not on a budget and would like to be in the same area as Bintang Warisan, let me suggest the Piccolo Hotel. To be honest, Piccolo Hotel is our first choice. It's about a block and a half away from Bintang Warisan but the location is still very central. Instead of being right across Plaza Low Yat, the Piccolo Hotel is beside Starhill Gallery (a super posh and upscale mall) and across my favorite mall in KL, the Pavilion. From the Piccolo, you cross the street, and you're there at the monorail station. Right in front of the hotel is the HOHO (Hop On, Hop Off) station. Very convenient, indeed.

And did I mention that it's a boutique hotel too? Have a look at these rooms. Very nice and modern hey?

These rooms start at RM303 (P4,300) per night on asiarooms.com. Their official website can be found HERE. It might be worth checking out. ;-)

Source: The Piccolo Hotel pictures were taken from agoda.com

Our Home Away From Home in Ho Chi Minh City

It's been a week since we got back from our Vietnam trip. I should have written this post way sooner. But it took me that long to get out of the "holiday" mode. ;-) Now that I'm in full gear, expect a series of Baguio entries (promised from before) and Ho Chi Minh entries in the coming days and weeks. That is, depending on how long it will take me to write them. But they're a comin'. ;-)

Jojo and I were in Ho Chi Minh from June 19 to 25. We didn't go through any travel agency or anything. Through research, we found that it actually ends up being cheaper to plan and book the trip yourself. Cebu Pacific had an online promo on air travel and from browsing hotel rates in HCMC, we found that they're actually way cheaper than Manila. The only challenge I had was figuring out which hotel to book. HCMC has a lot of hotels in every corner. In order to figure out which hotel to book, I literally had to list a criteria of some sort. What were we looking for in a hotel? What's most important?

Before getting into that, it's important to note that as travelers, Jojo and I don't exactly look for luxury. It would be nice if we had it, of course. But we would really rather splurge on the shopping. Anyway, from experience, we know that we only stay in the hotel to sleep. We don't spend much of our time there since we're often out getting a taste and exposure of the culture more than anything else. So from there, these are the criteria and requirements that we decided on in finding the perfect hotel for us:

1.) The hotel has to be near a landmark shopping destination. Think walking distance.
For Ho Chi Minh, we chose the Ben Thanh Market as our shopping destination. It's a great location since by foot, it's only 5-10 minutes away from the Dong Khoi area. Dong Khoi is where you can find the malls, high-end shops, and art galleries. It is also where the infamous Rex Hotel, Lam Son Square, Municipal Hall, and other attractions are. Perfect! ;-)

2.) The hotel rate has to be within our budget.
Using tripadvisor.com, I was able to get a sense of the hotel rates, services, and added perks for various hotels. From this I discovered that it's a norm in HCMC to get a mini-breakfast buffet spread along with your accommodation. You get to choose from pho (Vietnamese soup), baguette and eggs, fruits, spring rolls, toast, and fruits. I also discovered that most of the hotels have 2 or 3 computer stalls in the lobby which you can use to get online for free! Another thing that I found is that most, if not all the hotels offer airport pick up and transfer ranging from $15-20 per way. Airport pick-up is even free if you stay at that same hotel for 7 days.

Depending on the type and size of room, accommodation in these type of budget hotels cost no more than $50 USD. In fact, they can go as low as $20 USD/night! These $20 rooms are often in the Pham Ngu Lao area (backpacker's district) and have no elevators. Hotels in the Ben Thanh area generally start at $25. We went the middle road and made our budget $30-35/night.

3.) The hotel should have gotten a lot of good reviews online for their cleanliness and great service. Having hot/cold shower, cable TV, aircon, mini-fridge, and toiletries should be a given as well.
I did my share of research for this, visiting sites like Trip Advisor, Real Travel, Agoda, and the like. On Trip Advisor, Ha Hien Hotel came out being #27 out of 208 reviewed hotels. It's not bad. I checked out the other hotels that came before Ha Hien and they were either too posh and expensive (think Hyatt) or the rooms didn't look too appealing in pictures. Most of them weren't as close to Ben Thanh as I wanted them to be either. Based on the reviews and the criteria above, it seemed that Ha Hien Hotel was the best one for us.

So a couple of weeks before the trip, I decided to book and reserve at the hotel website. Before that, I noticed that the rates given at Agoda were a few dollars cheaper. I wasn't sure if Agoda is legit so just to be sure, I emailed Ha Hien through their website asking about it. I emailed them one evening and upon waking up the next day, I was pleased to get a quick response from them. They confirmed that they have a tie up with Agoda but encouraged us to book straight through to the hotel anyway. They matched Agoda's rates and even told us about their 20% off promo. I was all smiles when they told us that a standard room for two only costs $27! That's the one without a window. Perfect! After reading about the loud traffic noise in HCMC, we opted for no-window rooms during our stay. Wow. It's even way below our budget. ;-)

Since we were traveling late at night, we requested for airport pick up. They only charged an additional $18 for a four-seater car. All in all, our 6-night stay and one-way airport transfer cost $180 USD! How can you beat that? Unbelievably cheap. So for this price, how did Ha Hien Hotel fare? Let me start with the good. ;-)

1.) Online booking was at its most convenient.
I expected to have to leave them a credit card number to secure the booking. But everything was just done through email correspondence. We finalized the details two weeks before our arrival. I was a bit weary that the booking would be forgotten or lost so I emailed them the day before we left to give them a gentle reminder. I realized after that that was just completely unnecessary. They had everything under control and I didn't need to worry about a thing. I should've known that from the hotel's prompt email responses throughout our correspondence. I didn't need to wait more than five hours to get a response -- regardless of how early or late I emailed them. ;-)

2.) The airport pick up was prompt, service was good, and we were charged less than we should have been.
Our plane landed in HCMC at 12:30 am. Passing through customs and picking up our checked-in luggage took another ten minutes. Just to be sure, I told Ha Hien Hotel that our arrival would be between 12:30 and 1:30 am. Cebu Pacific, our carrier, is not exactly known for being on time so I expected the worst. But when we got out at 12:40, we were pleased to see a couple of smiling faces holding a sheet with my name in a huge computer-printed font. One was the designated driver and the other, we later realized, is the bell boy. ;-) The bell boy quickly took our luggage and through some Charades, told us that we had to wait for the van. It arrived after two minutes. Since neither of them spoke English, it was a quiet 20-minute ride all the way to the hotel.

I was quite surprised that they only charged us $18 for the pick up. From my correspondence with them, I know that we had a choice between a four-seater (in other words, a car) or a 7-seater (a van). I opted for the four-seater of course since there's only the two of us and a few luggage that could easily fit in the trunk. I guess the other one wasn't available so they charged us the rate of the 4-seater still. I thought that it was very honest of them to do that. I was liking them already. ;-) By the way, all payment was not made until check-out. Upon arriving, they didn't ask for a credit card number still. They will only ask for the passports of all the guests. And this is okay. Don't worry about giving them your passports. This is the standard in HCMC. To alleviate all the stress and worry that this could cause you, just make sure you have a photocopy of your passport on hand. ;-)

3.) You get way more than what you pay for at Ha Hien Hotel!
For the price, I was honestly expecting the worst. But upon seeing the room, Jojo and I were truly pleased! There's no denying that it is, indeed, a budget hotel. The furniture could definitely be more stylish and modern. Vietnam is known for their art. A more beautiful painting could be on display. The shower curtain could be updated too. Despite these minor things, it is obvious that Ha Hien Hotel does all that it can to provide a relaxing and hassle-free stay for all their guests.

First of, I was surprised to see them using card keys to open the rooms. There are a number of posher hotels in Manila that still use regular keys! Second, Jojo and I were very happy to see our room clean and pristine. The hotel's housekeeping obviously pay a lot of attention to detail when doing their job. Guiltily, Jojo and I left the room in such a mess everyday. But, everyday, when we got back, it would be as if nothing happened. ;-) Everything is still as how we first saw the room.
Another thing that really made me happy about the hotel is the shower's water pressure. ;-) I know. These are things that people hardly notice. But for someone who spends 20 minutes in the shower, this is definitely an added bonus. ;-) The water pressure was so strong that showering was like getting a massage! I LOVED it! Hot water was readily available too -- and it could get as hot as you could handle it. ;-) Yay!

There's also the mini-fridge stocked with interesting Vietnamese drinks (at reasonable prices too!), the comfortable split-type aircon, cable TV with a gazillion channels (specifically with the Travel and Living channel, Discovery, and AXN!), the cozy and clean bed linen, and the toiletries! Everyday, they stock the room up with a couple of toothbrushes, soap, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, cream, Q-tips, cotton, and a razor. What else is there to look for? ;-)

4.) Ha Hien Hotel's location can't be beat.
Ben Thanh Market is open everyday from 7 am until 6 pm. After that, they have a night market that's open until 10, I think. Near Ben Thanh is the infamous Pho 2000 where Bill Clinton dined when he was in Vietnam. There are a number of restaurants, coffee houses, and shops in the area too. If you are willing to walk another five minutes from Ben Thanh, you'll get on that strip there that's synonymous to Hongkong's Nathan Road. There are grocery stores there, malls, art galleries, hotels, and trendy boutiques.

Ha Hien Hotel is literally just 2 minutes away from Ben Thanh. I say two minutes because it would probably take 30 seconds to walk it and another 90 seconds to cross the street! ;-) No, it's not because the streets in HCMC are wide. But HCMC is notorious for their motorcycles and crossing the street can definitely be a challenge. ;-)

5.) Their service is topnotch.
My husband is very particular about service. This could be due to his line of work. He has worked in the Marketing and Sales department at the bank for many years. Despite the language barrier, I was happy to see my husband to be very happy with the hotel's service. Everyone was just so attentive. On our third day and breakfast (!) at the hotel, the waitress offered to bring me Vietnamese iced coffee. I had ordered it twice before and that day, I had a sensitive stomach so I decided not to get it. But the waitress remembered and that was very sweet of her! The people at the front desk were very accommodating too. And believe me, I bothered them about a lot of things. And my questions were as random as they could get. How do you get to Sinh Cafe? How many minutes away is Cholon? Are there any fast food places that deliver at 11 pm? Do we have to pay tax at the airport? ;-) Yeah, I know. They probably knew me there as the girl with a ton of questions. ;-) But you know what? They were very patient with me. And they had an answer for all of my questions too. On our first day, they gave us a map of District 1 and were sincerely helpful. Upon stepping out of the hotel, there's hotel staff there waiting to hail a cab for us too. And each time they hailed a cab for us, they made sure it was one of the reliable companies -- VinaSun or Mai Linh. I know this because I've read about it in a travel guide book.

Okay. So that's the list of the good. As for the picky things that they could improve on, here it is:

1.) Apart from the pho and the baguette, most of the items in their breakfast spread were greasy and bland.
Jojo and I liked the soup and it was very good. The serving was quite hefty too. As for all the other items, they were okay but definitely could be better. The Vietnamese spring rolls are a staple in the spread. And sadly, they're consistently greasy too. We tried their meat buns and this dry noodle dish that looks similar to our pancit. Nothing to rave about, really. But on a good note, I loved their iced coffees! The pho does not disappoint as well. The other items could be more flavorful though, that's all.

2.) The beds are hard!
I read about this in Trip Advisor as well. It's not just Ha Hien Hotel that's guilty of providing those hard and stiff beds. Apparently, a lot of the hotels in HCMC have them too. They don't hurt your back or anything. I mean, you get used to it after a while. It's just uncomfortable at first. But a cushier bed would be nice. ;-)

3.) The water from the tub spills over to another drain by the toilet!
Bubble baths are out of the question, I guess. I just found it so odd that it did that. I mean, the tub itself, had a drain. But for some reason, there's another hole in the tub that directs water to another drain outside of it. It can get annoying because here I am with my 20-minute high-pressured showers. The drain is pretty efficient in that it doesn't flood the bathroom. It just creates a sloppy mess. Towels had to be placed all over the bathroom floor. It's a place that's kinda waiting for an accident like a slip or a fall.

Apart from these 3, this is it for the "bad" things that I can think of. Overall, Jojo and I had a pleasant stay at Ha Hien Hotel. We truly enjoyed their service and had a definite taste of Vietnamese hospitality. ;-) If you're asking me whether we will go back and stay there again, I'll say "For sure!" ;-) Even without its luxuries, Ha Hien Hotel was our, in a true sense of the word, home-away-from-home. We loved it there and this hotel comes highly recommended if you're in search of a budget hotel in HCMC.