Taking Thai BF to Vietnam

[colmx]

Hi All
My (Thai) BF and I have decided that our next side trip should be to Vietnam.
After debating the merits of HCMC versus Hanoi - HCMC has won - seeing as we are both night owls.
Hanoi and a trip to Halong bay will have to wait for a future trip!

Can anyone suggest gay friendly lodgings (especially joiner friendly) located near the HCMC night life?
I have seen the Pink Tulip being mentioned in a few places - anybody have any experience of staying there?

Anybody have any comments on the HCMC night life in general (gay or gay friendly Pubs/clubs)
Thanks in Advance!

[Moses]

In few days we will open Vietnam at Siamroads.com, but first guide is from Hanoi unfortunately. We are looking trusted guide in Saigon yet.

[aussie_]

My Vietnamese friend did not recommend Pink Tulip but I have not stayed there so we need information from others who have.

I stayed at the Silverland Central hotel in HCM city. My local guy visited every night and parked his motorcycle downstairs and stayed overnight every night. The rooftop bar has great views over the city. The manager introduced himself when I left and offered me discounts for my next stay. Excellent location but some rooms at the back or on the side are much quieter than the front with the usual road noise in Vietnam.

I have also stayed at the Lan Lan hotels, also near the Ben Thanh market. Check out the Ben Thanh market when the shirtless guys are setting up late afternoon and taking apart the stalls around midnight. Some stunners working there when I have visited. . Again, get a room away from the main road. I had many visitors at all hours and reception just called and asked if it was ok for the visitor to come to my room. I had a regular friend visiting and the bellboy at the front entrance welcomed him every night and jokingly would say "have a good night with your friend, see you in the morning" and then help him park his motorcyle in the underground car park.

It is not like that at all hotels and in some places in Vietnam I have resisted taking anyone to my hotel. So picking a hotel with gay friendly staff and turning a blind eye to the official rules about visitors is important.

In HCM city the club we liked was the Apocolypse Now bar near the riverside. It is a mixed club, mostly expats, overseas visitors, locals, always some gay guys there and stays open till late. Nobody has ever looked at us when I have been there with my 21yo Vietnamese friend. The music is great and there are two floors with a more hip/trance type music upstairs.

Republic gay club is near Apocolypse and we have looked inside, it looked OK but we never stayed as we preferred to go to Apocolypse. Walking street is near Republic and Apocolypse clubs and I would go there every night when the weather was good as the eye candy is well worth the exercise of walking up and down the street a few times.

There are gay bars that are not welcoming to foriegners like Boheme, others have closed or are only known to the locals.

Bue Vien street is good for food, drink and people watching. There are some very good looking waiters and staff in the many restaurants and also the hundreds of locals that go there most nights.

[searcher]

I have stayed at the Pink Tulip several times and I highly recommend it. It is situated in a quiet lane next Bui Vien street, the backpacker area. P.T is run by a very friendly Dutch guy and his husband, a Vietnamese. No problems with joiners who leave their ID at the reception. "Anni", the manager is very helpful and he can give you every information about gay life in Saigon you need. Just book your rooom...I d recommend a room with a balcony...EARLY enough. BTW When in Saigon ONLY use Mai Linh or Vinasun taxis

[Uranus]

Can anyone give any good advice on hotels in Vung Tau where there are no problems checking in with a local guy?

[aussie_]

Can anyone give any good advice on hotels in Vung Tau where there are no problems checking in with a local guy?

I stayed at the Green Hotel for a weekend in 2015 with my Vietnamese friend. We had a seaview room, everything was good and nobody cared that we were sharing a room. We went to the Blue Moon gay nightclub which was quite a good and friendly place but the music was ear splittingly loud even for my 21yo friend. Take some ear plugs if you go there. I have not tried any other hotels at Vung Tau but I doubt if you would have any problems checking in with a local guy at most of them.

http://www.agoda.com/green-hotel-vung-tau/hotel/vung-tau-vn.html

[colmx]

Hi Aussie_ and Searcher
Thanks for your replies to my OP. much appreciated

Just booked the flights on Vietnam Airways and now have to start the 2 month countdown until our actual visit!

Chose VA over Jetsar and Airasia as no messing with additional charges for baggage, boarding, seat assignment etc.
And also I like their flight timings on 11.20 and 11.45 to/from SGN.

Some may consider those times a waste of a day... but I consider those god awful AirAsia 6/7am flights a waste of the night before!

Aussie: did you Viet friend say why he didn't recommend pink Tulip?
Did you prefer the Silverland Central or Lan Lan hotel?

Anyone else have any recommendations on where to stay or on additional nightlife?

[aussie_]

Aussie: did you Viet friend say why he didn't recommend pink Tulip? Did you prefer the Silverland Central or Lan Lan hotel?

I mentioned the PinkTulip hotel to my friend when I was making my hotel bookings and he said the Lan Lan hotels were better. He did not say anything bad about the Pink Tulip Hotel but I took his advise. Silverland was good but a bit expensive so I have stayed at the Lan Lan 2 hotel on three ocassions with a room at the very back of the hotel which also guarantees a window. It would be 3 star at the most but big, clean, quiet rooms and I liked the attitude of the staff. I never had to worry about guests visiting me at anytime of the night. Apparently the Lan Lan 1 Hotel is also quite good. I like walking so the location is better than Pink Tulip for me to go to the market, shops and walking street without the need for a taxi. There are plenty of more expensive and higher quality hotels in HCM city but I cannot report on their attitude towards guests so I will stick with Lan Lan.

Only my opinion but one place you can avoid is the Chill Sky Bar in HCM City - 300K or more dong for a drink and I had a big run in with the bar manager there. The place is packed most nights with nearly every table reserved and they keep moving you on so it is difficult to stand in one spot, We finally found a place at the end of a table with no reservation sign to rest our drinks for a moment and the manager came straight over and rudely told us to move on. I should have kept quiet as the security staff are rather mean looking but I gave him a burst and told him what I thought of his overpriced, overcrowded and unpleasent bar. We left without any more problems and never to return.

[Nirish guy]

Some may consider those times a waste of a day... but I consider those god awful AirAsia 6/7am flights a waste of the night before!

Ha must be an Irish thing as i TOTALLY agree, those early morning flights are a killer as you either sit the night before thinking "fuck I have to be half good as I've to be up at 4/5am to leave OR you think "fuck it" and just stay up, resulting in your going to the airport either still half pissed or looking like a zombie, complete with clothes still hanging from your bag as you only left yourself 15 minutes to pack ! So, yes lunchtime, afternoon flights all the way for me too, MUCH more civilised ! ;-)

[goji]

So, yes lunchtime, afternoon flights all the way for me too, MUCH more civilised ! ;-)
Agreed. It's supposed to be a holiday, so I don't want to be getting up at 4:00 am.
Something like a 13:00 flight allows for a relaxed morning breakfast & still arriving at SE Asian destinations in daylight.

[colmx]

I suppose I should update this thread... Seeing as I opened it and got great advice
We went to HCMC in Late August and BF hated it, actually I mean he absolutely loathed it!

It seemed we did nothing but queue, queue, queue our entire time there and the taxi drivers were next to useless... I will never slag off the Bkk taxi drivers again after experiencing HCMC drivers!

I enjoyed the Museum of American & Chinese Atrocities & the Cu Chi tunnels... but BF was bored off of his face!

We stayed in the Pink Tulip and whilst the room was good and the location good - I got locked our twice! Now I wasn't out that late (maybe 2am, BF had gone home early as he was bored) but they had already shuttered up the shop house and the "night porter" was fast asleep... It took around 15 minutes of banging on the shutter to get someone to open the shutter (on both nights!)

The gay scene was also pretty disappointing - although there were plenty of pickup opportunities around Bui Vien Street - if I had been there alone

So my advice for HCMC - is to never take your Thai BF with you... go and enjoy it alone!

[lego]

Well that was an honest and not very surprising report. Thanks for the update!

[aussie_]

I suppose I should update this thread... Seeing as I opened it and got great advice
We went to HCMC in Late August and BF hated it, actually I mean he absolutely loathed it! It seemed we did nothing but queue, queue, queue our entire time there and the taxi drivers were next to useless... I will never slag off the Bkk taxi drivers again after experiencing HCMC drivers!

If possible i only used Uber in HCMC, very inexpensive and reliable. There are plenty of hook ups available from the apps, mostly free, mboys available if you prefer and i agree about Bue Vien being a hot spot for starting a chat with a good looking waiter and others. I would not like to be in HCMC with a bored or not bored bf, much more fun alone. I have friends in HCMC and we spend more time trying the many wonderful cafes and restaurants than bar hopping but i can always do that in Thailand.