Pink Tulip hotel?

[extronaut]

Anyone have experience with this hotel?

What was the experience like?

[paperboy]

looks too cheep
iam looking at the moment at hotels too
there are plenty available and very reasonabley priced
but i think if your staying in the city for a few days like i am
a swimming pool is a must
and location is very important too

[bazzabear]

Anyone have experience with this hotel?

What was the experience like?

yes stayed there last december hotel was fine .but room i had had no window looking outside , but if you pay extra get a window . it was in the heart of the backpacker area but not noisey, manager was extreemly helpful , breakfast ok. i would stay there again

[extronaut]

Stayed there early January. Got a room at the front, with a balcony.

Yeah it was noisy. Seems like a couple of nightclubs have opened up in, or near, that alleyway.

Ah well, I did want to be in Phạm Ngũ Lão, ground zero of Saigon Nightlife. Got what I paid for, didn't I?

(BTW, District 1 is visibly getting bigger, louder, more expensive, and more touristy. Can't hold back progress I suppose. )

The hotel features are a bit worn, but very nice and tasteful.

The staff at the Tulip were excellent. No complaints. Except that the place suffers for lack of a 24 hour front desk. To get back in after 12, I had to wake up the bloke who sleeps in the lobby. The manager swore that was ok, that it wasn't a problem, and I should feel free to stay out and enjoy the Nightlife as much as I want. I still felt sorry for the poor guy though.

Would I stay there again? Definitely, if when I go to Saigon again, I have to pick a hotel room in a hurry. If not, I'd probably do my favourite trick of booking a backpackers for $5, using the locker there to stash my luggage, while for looking for a proper hotel room on foot. Nothing beats seeing the room before you book it.

[a447]

...the place suffers for lack of a 24 hour front desk. To get back in after 12, I had to wake up the bloke who sleeps in the lobby. The manager swore that was ok, that it wasn't a problem, and I should feel free to stay out and enjoy the Nightlife as much as I want. I still felt sorry for the poor guy though.

It's a tough job having to sleep in the lobby and get woken up by those revellers who come in at all hours.

That was also the case when I stayed at Arthur and Paul Hotel in Phnom Pehn. I felt really bad. But I made sure I tipped him for his troubles.

[extronaut]

a447 yeah. I'm not sure tipping is the done thing in Vietnam, though it certainly is in Cambodia and Thailand.

I've read that if you want to tip somebody, you should present them with a small token gift. I've tried that, once with a tailor, and once with a guitar maker. In both cases they were absolutely delighted, so I think that's probably true.

In retrospect, maybe what I should have done, was give the guy my deodorant and the large bottle of liquid soap I had left over at the end of my trip. I wasn't going to be able to take them on the plane.

[a447]

In retrospect, maybe what I should have done, was give the guy my deodorant and the large bottle of liquid soap I had left over at the end of my trip.

Mmmm...I'm not too sure about that. He may have taken offence! Lol

[bobsaigon2]

A Vietnamese-American business man, visiting Saigon from the US, was seated in the lobby of his 5 star hotel, just by chance in the vicinity of a working girl. She offered to go up to his room with him in exchange for a bottle of the after-shave he was wearing.

So, yes, personal care items are appropriate as tips, in place of, or in addition to, cash.

[scottish-guy]

.... maybe what I should have done, was give the guy my deodorant and the large bottle of liquid soap I had left over at the end of my trip. I wasn't going to be able to take them on the plane.

In the past I have always found that the boy I just spent my last night of my trip with is only too happy to volunteer to remove the various bottles of aftershave, mouthwash, de-oderants, soaps, razors, unopened socks - and anything else I can't really be bothered packing

[a447]

So, yes, personal care items are appropriate as tips, in place of, or in addition to, cash.

So true.

Back in January I gave my favourite guy a bottle of Bulgari Extreme eau de toilette and he was over the moon - absolutely thrilled! On a previous trip I had a bottle in the bathroom and he had asked me if he could squirt some on. He really loved it, but I didn't give it to him as it was almost empty.

And this April trip I bought him another bottle of EDT; this time it was a different brand. I just love it when I see the guys' eyes light up! I gave it as a present, not a tip or in lieu of money.

One of the boys in the bar has a birthday coming up. As I'll be back in Bangkok then, I asked him what he would like as a present. Knowing I buy this stuff for one of my boys, he immediately said he'd like a bottle of Calvin Klein EDT.

Done!

So now I've found a go-to present the guys really appreciate.

[christianpfc]

I have only very little toiletries, nothing to share. I don't use perfume, and even more important I don't like any cosmetics/perfume on my sexual partners.

That leaves not much I could give to boys as presents: chocolate (I bring kilograms of German chocolate and cookies every time I enter Thailand from Germany, but I keep all of it in my fridge, transport/storage in the tropics would be a problem) and underwear (but here I have to get the right size depending on the boy).

Back to the subject: I stayed in Pink Tulip in 2015 (?) and found it okay. What I most vividly remember is that the gap between door and frame was so wide, you could almost look into the room.

[a447]

I'm not sure tipping is the done thing in Vietnam,...

I don't know, either. Bob's our resident expert on Vietnam ; I'm sure he'd know.

A Vietnamese girl who I met on a Halong Bay cruise - she was with her English boyfriend - told me it was not customary to tip.

I give tips to hotel staff, regardless. They are underpaid and overworked, imho. And under-appreciated, I think. A tip at the beginning of the stay ensures excellent service, which in turn earns them another tip when I leave.

Winners all around!

In Thailand I tend to stay at the same hotels and kind of know the staff, so I tip them at the end of the trip.

[bobsaigon2]

Tipping in Vietnam? Always welcome. Exceptions exist of course.

My partner was 7 yrs old when the war ended and at least the first 15 of the post war years were a severe struggle for everyone. I think that growing up in that era is why he always sympathises with the working class here and always gives them something to reward their service.

[colmx]

Except that the place suffers for lack of a 24 hour front desk. To get back in after 12, I had to wake up the bloke who sleeps in the lobby. The manager swore that was ok, that it wasn't a problem, and I should feel free to stay out and enjoy the Nightlife as much as I want..
At least he woke up for you!
I spent 30 mins knocking and trying to get in... and only managed to wake the neighbours!
One of them then came over and kept bashing the shutters until the night porter work up!

[a447]

At Arthur and Paul Hotel in Pnohm Pehn, the night watchman sleeps with his "bed" up against the front gate. If he doesn't wake up you can prod him through the bars! Lol

That's where that bloke in the hotel should sleep, not in the lobby where he can't hear guests returning.