Homestay in Hoi An

It only took some 20-minute taxi ride from Da Nang to my Hoi An accommodation – homestay.

Homestay? Never heard of it either. Until now. 

The original idea with homestays was to let international students live with local families in their host countries, learn a foreign language, immerse in a different culture, enjoy homemade local cuisine without having to spend a fortune.

With time homestays also became popular with ‘regular tourists’ and the business of renting spare rooms and/or letting visitors crash local couches was in full swing for the benefit of both parties. Local families got a chance of making extra money while visitors got a glimpse of a different culture’s everyday life.

No, I crashed nobody’s couch. Homestays in Hoi An are anything but. They are top modern brand new houses (villas) with 6 – 8 rooms built on host family’s grounds, that is in their backyard.  Meals, only breakfast but some offer full or half board is served by the hosts on their ‘territory’ (their garden or kitchen) which maybe (or maybe not) separated from yours. With time homestays also became popular with ‘regular tourists’ and the business of renting spare rooms and/or letting visitors crash local couches was in full swing for the benefit of both parties. Local families got a chance of making extra money while visitors got a glimpse of a different culture’s everyday life.

You’ll be staying in a brand new, modern accommodation very much up to Western standards often with luxury bathrooms. Nothing short of 4-star hotel even though homestays are not rated. It was such a surprise but, ah what a pleasant surprise. Not only are the rooms great but you also have access to the garden, swimming pool, bikes or other outdoor facilities that hotels don’t always provide. You are ‘at home’.

An interaction between host family and visitors depends on both parties. Some are friendly and love the interaction, invite their guests for home-cooked dinners, drinks, and chats. For many locals, it is a smart way of improving their English.

Others may be more reserved as people in general. But then it is also up to you – how much/little interaction you like to offer/receive.

There are also hosts that treat the stay strictly like a business. For business it is. Make no mistake about that. Not very much different from hotel business but so much nicer. 

The bikes, so popular in Hoi An, are offered for free in all homestays. Hotels typically charge a fee for bike rental. And talking about bikes?.. wow.. what a great idea. The best, most fun and quickest way to check the place out. I walked during my first day and felt like a fool. I was the only one walking. Everybody else was on wheels.

Biking itself is easy. No hills to concur -thanks for that, as bikes lack gears.  The traffic rules are respected- red light is red light and green is green. The bikes, have none lights so bring a flashlight if you will bike at night.

I stayed in Tropical Garden Homestay Villa, right between the beach and the town. The room was perfect. Internet was perfect. Shower and water pressure were perfect. The bike was perfect. Everything was perfect. Highly recommended.

(I moved into town later as I wanted to explore it and didn’t feel very comfortable biking after sunset).

If you ever come to town, or any other town check homestays first. Most of them are real gems. Not only do they offer four-star accommodation but also let you get a different insight/experience and above all, they are much cheaper than hotels. Nothing can beat that.  

The beach town Hoi An

Hoi An, like most of the Vietnamese cities, is a coastal town. There is the town itself, in the shape of a ring with a rice field in the middle, the old town and then there is the sea and the beaches. The distance between the two depends on your location in the ‘ring’, 3 kilometers if you’re somewhere near the old town. You can (in no time) reach the beaches by bike or even by foot. 

With an exception of the first 1.5 days the weather was overcast during my stay hence there was not much of the beach bumming for me. That doesn’t mean I did not check them out. Of course, I did.

There are two beaches in Hoi An; An Bang in the North and Cua Dai in the South and both of them were rather disappointing though one much more than the other.

An Bang gives an impression of a ‘hippie beach’, very laid back though extremely busy right by the entrance but almost deserted some 50 – 100 meters away. The sand itself is so and so as compared to Da Nang but it works. What doesn’t ‘work’, however, is the bike parking terrorists. Never seen anything like it my entire life.

As I mentioned earlier Hoi An is a bikers place. Naturally, everybody takes a bike to the beach. Some locals saw a brilliant business opportunity and opened parking lots for bikes. Perhaps nothing wrong with that, however, the aggression they use to terrorize bikers to park in their lots is rather startling. I saw many bikers, some of them grown men but probably new in town and not yet familiar with this ‘custom’, scared away in shock.

And just for your information there are more ‘terrorists’ at every single beach entrance, most of them pretty well hidden just waiting to ambush you as soon as you show up and then force upon you a beach chair and/or umbrella ticket scaring the life out of you in the process or scarring you off the beach altogether. 

So remember – if you only like to come to the beach and have a swim or take a stroll – it is FREE. Don’t let anybody bully you into buying anything you don’t want.  

As for the parking terrorists  – many tourists are fooled into thinking they need to stop and cannot bike any further when someone jumps onto the road and screams STOP. This is not the case, let them scream, don’t let them intimidate you or stop you but pass them and bike along the small road parallel to the beach some 50 or 100 meters. There you can leave your bike for free.  

You can also go to one of the beach restaurants and order some snacks or beer. They’ll store your bike and even throw a beach chair into the mix for free.  

The other beach, Cua Dai, is entirely different story. For there is no beach. The beach was reclaimed by the sea and replaced with sandbags.

Hoi An’s best resorts lie along that beach. How long will they survive is anybody’s guess. There were still guests in the resorts but they had no access to the beach nor could they swim in the sea. Most were unaware of the situation at the time of booking as I cannot imagine resorts would advertise what’s happened. 

(I did come by one to ask for the room price which I was promptly quoted but without a mention of the disaster unfolding in front of the hotel) 

The foodie town Hoi An

Not even sure how to bring this up as one reason I so badly wanted to come to Vietnam was the rumor of ‘the best food in the world‘ but must admit I was about to give up on Vietnamese food and started looking for alternatives like Korean food for example.

One and a half month have passed, and I was yet to taste anything, anything at all, that even remotely resembled of anything that was ‘the best‘. Of all things I tasted there was nothing I could even grade as very good, nor good either for that matter but merely passable at the best. Then there was also a question of hygiene which didn’t add much to the flavor – but this will be a subject of another post.  In desperation (and out of hunger) I went to an Indian restaurant one night – just to get something to eat. There were nights I went to bed hungry or had Oreo for dinner. On the positive side (there is always one) the good Dubai live, iow, Dubai extra pounds,  are all gone which can never be wrong – not if you’re a woman.  

Hoi An stirred things up for me. There must be a reason the town is known as ‘the foodie town’. I can only second that. Street food, restaurant food, all food I tasted I liked. Some dishes where exceptional. Also, rather different from Hanoian dishes.  The only cloud in the sky in reaching full satisfaction and enjoyment were once again the aggressive ladies on my back doing their best to first feed me and then with no hesitation charge me double just because in their eyes I am a dumb tourist.

Therefore, finding Vy’s Market, Restaurant and Cooking School not only elevated my eating experience to another level but also made it so much more enjoyable.  What an excellent place, fantastic food,  no harassment, fixed prices, wonderful humble staff proud to show and teach but never push to seal the sale.

As many other tourists discovered Vy’s Restaurant is a must when visiting Hoi An. It is a large place yet packed with people during dinner time. You can order a la carte or buffet and then try all the fantastic delicatessies offered by some 20 different stations, all of which reaching for culinary heights in preparing and plating local dishes some of which as the ones from the “Weird Wonderful Food” station can be rather exotic.  

Street food is plentiful. Some of the places have prices written on walls or boards. Some of them have even menus. Otherwise, ask ‘how much’ before you order — if you don’t like to pay dumb tourist prices. 

There is also Central Food Hall, part of Central Market, worth visiting. Prices are fixed but you’ll be greeted by 10 vendors the second you are about to enter the hall.  Nonetheless, give it a try as it is quite an experience. 

The ancient town Hoi An

Hoi An is not only a beach city, bikers city, foodie city but primarily, and best known for, an ancient city which as Halong Bay was recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

No doubt Hoi An is unique and as such attracts a lot of tourists. And I mean a lot. No doubt tourists bring prosperity to the town. At the same time, there is no doubt tourists are Hoi An’s curse and not only because of the flip side of the ‘riches’ they bring in but also for digging up the Hoi An’s history that locals apparently want to forget.  

In short, Hoi An is a tourist trap of astronomical proportions. Ah, but still so charming.  

The tailor town Hoi An

Oh, no no no. I will not get involved in that. Do it at your own risk. Just remember Hoi An is a tourist trap and you’re merely an ATM machine. They will gladly take your money but may not deliver what you’ve paid for.  Just never say which hotel you’re staying at, never pay in full before you are satisfied with your purchase but give only a small deposit and never say you’ll be leaving tomorrow.

If you like to have something made do it in Da Nang where they take their business seriously and charge much less. 

The picturesque town Hoi An