Hoi An Hideaway
We decided to stay in a somewhat unconventional location in Hoi An: a small eight-room family-owned hotel called Hoi An Hideaway, which is located at the west end of Cam Nam Island.
Our choice of hotel was primarily spurred on by its very reasonable price (~212 USD for the week during the off season, including daily breakfasts for the whole family), its strong reviews on Agoda and Google, its nice-looking pool, and its close proximity to the old town touristic area (about a 10-minute walk away).
Overall, we have been very happy with this hotel, especially given the highly affordable price point. It may not be a fancy five-star hotel room, but it has everything that you need to be comfortable.
The breakfasts have been very good and filling (the homemade pineapple and banana pancakes in particular are fantastic), the pool has been wonderful for our kids, and the family that runs it are also very friendly.
There are, however, a number of roosters that live next door who love to crow in the wee hours of the morning. So be prepared for that!
The only thing that has not been great for us is the walk to the old town across the Hoang Dieu Bridge, which is a narrow two-lane bridge without sidewalks. Our kids are small enough (5 and 7) that they could easily fall off the narrow elevated curb on the bridge into the busy roadway, so we have to walk in the rather busy and narrow roadway on the bridge to hold our children’s hands and keep them safe. This is about as comfortable as crossing most major roadways is for foreigners in Vietnam (read: not at all), especially at night when visibility for drivers is more limited. So just something to keep in mind if travelling with little ones. If no little ones, the walk would be fine.
Another word of warning: if you get to the other side of the bridge and discover the route into the old town under the bridge and along the water (which is a great way to avoid walking through the congested streets, though not very scenic), just be mindful that the locals seem to use the area under the bridge as a chicken abattoir…
A few days back, we were minding our own business, walking under the bridge on our way into the old town, and a local, knife in hand, pulled a chicken out of a cage, took it over to a bucket already filled with what we presume was chicken blood, and was fully about to slit its throat right in front of us and our kids. Needless to say, we rushed on through and distracted Little Miss and Young Mister WorldSmith from what was happening immediately behind us, and have since adjusted our route accordingly.
But you’ve been warned. It’s maybe not the most appropriate place to bring young kids, unless you’re planning a very hands-on worldschooling lesson on the food chain.
Though, come to think of it, maybe there’s a way we could get the roosters from the hotel into the hands of that man under the bridge…