ABBEY:
Stella Maris Beach Danang Hotel
Stella Maris is our hotel of choice upon landing to Da Nang. They picked us up in the airport and was welcomed warmly upon arrival. The hotel is having that open concept so I was surprised to see our sink outside the washroom. Haha. Breakfast is also provided but I found the meats on the dryer side. They have a bar at the rooftop where the horizon shows the mountains and coast as far as your eye can see.
Boat Tour
Catching a good view of the Dragon Bridge is through the boat tour. For 150k VND, you’ll board the boat while a plate of guava and watermelon is waiting for you. It was breezy and the boat will cruise with music and lights. A cultural show is rendered for more entertainment. The highlight is the Dragon Bridge where it spits fire and water. The attendant gave us another plate of fruits which we truly enjoyed.
Sun World Ba Na Hills
We’re not sure if we’ll be able to go to Ba Na Hills during our trip. The website is not translatable to English so we don’t have any idea what to book. There’s even separate rate for locals and tourists. Good thing Novotel was able to secure us a pair of tickets. The catch is payment should be cash (which we’re low of as we prefer cards). We used Grab to get there. The weather is sunny below and gets foggy once you go up. Almost zero visibility when we took the cable car. Cable car and tram trips are unlimited as this is the only mode of transportation used in the park. The French village will greet you at the top with all the bricks, cobble stones and castles. Be ready to walk as you will cover a lot of ground. But don’t fret, there are food stalls as well as restaurants. There are gardens, temples and tea houses. Perhaps the well-known attraction is the Golden Bridge; in which two large hands are supporting it. It was foggy and rainy during our visit. The weather can change in a snap literally. Be sure you got your boots and raincoats ready. Our last ride is a 4D ride where you will be toured around the world. I got dizzy on that one. Hahaha.
- Novotel Danang Premier Han River
Our second hotel in Da Nang is Novotel. They gladly store our luggages when we go to Ba Na Hills and helped us to purchase the tickets. A birthday greeting in form of a cake greeted us when we entered our Executive Room which is overlooking Han River.
We also had cocktails and canapés at Premier Executive Lounge that came with our booking. I’m able to sample some beers as well. The buffet breakfast the next day is great. I had a couple of servings of barbecue pork, banh mi, and pho. I even made my own bibimbap. The black Vietnamese coffee is intense. I prefer it with condensed milk else I’ll be awake until night.
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| Sun World Ba Na Hills |
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| Stella Maris Beach Danang Hotel |
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| Novotel Danang Premier Han River |
VIETNAM🇻🇳 VISIT DANANG INSTEAD OF HO CHI MINH | TOP 2 NOT TO MISS IN DANANG VIETNAM - THINGS TO DO
WILL: I will never forget the taste of Pho when I visited Ho Chi Minh more than a decade ago. I like to revisit Vietnam but not the city. Gladly I stumbled upon Danang and from that day, I kept my eye on it.
- Stella Maris Beach Danang Hotel
We are on budget (as always haha) and luckily we saw a golden opportunity to spend Abbey’s “Achievement” Points to buy us an experience instead of exchanging it for stuffs like headphones or hair blowers.
We chose to book at Stella Maris Beach Danang. Our upgraded room Deluxe Double Room of Partial Ocean View with Buffet Breakfast costs us not more than S$120. The room is huge and have this unique style of lavatory in front of the closets. The king side bed is comfy, bathroom is clean and toiletries smell pleasantly.
Stella Maris’ breakfast buffet do not offer a lot of options, not vegetarian or Muslim-friendly. But I love their cheese and small version of baguette.
We asked concierge for help to book us a ticket to Ba Na Hills because the website has a glitch that time and only displays Viet language. The concierge seems also lost and confused. We left hotel without a ticket for Ba Na Hills. Overall experience was good for a very affordable hotel in beach front area of Danang! Totally recommended!
- Boat Tour
This is one of my “MUST”. I want to witness the Dragon Bridge’s Fire and Water Show through a boat tour. I do not know what boat to choose from but all I know is the boats were parked in front of Novotel. I purposely didn’t book for a ride due to the unpredictable weather in Danang but ALMIGHTY granted our wish and everything went smoothly.
Our grab driver assisted us to the booking booth and we were happy that we reached just on time for us to watched the show.
A happy first night in Danang!
- Sun World Ba Na Hills
Second “MUST” visit for me in Danang Vietnam is Ba Na Hills. For an Asian that needs to apply visa Ba Na Hills is the closest thing for us to experience France. Novotel helped us to book the tickets with a breeze.
Via Grab, we went to Ba Na Hills. We were challenged to use stairs rather than escalators, I surrendered on the last three flights. It is fun. But I lost. You could try it too. Haha! We spent more or less 20mins inside a cable car with zero visibility. Clouds were all over us.
We were greeted on top with a cool fog! What an amazing feeling. Sun rays, fog, drizzle, rain — you can experience it all in the French Village. Even with what happened, I truly enjoy galavanting in Ba Na Hills. What I truly love is the peaceful Truth Vu Tea Quan tea house on foot of Lin Ung Pagoda and the beautiful French Garden. Experience I won’t forget.
If you wish to have a glimpse of Europe, Ba Na Hills is a must on your Danang Visit.
- Novotel Danang Premier Han River
This is the second hotel and the only hotel we paid on this trip. Since it is Abbey’s birthday, we opted to book for Executive King Room with Terrace and Premier Lounge Access that costs S$192. We were privileged to have an access to The Balcony but we missed the afternoon tea time.
Novotel gave us a complimentary huge premium chocolate cake and we were treated like a VIP. It seems that they know us well. That’s the service!!! Yihheee!
The room is spacious, bed is huge, fluffy and comfortable. They have a relaxing aroma of toiletries and a nice veranda with a river view.
The evening cocktails and canepe have a few selection of alcoholic drinks and pica-picas but I had the best Mojito that night. An exquisite pho and banh mi is present in their breakfast buffet. They also have an array of fruits, cheese and bread.
If you are looking for special treatment, go for Novotel Danang Premier Han River. Staffs there will make you really feel special.
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Stella Maris Beach Danang Hotel
(A) 03 Võ Văn Kiệt, Phước Mỹ, Sơn Trà, Đà Nẵng 550000, Vietnam
(T) +84 236 3555 657
Novotel Danang Premier Han River
(A) 36 Bach Dang Street, Hai Chau District, Danang City
(T) +84 (0)236 392 9999
Sun World Ba Na Hills
(A) An Son Village, Hoa Ninh Commune, Hoa Vang District, Da Nang City, Vietnam
(T) + 84 (0) 905 766 777