Spring Hotel Ho Chi Minh City has a great location
by Jack Corbett
The Spring Hotel is a great little place to stay at surprisingly low prices in Ho Chi Minh City.
And it has a great location in the old section of Ho Chi Minh City. Aside from the War Remnant's Museum here's several high points that I can strongly recommend.
The first is The restaurant. Although the service is excellent at the Spring Hotel and breakfast is a bargain considering it comes free with the room, it can get a little pricey here for lunch and dinner. Although there were a number of eateries close by that you might want to try, we quickly became addicted to Sheridan's Irish House To get there, turn left as soon as you walk out the Spring Hotel's entrance and cross the street. Continue walking in the same direction you started. In two blocks you will come to The Irish Pub. Here I found myself right at home being able to drink American Budweiser beer, which is something I've not been able to get in any of the bars where I live in Thailand, which has special meaning to me since its international headquarters is in St. Louis where I've lived for much of my life. There's a band playing here at night playing a lot of American hits from the 1960's and 1970's. The food is excellent at reasonable prices with my favorite being an Enchilada dish which my Thai girlfriend liked as much as I did. Service was quick and friendly with its highpoint being a slender very pretty 24 year old Vietnamese woman who smiled radiantly at us every time we came in. If we felt even a hint of Communism during our four day trip it was when we tried to tip her on our last night. She told us she could not accept a tip unless she shared it with the other waiters and waitresses.
Just a few doors down from Sheridan's Irish House we save a few karaoke bars with attractive Vietnamese girls wearing long dresses standing in front of them and an Indian restaurant or two. We never made it into any of these places. Perhaps next time.
Another establishment near our hotel I strongly recommend is Ngan Quang. Got get here walk to your right after exciting the Spring Hotel, cross the street and walk one half block to the first street. Turn left and walk about one block while staying on the left side of Hai Ba Trung Street. Here you will find Ngan Quang. Twice I've bought wooden model sailing ships here, the first time two years ago. I paid $60.00 for this first ship and just recently $65.00 for the second one. Nearly a meter in length, the ships are exquisitely detailed. And to give you a sense of how much of a bargain they are, the same ships can be bought in Pattaya, Thailand for over $1200 each. And I do mean the same ships since each one comes with a light blue card which gives a short History on each one. The same light blue cards come with the Thailand ships so you can rest assured that all of them come from the same Vietnamese source, the only difference being that the Thais believe in marking them up to more than 20 times their original cost.
The Ben Thanh Market should not be missed. It's indoors and it's an entire city block long. If you want one of those beautiful long Vietnamese gowns for your girlfriend or wife you can buy them here for $12 to $15.00. Want something uniquely Vietnamese to decorate your walls? There's embroidered pictures of Vietnamese landscapes, paintings and a whole lot more. There are chess sets, women's purses, watches, including fake Rolex watches out of Singapore with genuine Swiss movements, bottles of Rice wine with Corbra snakes inside either for decoration or virility. The list is endless, and often the best prices are here. And it's an easy walk from the Spring Hotel.
But beware of the taxi drivers. This goes for both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. From what I've seen so far over 75 % of them will try to cheat you. To be avoided at all costs are the pedi taxis. They look so cutely traditional, and they are a very pleasant way to do a little sight seeing around the city as you relax into your seat while your Vietnamese bicyclist pedals you down Ho Chi Minh City's busy streets. But when you are finished enjoying all that ambience you are going to find that your friendly smiling driver will insist on charging you three times what you originally bargained for. It will all be a misunderstanding of course, and if you choose to argue that smiling accommodating little man will turn into a snarling contemptuous bully.
But when it's all said and done you are likely to find that on the whole the Vietnamese people are some of the most friendly helpful people you are ever going to find. Perhaps that's the best part of Vietnam and the single most important factor for my having visited it four times so far without any intention of ever stopping.
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