Xuan Khanh Hotel-Restaurant

The room was spacious and bright, and the staff were so enthusiastic they walked us to it and turned on the aircon and lights. The location is handy too, right by vincom and the city center. There’s no breakfast, and the facilities are a bit downgraded, though nothing too bad. At night I heard a machine-like noise from somewhere and couldn’t sleep deeply. For women, the only mirror is in the bathroom, and it isn’t full length, so makeup or checking an outfit is awkward. That makes sense for a shophouse setup. It’s fine for one night, but there may be better places at the same price.

The rooms are big and nice, with cups, a kettle, and a huge wardrobe with lots of drawers. The shower was great, though the towels were the thinnest I’ve ever had and really need replacing. The smart TV had no channels I could find, and although you can log into Netflix, Prime, or YouTube, the menus are all in Vietnamese, so good luck getting it working. Bring your own tea or coffee, since none is provided. This is a quiet neighborhood, and finding restaurants for breakfast means a bit of a walk. There are no facilities such as breakfast, so you’ll need to go out to eat. Drivers had trouble finding the fairly new hotel on their maps. I think that may be because it changed its name from LuxHome River to LuxHome Mekong some time ago. It’s a street back from the river, not on it. Room cleaning was inconsistent: twice they left the empty toilet roll, and they didn’t spot the clogged sink. There’s no Do Not Disturb sign, so staff may enter whether you want them to or not. Reception is only staffed sometimes, and people can reach the guest floors in the lift without a key, so there isn’t much security. The hotel seems set up for local tourists rather than foreigners, with instructions only in Vietnamese. This sounds harsh, because it’s a lovely hotel, but a few small improvements could make it great.

I picked this place for its position beside Vincom Plaza. We could take a bus to or from the Plaza from HCMC, and it was also where our Mekong Delta tours picked us up, which made things easy. There was some confusion with our Agoda booking, but after I contacted the hotel directly, they found us another room at a lower price. The staff were helpful and obliging, and our room was spacious and quiet. We had a great stay.

Really good value for the money, with huge rooms and good internet. The place is brand new too.