Cherry apartment - Thao Dien Centre

The room is nice for 550k a night, with good wifi, air conditioning, hot water, a comfortable bed, and a good massage shower. There are lots of ants eating the grout and wandering around the room. The quiet location is nice, but there really isn’t much within walking distance, so I wouldn’t stay here again.

I’m deducting a star because during my entire second stay in apartment number 6, ants were all over the kitchen counter, which is not appetizing when you’re trying to cook. That apartment also has no outlets near the bed’s headrest. In apartment number 5, the outside window can’t be closed, so if you use the AC regularly, the bathroom stays quite a bit hotter than the rest of the room. Still, this has by far been the best value for money I’ve found. I stayed two weeks in February, then three weeks in June-July, and it’s not perfect, but it’s good. Finding it can be tricky. It’s in a little side alley off another little side alley, and there are a few signs. Tell your Grab driver Cherry Homestay, not Cherry Hotel & Apartment, since they’re different places. Being tucked away avoids constant Vietnam-typical traffic noise, though a neighboring karaoke party can catch you by surprise. There isn’t much within walking distance, but Grabs are cheap, so it was never a big issue for me. Since February, they’ve added regular room service at 12pm. It now feels like a hotel with a larger room and kitchen utensils, but at a much lower price. The utensils have seen plenty of use and aren’t all in great shape, though they’re usable. I had a knife, spoons, forks, chopsticks, a cutting block, bowls, pots, a rice cooker, and a water boiler. One personal tip: check that the knife handles aren’t loose so they don’t come off and cut you, as happened to me. There’s a fridge and sink, with a sponge and dish soap provided, and room service does the dishes too. The owner was nice throughout, even when I had checkout trouble. Checkout is at 12pm, which I know now. Contact her before arrival to get the door code. When you arrive, there are two free water bottles; you can buy more on the ground level for 10k each, under 50 cents. You can also boil tap water on the stove for a few minutes until it’s safe to drink. There’s laundry on the top floor, where you can wash and dry clothes. Bring your own detergent, wear socks because shoes aren’t allowed, and watch out for the hot stairs. The last few steps are metal for some reason, and if you’re much taller than the southeast Asian average, expect to squeeze through the final stretch. The hallway walls are thin, so you often hear people watching TV there. It can get annoying if upstairs neighbors have kids who run up and down the small hallway stairs, but once inside the apartment, you can’t hear what’s going on in the other apartments. Wifi is available but not very fast, which I suppose is typical for hotel wifi. I can’t shake the feeling the odd cabling and routers tucked behind TVs in some rooms might be part of it. The TV worked fine when I used it, mostly for YouTube, though once it didn’t work and I didn’t look into why.

We got there at about 11:40 p.m. and found the doors locked, even though the Agoda page said check-in was available 24 hours. None of the owner's numbers could be reached, so we had to look for a different room in the middle of the night. They did refund us afterward.

Clean room, nice smell, and a private spot right in the center. Prices go up and down, so check the website a few times to catch a good discount 🥳