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A multi-deck cruise ship anchored among limestone karsts at sunset in Halong Bay.
Travel styles

Luxury, and what it actually buys here

The best hotels in this part of the world hold their own anywhere. The gap between them and the merely expensive ones is wide, and worth knowing before you book.

What luxury means in this region

At the top end, this region delivers rather more than its reputation suggests. A handful of properties in Hanoi, Bangkok, Siem Reap, Luang Prabang and along the Andaman coast would be among the better addresses in any country. The distance between those and the ordinary five-star tower is wider here than in Europe, and so is the price. Paying twice as much does not reliably get you twice the hotel. Knowing which building in a given town is genuinely worth its rate, and which is trading on a view and a lobby, is most of what this style comes down to.

Comfort here is also a question of logistics rather than thread count. A car and driver waiting at arrivals instead of a taxi queue at midnight. A boat on Halong Bay with eight cabins rather than forty. A guide who reads the room and hands you the afternoon back. A first-light start at a temple so you walk the causeway before the coaches reach the car park. We settle those before we choose the hotel, because they are what people describe afterwards. Where the best available room in a place is simply a clean, well-run lodge, we say so before you commit rather than after.

Wooden loungers line a resort swimming pool framed by palm trees near the beach in Hoi An.

What these trips look like

  • Hotels chosen one at a time, for the room you will actually be given rather than the one in the photograph.
  • A private car and driver throughout, with an airport meet arranged wherever it saves you real time.
  • Domestic flights only where the distance demands one, booked at the hour that suits your day.
  • Small boats on Halong Bay and the Mekong instead of the large ones that run to a fixed timetable.
  • Guides briefed on how much explanation you want, and free to shorten a morning when the heat wins.
  • The busiest temples visited at first light or late afternoon, with a free afternoon after every long travel day.
  • A plain note in the plan wherever the best room in town is comfortable but not luxurious.

Journeys in this style

Vietnam Luxury Journey in 11 Days

City comfort at both ends, and four demanding days in the Quang Binh caves in the middle.

Talk to us

Tell us your dates, the number of travellers and the standard you have in mind, and we will draft the trip day by day. Everything is quoted in writing once we know your dates and party size, with each hotel named and the room type stated, so you can hold it against anything else you are comparing. Write to info@zaratour.com or message +84 766 283 988.

Frequently asked questions

Are there five-star hotels everywhere on these routes?
No, and the plan will say where. The cities and the main beach areas have several. In places such as Phong Nha, the far north of Vietnam, the Plain of Jars or the smaller Mekong towns, the best bed available is a comfortable, well-kept lodge with air conditioning and hot water. We flag those nights in advance so nobody arrives expecting marble.
Should we fly or drive between stops?
Both, depending on the leg. Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City is about seventeen hundred kilometres, so you fly, and we book morning departures because afternoon delays are common. Anything under roughly four hours by road we usually drive, since a private car that can stop where you like beats two hours of airport process at each end.
What does a trip at this standard cost?
It turns almost entirely on where you sleep, which is the largest line in any quote and the one that moves most. Guiding, the car and the transfers vary far less. We quote in writing once we know your dates and party size, itemised per person, so you can see exactly what raising or lowering the hotel standard does to the total.

See also

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