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Windsor Plaza - Ho Chi Minh


Little Evil

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Not a new review for me, but this hotel left a good impression on me and I thought I'd share. Windsor Plaza is a hotel in district 5, which is considered Chinatown in HCMC. Personally, I love district 5 because it is a little grittier and less touristy. District 1 is where most tourist stay, and it clearly reflects that with the general polish and decor of the neighborhood. When I’m in district 1, I feel like I could be in New York, or any other first world metropolis. When I’m walking around district 5, I know I’m in Vietnam. Windsor Plaza, is actually a shopping plaza on the first couple floors. Kind of touristy, but I managed to score a few decent knock off watches. There is also a night club in the lower level of the building (get to that later). While district 5 can be busy/noisy, as long as you get a mid to high floor room, you don’t hear anything. I checked in late the last time I was there, and was put on the executive floor due to the hotel being close to capacity. Rooms are relatively spacious and clean. No balconies for those who like fresh air, but then again, district 5 doesn’t exactly have fresh air anyway. Rooms are carpeted, have flat screen televisions. Kind size beds and what appeared to be marble/granite bathrooms. Free internet on week long stays (YMMV), and even some laundry services included on extended stays. Each floor is accessible via keycard, which was a nice security perk. Front desk was 24 hours from what I could see. Small rooftop pool and rooftop bar with a rather large, but plain patio. Gym is kind of an afterthought with a few cardio machines and some free weights. The real star was the included morning buffet. It had everything. Western eggs, toast, bagels, muffins, juices, but they also had a Pho station, congee station, and a few other regional foods. It was pretty spectacular to wake up to such a sprawling spread. There is also a spa on one of the middle floors of the hotel. Men on one side, women on the other. They put you into that robe/shorts kit and you basically have showers, hot tub, sauna, and full massage available. Not a BKK style massage, but I did manage to get a little HJ action. The guys in the men’s section were a little creepy though, constantly following you to help you out with weird things like putting on your robe or lighting cigarettes. I guess that is just good service, but I’m not used to that at all. Lastly, back to the night club on the ground level/lower level. I can’t for the life of me remember its name, but that is kind of irrelevant. There is only one. It is an actual night club, where Vietnamese and expats go to dance, drink, and smoke an ungodly amount of cigarettes. 10 minutes in this club and you’ll smell like an ashtray—and this is coming from a smoker. Anyway, typical mid to lower end club vibe, complete with douche bags in tight man shirts. However, there was a hell of a lot of talent when I was there, and this place is a notorious for having its share of freelancers. While it is a legitimate club, any westerner will probably get approached pretty fast. As for other entertainment options, there was a semi-seedy beer bar across the street. Just seedy enough to make it interesting, but not scary. A quick walk around a few blocks found various massage places, beer gardens, and “haircut” places. Lastly, this wasn’t a budget minded hotel. It was considered 4 stars for Vietnam. Executive floor with included breakfast buffet was $99./night. I’m sure there are cheaper deals out there, but this place had location, comfort, and amenities. Uploaded two pics: One of the room and one of the view from the room. Here is a link to the hotel:

 

http://www.windsorplazahotel.com/

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Good Chinese restaurant on the 4 th or 3rd floor as well .

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Good Chinese restaurant on the 4 th or 3rd floor as well .

 

Forgot about that place. Was indeed good. Same location of the breakfast buffet I think. I drank my body weight of ba ba ba while I was there. I blame the ice cubes, diluting my beers. The locals would call it "ba ba", dropping the final ba for some reason. Not sure why--it was never explained.

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Heck - I find nice places in District 1 for $35 - walking distance to Apocalypse.

 

What is out in dist 5 to do - sights - tourist etc.?

 

S C

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Heck - I find nice places in District 1 for $35 - walking distance to Apocalypse.

 

What is out in dist 5 to do - sights - tourist etc.?

 

S C

 

I'm sure there are any number of cheaper places. I already touched base on that. I just like the location. I can tell you what District 5 doesn't have. It doesn't have the Apple stores, Prada, Gucci, LV, Tiffany, and all the other Westerns luxury stores that make me feel like I'm downtown in any American city. District 5 has little of that. District 1 is crawling with that type of stuff. Why would I fly to the other side of the planet to go to an Apple store? I just like how I get the full cultural immersion in District 5. Although....I noticed even that is changing in recent years.

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What is the local attitude like polite wise? ive heard stories that some people can be very rude..What about the FL girls, good, bad or same same..??

LOS. Gotta Love It.

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What is the local attitude like polite wise? ive heard stories that some people can be very rude..What about the FL girls, good, bad or same same..??

 

Local attitude? It was good from what I remember. My last trip was over a year ago. However, I was traveling with my girlfriend at the time, who is Vietnamese, so I'm sure I got a bit of the local treatment because she was there all the time to translate and be a general ambassador. I did go out quite a few times by myself to wander the city, and I never had anyone treat me rude or even slightly impolite. Vietnamese are generally friendly, but it may take a bit to warm up to obvious foreigners. There is also the culture difference, where some things in your culture that could be seen as impolite are common in Vietnam, while things that are fairly common in your culture (pointing with fingers or patting children on the head, for example) are considered very rude. I did notice that I'd get the "foreigner tax" on everything when I wasn't with my then girlfriend. I'm Asian American too, so it wasn't like I was obvious. The second I'd open my mouth, the price would jump up. Not a huge deal, as even with this price hike, my "foreigner" price was, say $85 cents for a street vendor 20oz bottle of soda instead of $.40 cents, or $2. for a local beer in a local bar instead of a dollar or less. Coming from $1.50 and $4.50 respectively, I was still making out alright.

 

The girls are generally gorgeous, particularly the ones that are at the "hair salons" and better night clubs. Vietnam follows Japanese/Korean fashion trends, where the girls are posh, whiter, and very fit, so you see that emulated throughout the city. My then girlfriend's brother took me on his scooter throughout the city, and we passed at least a dozen "hair salons" that had 5-10 model type girls sitting outside in identical uniforms. You go in, choose to get regular service like a facial, shave or massage (which is quite good, might I add), and then some of these places have separate rooms for other activities, usually header action. After a day in a city that has like a billion mopeds and no emission standards, a facial is actually appealing for a guy. Cafes are another great place where you can flirt with hot girls and some have private rooms. Look for multi-floor cafes for that type of arrangement. Some are very fancy, and you won't believe that it is the flirty type of place it is. Remember though, this a communist country, so sexy isn't as in your face as Thailand, but it is very much available. Lastly, even strolling around certain parts of town after 10pm, you might get approached by a FL girl. District 1 has a lot because Viet girls know that's where most the foreigners stay. There is a part near district one....can't remember the name, but girls hang around it at night before and after clubbing and wait for potential suitors. Apocalypse, as SC mentioned, is also a good FL spot. In Vietnam, there really isn't a distinction between a club and a freelance club because there is no real business backing the service. Girls will go to the popular places near falangs. My only advice would be to avoid the dozens and dozens of girls on the back of mopeds. While there are a few that are probably legit, you often hear horror stories about being ripped off or scammed by the girls or the guys driving them around. I'll just add that Vietnamese girls are very attractive, but are a little less bold in their choice of clothing and manners. Thai girls are raunchier and can act sexier. They are attractive as well, but in a every so slightly dirtier way (in my opinion).

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How about some white space guy? Did you never notice how hard it is to read really long posts with no spacing?

 

I've been out to the Windsor Plaza area. It is nice even just for a day trip. Lots of markets and shops. I didn't find any good deals though. Mostly it is the vendors. If they start from the position all whites are rich idiots who throw money around so quote more for a knockoff than the real thing costs in America than I'm not interested in even trying to bargain.

 

People who complain about racist double pricing in Thailand really should visit Vietnam. I don't get charged a 200-250% whitey tax anywhere in Thailand on a bottle of water or a beer.

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How about some white space guy? Did you never notice how hard it is to read really long posts with no spacing?

 

I've been out to the Windsor Plaza area. It is nice even just for a day trip. Lots of markets and shops. I didn't find any good deals though. Mostly it is the vendors. If they start from the position all whites are rich idiots who throw money around so quote more for a knockoff than the real thing costs in America than I'm not interested in even trying to bargain.

 

People who complain about racist double pricing in Thailand really should visit Vietnam. I don't get charged a 200-250% whitey tax anywhere in Thailand on a bottle of water or a beer.

 

I tend to read a lot on a computer, so I don't get phased by the lack of line breaks, but I do know what you mean now that you bring it up.

 

I wouldn't go as far as to say the markup is a white tax, as I get it too and I'm Asian American. I think it is a foreigner tax. I did notice that this is a haggle society, where you can negotiate prices for just about anything outside of a department store or grocery store. Kind of a paid, but as long as you let them know you aren't a newbie, then you can still get close to local prices.

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LE, thanks for a great review. Going to HCMC in March. First trip so probably stay in District 1, but now will be checking out Apocalypse and District 5.

 

Sam

 

PS on my PDA your review formats and reads fine.

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LE, thanks for a great review. Going to HCMC in March. First trip so probably stay in District 1, but now will be checking out Apocalypse and District 5.

 

Sam

 

PS on my PDA your review formats and reads fine.

 

Go get a "hair cut". It is seriously the king treatment. But, and this is a big one, don't ever ask a taxi driver to find you women. Some will go as far as to ask you if you are interested. Just say no, even if that's your goal for the day. In fact, I wouldn't even tell them where you are going if heading out to a massage place or any place with women (hair cuts, girlie cafes, Apocalypse etc). Tell them a hotel nearby and walk the rest of the way. Those guys get some type of commission for bringing people to certain places, and they will hi-jack you and bring you all over the city, especially if they aren't great with English.

 

Carry your hotel business card too so you can get back without having to know exactly where your hotel is located. When I stayed at the Windsor, I asked a cab driver to bring me from District 1 back to the hotel. I said "bring me to the Windsor Hotel". The cabbie was clueless. It wasn't until we got there by my directions that he had a eureka moment and said "hotel win-sore". That's how he knew it, so a minor change such as swapping words around in the name was enough to confuse him.

 

Just to clarify, I wasn't saying District 1 is bad. It is a fun place with a great deal of night life. Even some of the hotel bars are worth checking out, particularly the ones on roof tops. I think I'm just a little jaded from past travels, and I like to see the parts of the City that one wouldn't find on a postcard. That being said, you'll have a great time anywhere in the city. Just keep your wits up and an eye on your belongings.

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