[Da Nang Travel Diary] Day 3: Checking into the Novotel Hotel! 〇〇 was the best!

Xin chào! I'm Yuki, a Japanese husband living in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and this is Ngoc, my Vietnamese wife. On this blog, we share information about living in Vietnam and traveling around the country. If you find an article that catches your interest, please start by following us ♪ Our Da Nang & Hoi An travel diary is now entering its second half. The day after our one-night stay in Hoi An, we headed back to Da Nang as our base once again. This time, I stayed at the "Novotel Danang Premier Han River." Novotel is a well-known upscale brand of Accor Hotels, recognized even in Japan. It tends to have more of a business traveler vibe, but the Novotel in Danang has been designed as a hotel geared toward tourists ♪    We'll guide you to the location — Novotel Danang, north of Han Market~

Novotel Danang is a 5-star hotel located along the Han River, north of Han Market. It's about a 15-minute walk or a 3-minute drive, so we recommend taking a taxi. In the evening, it's also nice to walk along the Han River as a stroll on your way there. By the way, as you can see, the Novotel is a building-style (tower) hotel.Some of you might be thinking, "Wait, isn't this supposed to be a resort hotel?" — and it's true that Da Nang's resort hotels, located in the southern part of My Khe Beach, tend to be pretty expensive at just under 30,000 yen per night. On the other hand, this place is a 5-star hotel for just 10,000 yen a night! Even with the current weak yen, it's still only in the 10,000-yen range, so if the exchange rate ever returns to pre-COVID levels, you could end up staying for around 8,000 yen!    The rooms at Hotel Novotel Danang are "small, but the view is spectacular.

This is the room we're staying in this time. I booked it through Agoda, and it's probably the cheapest room available. It costs around the high 9,000 yen range per night (converted to Japanese yen). There's a shower, but no bathtub. Honestly, this is the smallest room among all the hotels I've stayed at in Danang & Hoi An so far.

As you can see, it's a river view. You can see the Han River and the Da Nang cityscape nestled beside it. When you think of the tropics, you probably feel a strong pull toward staying at a resort hotel, but high-rise hotels really do have great views, don't they? I forgot to take a photo, but at night you can clearly see the illuminations on the buildings, the Song Han Bridge, and the Dragon Bridge! Keeping your nightlife modest and heading back to the hotel a bit early to spend time in your room is also totally a great option! The "spa" at Hotel Novotel Danang is seriously the best!

This is the thing I was most looking forward to during my stay in Da Nang — "Spa Inbalance." It's a directly-operated spa in Da Nang, located on the 6th floor with a great view. Since it's fully reservation-based, I went ahead and booked it through "Tabi Spa," the reservation site I always use.

Because if you book through TabiSpa, you get 5% off, PLUS a free upgrade to a VIP room with a sauna and jacuzzi, and you can enjoy the sauna and jacuzzi for free too! Just to be sure, I contacted TabiSpa beforehand and asked, "Is this really true?" and they said, "Yes, it's really true. This perk is possible because TabiSpa and Novotel have had a long-standing partnership.

What's great about this is that the bath is spacious and faces the window. Plus, the wall is entirely glass, so the view is amazing! I went during the daytime, but couples might want to go in the evening or later! I've attached the booking page for Tabi Spa, which I often use, so please feel free to check it out!   Booking & Basic Information for InBalance (Novotel) (Da Nang, Vietnam) | Tabispa Novotel is a 5-star hotel towering over downtown Da Nang. On its 6th floor, "InBalance" is a luxury spa where a concept of harmony with nature comes to life, combining elegant bamboo-styled corridors with modern spa rooms. Every room is a private room, promising you the most wonderful of moments. Lately, the night spa has become especially popular. tabispavn.com      The 'breakfast buffet' at Hotel Novotel Danang has so many salads!

At the Novotel Danang, you can enjoy the breakfast buffet every day of your stay. The buffet has a wide variety, but for some reason the salads were especially plentiful. There was also Vietnamese food and Western food. I think there was Korean food too. Danang really does have a lot of Korean visitors. The same goes for the Novotel — I'd guess maybe about 70% of the guests are Korean.

What impressed me was that the buffet area was quite spacious. There were several stations, like an egg station, where they cooked dishes for you on the spot, so we hardly had to wait in line. A walk on My Khe Beach in Da Nang

When walking through the bustling seaside district of Da Nang, as I mentioned on Day 1, the basic approach is to walk along the streets that branch off from the main road, Nguyen Van Thoai St. The key point is that if you walk one or two streets inland instead of right along the coast, you'll find streets lined with lots of shops catering to tourists.

What I personally liked was Tran Bach Dang Street. It's a street that extends from Nguyen Van Thoai, and at first it's lined with local eateries and slightly grubby cheap massage parlors, but as you keep walking, it transforms into a stylish street you'd hardly recognize.

At night, you can take a walk while looking at the illumination of the buildings and the trees lining the streets. Every shop stays open until late at night, and above all, its charming feature is that it's "safe." Even a woman walking alone can do so with ease! Summary and next preview... Who Novotel Danang is recommended for The Novotel Danang I stayed at this time isn't a resort hotel, so there aren't really many facilities where you can linger for a long time inside the hotel.The spa was fantastic, but the pool was small and the café was a bit noisy too. Since you don't need to stay at the hotel to use the spa, I'd say this Novotel Danang is recommended for people who want to "stay at a 5-star hotel for around 10,000 yen." Plus, it's an international hotel. I'd also recommend it for people who want to stay on the city side (around Han Market and Danang Cathedral) rather than the beach side.     Coming up next... it's finally the last day! Feasting on Da Nang's delicious food ♪ Next time, we'll take you through the final day of our Da Nang trip. In Da Nang, we're enjoying the three big categories of a Vietnam trip—"spa, gourmet food, and souvenirs"—right down to the very end! Hẹn gặp lại! ※This means "See you again!" in Vietnamese (^^)/