Night life in Vietnam

[GQNammer]

Some friends and I are heading to HCMC, Vietnam in Oct for about 2 weeks. This will be a boys trip and we're curious on which district is the best to stay in and which clubs and karaoke bars to hit up. We will mostly eat street vendor food so being located near the best ones would be great. I've read a few blogs that suggested Viet Kieus and tourists aren't as welcomed to some bars compared to others. So my questions are:

Which bars are tourist friendly?

I've heard we can hire bouncers at some bars. Is this a norm for tourists to do? If so, what are the costs for hiring these guys?

We plan on getting bottle service a few nights. How much does Henny/Ace cost at these clubs?

What's the tipping etiquette like at clubs/karaoke?

I heard it's illegal to have unmarried women to come up to your hotel room. Is this true? Are there any hotels that allow a female friend to your room?

Any other insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[rage2]

EwIEUflY6YI

[ee2k]

Originally posted by GQNammer
Some friends and I are heading to HCMC, Vietnam in Oct for about 2 weeks. This will be a boys trip and we're curious on which district is the best to stay in and which clubs and karaoke bars to hit up. We will mostly eat street vendor food so being located near the best ones would be great. I've read a few blogs that suggested Viet Kieus and tourists aren't as welcomed to some bars compared to others. So my questions are:

Which bars are tourist friendly?

I've heard we can hire bouncers at some bars. Is this a norm for tourists to do? If so, what are the costs for hiring these guys?

We plan on getting bottle service a few nights. How much does Henny/Ace cost at these clubs?

What's the tipping etiquette like at clubs/karaoke?

I heard it's illegal to have unmarried women to come up to your hotel room. Is this true? Are there any hotels that allow a female friend to your room?

Any other insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Did you get in on one of those YYCDeals airfares to go to SGN?

Why do you need a bouncer? Are ye famous?

[Street_Soldier]

Originally posted by rage2
EwIEUflY6YI

That's funny, a lot of people i know also got their cameras stolen there.

[BavarianBeast]

Fuck, I cannot remember the street to save my life but we were there every night when we stayed in Saigon. It has several bars on it, one has a bull/buffalo theme and was a ton of fun.. My hotel did not care about the ladies brought home. I will try to look at some pictures tonight when I have a chance to figure out what the location was called.

Why do you guys think you'll need a bouncer? It's quite safe there, sounds like a waste of money.

:poosie:

[Meback]

Pham Ngo Lao. Back packers districts. (QUAN 1). Mix of foreigners and locals. Either do a hostel if you want to cheap out. Can probably plan this with friends. If you want better accommodation there are options not to far out and prices are still cheap.

[tch7]

Bui Vien is the main street filled with backpacker-ish restaurants, bars, hostels, etc. Basically the equivalent of Bangkok's Khao San Road. Bag/wallet snatching is quite common. Most budget accommodation in that area generally doesn't allow "guests" or at least has restrictions on time of day.

The classier places are a bit more spread out, but mostly within walking distance of there.

I hope you're not spending 2 weeks in HCMC, it's not that interesting of a city...

[hurrdurr]

2 weeks in HCMC is overkill.

Unless you have friends/family there it's not really a tourist hot spot.

I didn't like it at least :dunno:

Hanoi was much better IMO

[austic]

Originally posted by hurrdurr
2 weeks in HCMC is overkill.

Unless you have friends/family there it's not really a tourist hot spot.

I didn't like it at least :dunno:

Hanoi was much better IMO
Agree, loved Hanoi, Hated Saigon

[ourdon]

District 1, South side of the central park. Yes it is the backpackers area but there are nicer hotels in the area. You want activity - this is the area.

Unlike the others, I preferred Saigon to Hanoi, but if you get bored or antsy... hit the beach.
Vung Tao is closest, but Nha Trang is just up the coast, and Hoi An is a lot less commercial and more bucolic.

Vietjet Air (sort of like Viva in mexico) always has some really cheap flights, all internal to the country. Vietnam Air for external flights

Enjoy the Banh Mi

[ekguy]

Kinda stoked to see this. Me and a friend just bought our tickets to vietnam since we are doing that and laos this fall!!

[Prelude_dude]

I'll be in HCMC from Late September to Mid October as well!

I'll be going with the wifey, and she has family there... no special massages for me...

My wife is the opposite as well, she likes HCMC more than Hanoi. She says Hanoi is boring. My family is from Hanoi, so I wouldn't mind going up there to visit as i heard a lot of people say they enjoy Hanoi over HCMC.

Basically my wife says, in vietnam you just go get pampered (legit massages and spas) and eat. We'll probably get some gold necklaces and bracelets done as gold smithing labour is dirt cheap there i heard.

She says Nha Trang is beautiful so we'll probably check that place out. Temples i heard are pretty nice if that is your thing.

I have a shit tolerance of a stomach, so my fam is telling me I can go to the doctors and get a shot to toughen it? Have you heard guys heard of this? Especially if you are eating street food, all my buddies have had the runs, one guy was hospitalized and had a IV. Not sure if that is pretty common when eating the street food.

Looking forward to seeing other replies!

[hurrdurr]

From what I've seen/heard Nha Trang is more like Puerto Vallarta - So don't expect anything too glamorous