After arriving in Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon as some still call it), I headed to Bui Ven Street in the Pham Ngu Lao area of District 1. Pham Ngu Lao is the main backpacker hub of HCMC, around the area you can find restaurants, hotels, bars and shops.
Once a guesthouse or hotel in Southeast Asia becomes featured in the Lonely Planet guide ‘Southeast Asia on a Shoestring’, the place usually puts up their prices, ironically becoming overpriced. This has happened to a lot of the places in Vietnam, I found that most of the places featured in the guide were not very good value anymore.
Mini Hotel Alley in Pham Ngu Lao
After ducking in and out of a few places on De Tham street (the main backpacker street in Pham Ngu Lao, some call it the Saigon Khao San Road), I heard from a local about a street behind it called ‘Mini Hotel Alley’ just off Bui Vien Street.
The first sighting of Mini Hotel Alley was very pleasing, a whole street of small, vertical mini hotels on either side, all competing for my custom. Bargaining for prices here was a possibility, but in the end it was not necessary, I think they knew if they gave me a good price in the first place, this would distract me from looking elsewhere.
TiTi Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City
I went into a couple for a look and was offered prices between $15-20 USD, the rooms were quite average though, but I knew there would be a bargain around here somewhere! I eventually came to TiTi Hotel and met a guest on my way in, I asked “Is this a good place to stay?” to which she replied “yes, I think it’s really good”, a positive sign.
I was offered a room rate at a discounted $12 USD per night, since I was staying more than one. On sight of the room I knew it was a bargain, the place looked brand new, immaculately clean with a stylish decor, perfect bathroom and it even had a flat screen TV on the wall.
A Room at TiTi Hotel
TiTi Hotel is in a great location to explore what Ho Chi Minh City has to offer. You can walk to the market, the park, the famous Saigon War Museum and all the shopping, dining and bars you can handle from TiTi.
The staff at reception also gave a great exchange rate swapping US Dollars to Vietnamese Dong, the rate was better than all the money changers around the Pham Ngu Lao area. The staff are also quite flexible, on my day of check-out I had a bus to catch to Nha Trang at night, therefore I would have liked to have a late check-out and pay for half a day.
The Spotless Bathroom at the TiTi Hotel
They allowed me to check out late and pay for half a day, although they said it’s something they don’t normally do. Under normal circumstances I think you’d have to pay the full rate for a late check-out at the TiTi Hotel, but I asked nicely and they eventually agreed.
Overall I really enjoyed staying at the TiTi Hotel, and would most definitely head there again on my next visit to HCMC. Two thumbs up.