Five more luxury hotels operational in Hanoi for National Tourism Year

Hanoi plans to put into operation five more luxury hotels, offering an additional 2,000 rooms during National Tourism Year 2010.

They include four five-star hotels, namely Hanoi Plaza, with 600 rooms, the PetroVietnam hotel complex with 350 rooms, Keang Nam Vina complex with 500 rooms and Crowne Plaza Hanoi, 393 rooms.

The city now boasts 213 hotels with nearly 10,000 rooms, including 36 three to five-star hotels.

Last year, the room occupancy rate was 55.41%, a fall of 21.7% compared to 2008.

The average duration of stay was 2 days per foreign tourist who came from major markets as Japan, the Republic of Korea, France, Australia, China and ASEAN countries.

The city’s tourism sector expects a surge in the number of foreign tourists during the national tourism year, helping raising the rate of hotel room occupancy.

(Source: VNA)

Cam Ranh to become international airport

Cam Ranh Airport in the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa will become an international airport with the opening of an official direct air route linking Cam Ranh and Vladivostock in Russia on December 12.

This was announced at a recent working session between Chairman of the Khanh Hoa provincial People’s Committee Vo Lam Phi, leaders of the Minh Nhat Ltd.Co. and representatives of Russia’s Vladivostock Avia and Transero Airlines.

Under the agreement, TU204 aircraft will be used for a flight every two weeks and the flight frequency will be increased later. Another air route will also open for flights from Moscow to Cam Ranh and vice versa.

Mr. Phi also asked hotels and guest houses to offer promotion programmes and lower service prices on the occasion of the inauguration of Cam Ranh international airport.

Travel agents’ hotels have pledged 50-70% discount in hotel room prices for nearly 130 international tourists flying from Russia to Cam Ranh on December 12.

The national aviation sector invested more than VND200 billion in building a new terminal, air traffic control station, a modern runway lights and other facilities in Cam Ranh Airport.

The capacity of the new terminal doubles the old one, which was only capable of loading 300 passengers per hour.

(Source: VNA)

Vietnam Travel Depot Offers Airport Assistance Services

Hochiminh City, 01 Oct 2009 – From October 2009 Vietnam Travel Depot will offer passengers free welcome and assistance services at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Hochiminh City. Passengers who travel with Vietnam Travel Depot will be greeted at the airport by the company staffs, assisted with the luggage and to be provided with necessary information during their stay in Vietnam.

For passengers who book tours in Vietnam for at least three days for a value from US$300/person the company also provides a mobile phone with credit of around US$10 to contact with their families, friends and stay in touch with Vietnam Travel Depot when they need.

About Vietnam Travel Depot: Online travel portal specialized in travel to Vietnam focusing on individuals and small groups travel. More information about the company please visit www.vietnamtraveldepot.com or contact Tel: ( 848 ) 5404 3116.

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Vietnam Travel Depot Launches Facebook Page

Hochiminh City, 21 Sep 2009 –Vietnam Travel Depot has launches its page on the social network Facebook to stay in touch with friends and company customers.

The page will features images, videos and latest news about travel in Vietnam as well as updates about Vietnam Travel Depot offers, its initiatives in creating ultimate travel experience, travel stories written by travelers.

Vietnam Travel Depot Facebook page is open for everyone and can be view here. Registration to Facebook is required in order to view our page.

About Vietnam Travel Depot: Online travel portal specialized in travel to Vietnam focusing on individuals and small groups travel. More information the company please visit www.vietnamtraveldepot.com or Tel: (84 8) 5404 3116.

Dalat “Crazy House” joins bizarre global list

A uniquely odd architectural work in the Central Highlands city of Dalat , has been shortlisted by the Chinese People’s Daily as one of the world’s ten most bizarre buildings.

French travel guide Hachette has also highlighted the “Crazy House” as a not-to-be missed hotel stay on any trip to Vietnam.


The house, occupying nearly 1,600m² on Huynh Thuc Khang Street, was completed in 1990 as a personal project by architect Dang Viet Nga. The controversial building once dismissed as “crazy” has now become a regular feature on tourist visits to the city.

The free-form undulating structure is quite unlike anything else in Dalat, let alone Vietnam. The house is constructed on a numerous levels with a naturalistic theme interpreted through concrete curves, twists and bends, giving it the appearance of an out-grown tree. The interior is equally unorthodox, with almost every surface twisting, curving and running fluidly along the internal corridors, stairwells and rooms.

Mismatched windows give the impression of a fairytale house straight from Little Red Riding Hood, while stone tigers, bears, eagles, kangaroos and pheasants decorate the environs adding to the surreal environment.


The building has been dogged by controversy since conception with arguments centering on the structure’s insufficient architectural integrity, ad-hoc character and lack of formal aesthetic.


Nga shrugs off criticism, “Many people have criticised me, even my colleagues. I don’t blame who don’t understand me.” Instead she believes that the controversial character of the house has won her more attention.

“When they first saw the house, people would exclaim that it was a “crazy house”! So that’s how it got its name, and now, it’s one of Dalat’s leading tourist attractions,” Nga says.

Nga is more concerned with conveying history and myth through the structural and decorative styling of the house rather than conforming to strict architectural rules. The house for her is interconnected by “a cobweb, which can be conceived as a bridge linking reality and the spiritual world, linking the self and the infinite universe,” she says.

(Source: VNA, Image: Google)