ACCOMMODATIONS

Hue’s center has two clusters of (mostly backpacker) hotels conveniently near travel agents, restaurants and the occasional bar. One is around Pham Ngu Lao St, a block off the river at Le Loi St; the other is on and around the intersection of Nguyen Tri Phuong and Hung Vuong Sts. Those on splashier budgets will likely end up at Le Residence, west of the center on the river.

Best Hotel LA RESIDENCE (see Over $100)
Best Mid-Range Hotel ORCHID HOTEL (see $25 to $50)
Beach Cheap Hotel BINH DUONG III (see Under $25)

Follow these links for hotels listed in order of preference within four budget breakdowns:

Here are all the hotels in alphabetical order:

ASIA HOTEL
Dressing up as a mid-ranger in budget-land, the seven-floor Asia has walk-up steps to its slightly grandiose lobby where staff wear ao dai dresses. The ‘deluxe’ rooms (US$35 or US$40, depending on season) feature mint-green walls, traditional fabrics draped over the bed and small balconies. Some come with rather tacky carpets, others have wood floors. Rates include a breakfast buffet on the top-floor in the ‘High Sky Bar’ with good views and an adjoining swimming pool. A spa is in the basement. There’s no Internet access in the rooms, for the time being, but there’s computers to use in the lobby.
Tel 054-830-283; www.asiahotel.com.vn; 17 Pham Ngu Lao St; rooms incl breakfast from US$35

BAO MINH
On the same alley as Canh Tien, this good-value 10-room job has small rooms, with refrigerators, satellite TV and (in front rooms) balconies. The jigsaw carpets are a funny touch. There’s computers in the lobby to use. No breakfast.
Tel 054-829-953; 66/8 Le Loi St; rooms without/with balconies US$8/10

BINH DUONG III
Down the small budget-hotel alley off Nguyen Tri Phuong St, the 11-room Binh Duong III is a Hue stand-out. Clean and roomy, the tiled rooms have a little more oompah than your average cheapie (with tubs in the bathroom, a writing desk with computer and Internet access, and a balcony). Staff do their best to please, including free breakfast (if you ask).
Tel 054-830-145; [email protected]; 4/34 Nguyen Tri Phuong St; rooms from US$16

CANH TIEN GUESTHOUSE
Down a quiet alley off Le Loi St, this colorful family-run guesthouse has comfy rooms with new paint and tiled floors. Some rooms look particularly fresh, with windows and a flower-filled balcony. Lonely Planet’s overlooks them, so getting a room is usually not a problem. No breakfast.
Tel 054-822-772; [email protected], http://canhtienhotel.chez-alice.fr; 9/66 Le Loi St; rooms US$10-12

HOTEL SAIGON MORIN
Steeped in history, the creamy mauve-colored French-built hotel grew up as the ‘Grand Hotel’ (1901) and plays up its history to many group tours that check in. It’s nice, but no Metropole (Hanoi’s great French-era hotel). The lobby has lost much of that yester-year grace, to be frank, but the enormous carpeted rooms – 178 in all – and the more refined third-floor bar feel more the part. There’s a swimming pool in the central garden, where you can take your free breakfast if weather’s cooperating. Internet rates start at US$85, rack rates at US$120. Closed in 1957, the hotel was used over the years by VC plotters then Hue University before re-opening as a hotel in 1998.
Tel 054-823-526; www.morinhotel.com.vn, [email protected]; 30 Le Loi St; rooms incl breakfast from US$85

HUONG GIANG
One of a couple hotels right on the river, the 165-room Giang gets a lot right, a rarity for an elderly statesman hotel in Vietnam. Its three wings are faintly French-colonial, though the older central wing’s rooms have better layouts (and views, and prices!). Rooms have blonde-bamboo bed-frames and furniture on a putt-putt green carpet. The best part are the balconies, which look over either the river (US$70) or pool and ‘garden’ (US$60). There’s free WiFi in the lobby, a Korean restaurant (there for the many Korean tour groups), and a back patio restaurant with outdoor seats under a trellis.
Tel 054-822-122; www.huonggiangtourist.com, [email protected]; 51 Le Loi St; rooms from US$60

HUE QUEEN HOTEL
This new white nine-storey tower looks more promising from the outside than in, but has clean, comfortable rooms and a small pool. Rates include breakfast buffet, and WiFi works on the fourth to sixth floors.
Tel 054-220-221; www.huequeenhotel.com, [email protected]; 29 Tran Quang Khai St; rooms incl breakfast US$35-45

IMPERIAL HOTEL
Some returning visitors roll their eyes over this new glitzy tower-hotel that looks like something from a strip of high-end resorts in a far-off place. But it’s certainly well done up, with a huge, elegant lobby and knock-out views from the stylish King Panorama Bar’s outside deck on the 17th floor. And, while the ‘soft opening’ promo rates last, it’s pretty good value. Rooms are modern and comfortable, with wood floors, traditional motifs on the padded headboards of the beds, armchairs by the big windows and flat-screen TVs for your CNN updates. It takes up a full block, a block away from the Trang Tien Bridge. There’s a fitness center and nice pool too use. Promo rates include breakfast at the third-floor restaurant. Rack rates will rise about US$60 in 2008.
Tel 054-882-222; www.imperial-hotel.com.vn, [email protected]; 8 Hung Vuong St; rooms incl breakfast with city/river view from US$100/115

LA RESIDENCE
Lusciously art-deco – in a non-colonial, but very ’20s French way – this onetime governor’s mansion–turned-hotel is Hue’s best by a mile. Set up on the riverbank at the far end of the colonial-rich Le Loi St, the hotel’s golden sitting rooms and lobby bar – with free WiFi and billiards – begs for pre-dinner drinks; this building is the original, with nook-and-cranny rooms up the winding staircase. The two matching wings on either side are new additions, with more standardized rooms faithfully created to keep the art-deco vibe with period-style desk lamps, bathroom tile, arm chairs. Rooms have balconies overlooking the pool and Perfume River, and rates include a big breakfast buffet and access to the tennis court. The hotel can arrange dinner cruises too.
Tel 054-837-475; www.la-residence-hue.com, [email protected]; 5 Le Loi St; rooms incl breakfast from US$216, Internet rates often from US$165

ORCHID HOTEL
This comfy 15-room master of the mid-range gets you a lot more style than usual for US$30. A block from the river, rooms go a bit down-home, with traditional throws on the beds, woodwork in-lay in the ceiling and wood floors. Oh, and DVD players to use. The ‘honeymoon’ suites are up top, but, staff tells me, ‘only people on a honeymoon can use them… they’re very special.’ (Maybe lie?) WiFi in the lobby, free breakfast buffet, and DVD library.
Tel 054-831-177; www.orchidhotel.com.vn; 30A Chu Van An St; rooms in back incl breakfast US$28-32, with balcony US$42

THANH NOI
A special breed of folk really swoon over this guy, some find it a bit too out-of-the-way. The 36-room, villa-style ‘Imperial Garden’ hotel’s locale is certainly unique: it faces the Citadel walls on the north side of the Perfume River (the only hotel listed over there), and has a nice pool in the front garden. Rooms are OK – rather dated for what you get. If you’re not about citadel-moat walks, it can be a bit lonely. Intrepid Tours sends groups here. Internet is an unexpected US$2 per hour. Free breakfast.
Tel 054-522-478; [email protected]; 57 Dang Dung St; rooms incl breakfast US$20-45 (based on view)