We could not have been happier with our choice. We stayed nine nights and after booking a room at the hotel with a room on a lower floor, I read more reviews. A few of the guests talked about staying in an apartment owned by Mr. Tan a few blocks away. I wrote and we changed from the hotel to the apartment; yes, it was a little more money but very very reasonable. The apartment was also on a carless alley about a 5-7 minute walk away - or more if you stopped to look at the market.

We are NOT backpackers and generally do not stay in backpackers areas and so this was a stretch for us to decide to stay here. I would never stay anywhere else in HMCM! Mr. Tan politely and promptly answered every question I had before we arrived and during our stay. Perhaps the most challenging for him was: Where can we watch the Superbowl at 6:30 a.m. on a Monday morning. He gets an A+ for his answer and his service. At 5:40 a..m. we were sitting at Phatty's Bar and by 6:00 the bar was full.

Most mornings we walked from the apartment to Cat Huy for breakfast - and I concur with one of the other writers. The pho was "the best"! Breakfast was just enough to get us going for the day and we had the added pleasure of the market outdoors. If you are a market person, Cat Huy in the morning is a real treat. Cat Huy's neighbor immediately across the street is a family that sells mainly fish, crabs, squid, snails, some greens and some coconuts. It is clearly a popular shopping choice and we enjoyed watching the family sell their fresh seafood. The alley was always busy in the morning with shoppers - a true local authentic experience.

The apartment was spotlessly clean, to our surprise serviced every day except Sunday. When we came home our beds were made, we had fresh line dried towels, the A/C worked perfectly, as did the wireless internet. Everything was modern. IT WAS QUIET! And it was safe and secure. It was probably two days before we realized that we didn't really have windows except at the back and the front of the apartment. The lighting was so well planned that it never seemed dark and we never felt like we had to have a window where we would see out. We also weren't there much of the day as the location provided us easy access to taxi's, to the park across our nearest street, and to the noisy, frenetic backpackers an easy .distance away.

We arrived at 2 a.m. and departed at 4 a.m. days later using the airport pickup service from Mr. Tan. To our delight it all worked. Miss Mai, Mr. Tan's sister, lives on the first floor. We always enjoyed talking to her and to some of the neighbors in the building as we would come and go.

Every one of the five stars is well deserved and we miss being in our HCMC neighborhood.