We have been to Hoi An 3 times in as many years, staying at The Nam Hai Resort which is absolutely out of this world. The people are so accommodating and friendly and you want for absolutely nothing. This is a 6 star holiday resort which exceeds even the highest expectations. A Dong Silk Hoi An are the BEST taylors in the world. Their girls really are efficient and accurately knock up full suits overnight for amazingly cheap prices. The markets are wonderful and the food in Hoi An exceptional, try Mango Club and Miss V's - both fantastic. We are a family of 5 with 3 teenage kids who just want to keep going back there again and again. Infact going again in June 09 !!!

Hoi An is an amazing place - it is situated in Central Vietnam and is as yet unspoilt by too many tourists visiting. The town itself is like a living museum with people in ancient buildings still living there and opening them up as attractions to visitors as well as shops, restaurants and bars.

The choice of places to eat in Hoi An is endless but at present the food is very much Vietnamese. If you are even slightly fussy with food and toilet standards it can be challenging. I am quite picky and struggled with the mind-boggling amount of fish and seafood on most of the menus, as well as pork. I only eat chicken and found that this wasn't very good quality so ended up having noodles and vegetables - a lot! It is a seafood lovers dream though! Menus are limited and the same food is served everywhere but is amazingly cheap - most meals were around £2-3 including fish or seafood, rice and beer! A stark contrast to our hotel which was 10x the price!

We also saw the lantern festival which was great but this did feel a bit more touristy than we imagined with kids selling you a lantern then fishing it out of the river and selling it again! You have got to admire their inginuity I guess?!

Hygiene standards are not great with toilets being quite unclean unless you sought out some of the more expensive hotels and restaurants.

The people are wonderful and keen to welcome you. They are keen to show you around their shops which are very quaint. They like a good haggle and most places take dollars but the dong is preferred if you want the best discount - this applies everywhere including taxis in Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh - we ended going with US dollars and getting them changed to dong as it was easier.

The temples and museums are well worth a visit but it was really hot when we visited, so go early in the day.

One point is that Hoi An closes early - shops are open to 9 /10pm at a push and the town is dead after 11pm and taxis back to hotels are a little scarce. We got caught out one night where we had eaten very late and struggled to get a taxi back to our hotel. Use the green metered taxis to avoid higher prices.

A 'must do' is getting a suit made. We had several dresses and suits made to measure from Lana's in Le Loi street. The bigger stores charge a lot more for the same material and quality - so shop around. Lana's was excellent value and the suits and dresses were made quickly and to a high standard. Haggle with the owner for a discount though especially if you buy a few items!
They can also arrange for items to be shipped for you if you are low on luggage allowance - we just carried ours through as hand luggage!

Try also eating in the large open kitchen areas where several locals have stands - we had lunch there a few times and Mr Son at the bottom of Le Loi near the river was reasonable and the food was really good.

Dress code was casual with crops and flips flops being the norm in the evening. Linen trousers were perfect but nowhere is that smart to need it - we prefer to dress up a bit for dinner but simple linen trousers and linen shirts were perfect for the heat and style of most places. It is not even worth taking high heels as the streets are quite uneven so flip flops are perfect!

There is a very distinct pecking order when walking around Hoi An and tourist pedestrians are at the bottom! There are motorbikes and cyclists on the streets and on some of the larger roads cars and buses so take care when walking. We found the best approach was to walk confidently and in a straight line at a steady pace - the bikes just go around you and you are far less likely to get knocked over this way!

Things to buy - I got some photos of Hoi An and we also purchased a lantern and some of the silk - ties are also very cheap and widely available - they cost more from the nicer looking boutiques but are the same quality from the smaller shops.

The surrounding beach is lovely. There are a few stalls near the road by the beach but you can walk for miles and not get hassled by anyone trying to sell you anything - which is quite a change!

We really liked Hoi An and felt very safe and at home there - we just hope it doesn't become too touristy and tacky and retains its quiet charm.

My husband and I arrived on 11 March 2009 to very hot humid weather. The 30 minute taxi ride from Da Nang Airport to Hoi An was really scenic, passing the famous China Beach before reaching the charming city of Hoi An. After our driver got us lost numerous times (make sure you agree on a fixed price, don't accept the meter price), we eventually arrived at our hotel, the Bach Dan 11, which was so impressive and huge with a swimming pool, free internet, colourful well maintained gardens and lovely clean rooms, at really, really good rates (try negotiating). It's location is perfect, in a really quite street across from a large park, you only have to go around the corner and walk about 20 metres and you are in amongst all the hustle and bustle expected. The only negative comment about this hotel would be that they do not accept credit card payments. We met up with with our daughter and her partner (who had also booked at same hotel) at a little cafe/pub called the Cargo Club, which is located along the river. We spent many hours in this little place, eating, drinking, soaking up the relaxed and friendly atmosphere, and taking in the local goings on with boat vendors selling their wares to tourists walking along the river's edge and other vendors walking around with heavy loads on their shoulders or heads, and shoe shiners doing their best to keep tourist's shoe cleanliness up to local standards. The shops are plentiful and really good with a huge variety to suit all tastes, requirements and budgets, but you need to constantly keep up with the friendly price haggling or you will pay way too much. The Old Town is closed off to traffic enabling you to browse and move around a lot safer without the constant worry of having to look out for bikes etc. There's also many other places to visit such as the fish & vegetable markets, or enjoy a Vietnamese Cooking Class or a relaxing massage. The local people are friendly, straight forward and enjoy a good sense of humour. Food is extremely good, even with me being a strict vegetarian. I was constantly surprised with the choices made available to me. I also carried a hand written note, written in Vietnamese by a friendly local, using their own terminology, advising the cafe/food staff exactly what my requirements excluded/included. We only spent 3 nights in Hoi An, but thoroughly recommend it to most people.

Karen Barker

Hoi An came highly recommended but it was so disappointing. It is such a wealthy tourist town, you can feel the locals sucking the money out of tourists. The famous tailoring is really not that great at all and the river and surrounding countryside dirty. Hotel was horrible and we had some really bad experiences trying to organise local tours.

If I were to recommend anything, it would be the fresh beer and abilility to hire a motorcycle cheaply. The local food outside of town is great too but you can find similar/better in other parts of Vietnam.