Rice Field Homestay in Hoi An, Vietnam | June 21–25, 2016
We were over-the-moon delighted by every aspect of our time with Mike and Hanh at their Rice Field Homestay and couldn’t have had a better experience if we had stayed anywhere else in Hoi An. Their brand new, custom designed home is modern, bright, spacious, clean, and extremely comfortable. Our room had every amenity we could have hoped for, and was above-and-beyond what we’d received anywhere else in Vietnam during our 3-weeks of travel for the same price range. Ample storage space for clothing, workspace, comfy bed with a think “Western style” mattress, flat screen television, modern bathroom with great plumbing (no need to place toilet paper in a waste basket next to the toilet as in so many other Vietnam hotels and homestays!), and, the crown-jewel of the room: a balcony that looked out over beautiful rice fields, nearby homes of architectural interest, flowering trees, and the mountains and evening sunsets in the distance. Complimentary breakfast is served each morning featuring tropical fruits, local eggs and bread, and coffee/tea/juice. They also offer a food and beverage menu that you can purchase from throughout the day. Hanh assisted us in booking Hoi An area experiences such as a cooking class, market tour, and snorkeling excursion. Hahn and Mike are also connected to Hoi An’s best custom tailoring business, BeBe Clothshop which we HIGHLY RECOMMEND you add to your Hoi An must-dos! (a dedicated blog post about our tailoring experiences will follow this one). You can also rent bicycles or motor scooters from Mike and Hanh to travel through Hoi An’s rice fields, beaches, and Old Town.
You can click HERE for our photos of Rice Field Homestay.
And here are videos of a tour of our room at Rice Field Homestay, a commentary during our first night in Hoi An, and a video of our traditional Hoi An lantern lighting escapades:
While we can go on-and-on about the amazing value and exceptional quality of the amenities of Rice Field Homestay, it’s Mike and Hahn (and their wonderful dogs Teddy and Noodles) that truly make staying here so special. Mike, an expat from the UK, and his wife Hahn, a native of Hoi An (who speaks perfect English with a lovely British accent) are incredibly warm, easy-going, fun, interesting, and intellectually engaging. We felt like friends staying with friends, rather than strangers in a transactional relationship. On our second evening staying with them, Mike and Hanh invited us to join them and some of their friends and family for a social outing at one of Hoi An’s beachside seafood restaurants. It was one of our best meals to-date in Vietnam with the best company, and soooo much fun! They taught us how to say “cheers” in Vietnamese, which you can watch below:
Our final morning at Rice Field Homestay was the saddest of our initial 3-week trip through Vietnam, because we didn’t ever want to leave Mike and Hanh’s, or Hoi An. You absolutely must stay with them if you visit Hoi An. You will find no better value, nor a more special place to stay.
