Where to Stay in Ho Chi Minh City

Which area suits your trip?

Đồng Khởi for a short first trip, District 3 for a longer or repeat one, Thảo Điền for a month, Bùi Viện for the noise.

Ward names here follow the July 2025 reform (Resolution 1685/NQ-UBTVQH15): districts were abolished, so a hotel's address may now read Sài Gòn, Bến Thành or An Khánh ward while your map still says District 1 or Thảo Điền. Both refer to the same streets.

The local shorthand is worth repeating because it is accurate: eat in District Five, live in District Three, see in District One.

Is Bùi Viện too loud?

Yes. It is loudest from late evening into the small hours, with competing sound systems on every frontage.

The street's whole business is volume — open-fronted bars facing each other, each with its own speakers. It is an experience to visit; it is rarely a good place to sleep.

Two mitigations that actually work: stay a street or two away — Phạm Ngũ Lão, Cô Giang or Bùi Thị Xuân cost about the same and are dramatically quieter — or, if you must be on Bùi Viện itself, take the highest floor available and a rear-facing room.

Book a hotel, not an apartment

Since 25 April 2026, short-term apartment lets are legal only when registered as tourist accommodation — and most buildings do not qualify. A hotel avoids the question.

The rules have changed twice. In March 2025 the city's apartment regulation (Decision 26/2025/QĐ-UBND) banned Airbnb-style short lets in residential buildings; in May 2025 the Ministry of Construction reviewed it after the Ministry of Justice questioned its legal basis. On 25 April 2026 a replacement, Decision 19/2026/QĐ-UBND, took effect: short-term letting is now allowed, but only if the owner registers it as tourist accommodation, the use matches the building's approved function, and guests are declared for residence, with fire-safety and tax rules met.

That is a permission on paper more than in practice. In October 2025 the city's construction department said the vast majority of apartment buildings are not legally or technically fit for hotel-style use. If you do book an apartment, ask the host whether the unit is registered as tourist accommodation; an unregistered let can still be stopped by the building's management. A hotel booking carries none of that risk. Booking.com and Klook both list the same central hotels — worth checking each, the prices diverge.

Check hotel prices on Booking.com

Compare the same hotels on Klook

What the metro changed

Thảo Điền went from a taxi ride to a metro stop, and the historic core got three underground stations.

Metro Line 1 opened on 22 December 2024, and it invalidates most getting-around advice written before then. Bến Thành, Opera House and Ba Son are the three underground stations. Opera House station is often more convenient for the historic core than Bến Thành is. Tân Cảng serves Landmark 81. Thảo Điền has its own station, which materially improves the case for staying out there — though many of its venues are still a ten to fifteen minute walk from the viaduct. Landmark 81 is a walk from Tân Cảng station, though the walk means crossing a busy road under the overpasses. SkyView tickets for Landmark 81 are one option, though the rooftop-bar verdict on the three-day plan still stands.

Where not to stay

Thủ Thiêm, Gò Vấp, Bình Tân, and — despite the map — Vũng Tàu.

Thủ Thiêm is still largely empty. Gò Vấp and Bình Tân have no particular reason to recommend them to a visitor. District 7 is fine to live in and dull to holiday in unless your meetings are there.

And then the strange one: since July 2025 Vũng Tàu is legally part of Ho Chi Minh City, and a booking site may well offer it to you as such. It is about 95 km from the centre in a straight line, more by road, and two to three hours in traffic. Legally the city; practically not.