When we pulled up to the resort on the Mekong River, we were amazed at how beautiful it looked from this viewpoint.  You could see the individual bungalows lined up with great views of the river below.  The trek up to the hotel was a little far, but nothing unbearable.  The hotel has a porter service that will carry your baggage up to your bungalow for you.  However, they ask for you to pack an overnight bag for the one night stay rather than taking all of your belongings with you up to the hotel.  They store your luggage locked on the boat so there is no need to worry about leaving stuff behind.  Once you reach the top of the stairs, you arrive at the deck overlooking the river.  We were welcomed with cool towels, which were much needed, and a welcome drink of cold lemongrass tea. We were assigned to bungalow 18, which was a little walk from the main lodge and restaurant.  The bungalows were fairly hot when we arrived.  Most people …

After our disappointing encounter with pad Thai on Koh San road, we were on a mission for the best pad Thai we could get our hands on in Bangkok before our night bus to Chiang Mai. Even if this meant spending a bit more than the $0.80 on the street!  After some research and guidance from our friends Kate and Palis, we were led to Thip Samai Noodles. We grabbed an uber and arrived around 4:55pm. Palis had called in advance and confirmed that they open at 5pm. We thought, *perfect! we will be the first ones there and be in and out in time to make the train!*. Well…we were almost completely wrong!  The line was super long when we got there. They opened the restaurant up around 5:05pm and tables started filling up. As we got closer to the entrance, it began to look very crowded inside the restaurant. When there was one couple in front of us, they stopped seating people. All of the tables were filled and that was it. We stood in line unsure if we …

When we arrived and de-bussed in Siem Reap, we were greeted with a sign reading JESSICA SINGER by a tuk tuk driver sent by The Popular Residence.  This was a complimentary transfer from the hotel.  The location is a good 15 minute tuk tuk ride from the bus stop and about 10 minutes from town.  We were greeted with a welcome drink that was super refreshing and cold towels to clean our hands and face.  After resting for a bit and enjoying the beautiful open lobby, we were shown to our room. The room was decorated very simply and was extremely clean.  Everything seemed very new as if they had just done a full renovation.  We had a king size bed, a twin size day bed by the window, a balcony, and a rain shower and bathtub. The balcony looked out into the courtyard, which had a pool and lounge chairs.  There was also an open air lounge area that looked out to the pool on the ground floor.  We only spent one night here …

We arrived at the Pullman Da Nang Beach Resort around 9:30am.  Check in time is usually later in the day, around 2:00pm, however we were greeted and informed that our room would be ready within 30 minutes.  At this point we were able to fully take in the vastness and beauty of the resort.  The lobby was open air and had a 50 foot ceiling, with a beautiful chandelier in the center.  The back of the lobby looked out to the two infinity fountains decorated with large wire dragonflies.  The architecture and artwork complimented the atmosphere of the hotel very well.  Beyond the fountains was a large infinity pool and then the beautiful private beach.  We relaxed in the lobby until our room was ready, with our refreshing welcome drink of blended tea in hand.  We took in the view and were truly blown away by the beauty of it all.   We stayed in a double superior room with a view of the property and the ocean.  The room was amazing and had tile floors, a …

At the Almanity Hoi An Resort and Spa, a buffet style breakfast was included in our stay. The spread at breakfast had a wide range of both local vietnamese and western style breakfast choices. For the buffet, there were fresh fruits, breakfast pastries, smoothies, fresh yogurt, cereals, and prepared salads. We both ate our fair share of many of the buffet choices and thoroughly enjoyed all that we ate. In addition to the buffet style selections, there are three stations where food is prepared to order. The first station served two different dishes that are typical of vietnamese breakfasts. The options varied and ours were beef or pork pho and cao lầu. Cao lầu is a noodle dish with pork and green vegetables and can only be found in the town of Hoi An. Its exclusivity to Hoi An is a result of the century old square wells from which water is drawn to make the noodles for cao lầu. There was also a fried rice dish and chicken congee. We had originally planned to share a beef pho on …

Our experience at the Almanity Hoi An Resort and Spa was far beyond our expectations. The hotel is located about ten minutes away from the old town if walking, and free bicycle rentals are available to hotel guests.  We opted out of bike rentals as we were a bit nervous with the traffic in Hoi An, but if you are feeling brave go for it! When we arrived at Almanity we were greeted by a warm and welcoming staff.  While checking in, we were offered delicious welcome drinks. When the drinks were initially set in front of us they were blue, but after the staff added another component to the drink they turned pink! We were advised that our room was ready and that we would be staying in a Double My Mind Town View Room.  This room had a king sized bed, shower, air conditioning, TV, and a balcony overlooking the streets of Hoi An.  It was very clean and comfortable. In addition to our room, our package included one spa journey per person per day at …