What is a Serviced Apartment?
Budgeting for a Serviced Apartment
Where to Find Lodging
Longterm Rentals vs. Serviced Apartment Leases
Popular Services Apartment Complexes

Visitors and expats planning a more extended stay in Vietnam should consider looking into serviced apartments in Ho Chi Minh City. Not only would this type of accommodation be more comfortable but it’s cost-effective too.

It’s much easier to settle in at one property than living out of a suitcase for weeks at a time, so a serviced apartment would give you more freedom and less stress in the long run. This is definitely true for work or personal trips that are longer than three or six months at a time.

What is a Serviced Apartment?

A serviced apartment in Saigon feels a lot like home. It’s an entirely furnished unit designed to provide anything that a tenant needs for hassle-free daily life. Instead of scrambling to find furniture or pay high nightly rates for a hotel, this type of apartment relieves the traveler from figuring out those logistics.

Many of these properties in Vietnam are structured and function a lot like a hotel, which shocks many tenants. Amenities like a swimming pool, gym, or laundry facilities are often available to use at the complexes. Additionally, services like bed-making, general housekeeping, and a restock of toiletries are sometimes included in the price of a stay. It’s also not uncommon to be provided with a parking space if you have a vehicle or motorbike, security at the premises, cable TV, and WiFi internet.

Depending on whether you’re traveling solo or with others, there are serviced apartments to fit any number of tenants. While finding a one-bedroom unit is much easier, more extensive prospects are located right in the city. This option would be ideal for someone who got a six-month work assignment or a remote blogger looking to try living somewhere else for a while.

Some things to consider when looking at properties are how close it is in relation to where you have to go daily if you’re working in a specific part of town. Being within walking distance is a nice feature, as having to drive or take public transportation will undoubtedly impact commute time.

Budgeting for a Serviced Apartment

There are serviced apartments in Ho Chi Minh City for all budgets, but like anything, it takes some hunting for the best deal for your situation. Larger apartments or newer places with more amenities generally cost more than older buildings or smaller spaces. Travelers that are staying in Vietnam by themselves and don’t want to board alone can look at “shared room” apartments, which are listed as such on rental search websites.

“Hometels” are a newer kind of accommodation in Vietnam. Combining the words “home” and “hotel,” these properties are on the luxury side of the serviced apartment categories. They are more expensive but almost guarantee extra features beyond the basic furnished living quarters. Generally, Hometels don’t require an extended lease and can be booked at a per-night rate if needed.

Where to Find Lodging

Especially with technology and the internet, finding serviced apartment vacancies throughout Saigon is not tricky. Facebook groups, other social media advertisements, and google searches pave the way for easy access to seeing what’s available on the market. There are designated websites that can help you narrow down your search too.

Here are a few places online to search for rental options in Ho Chi Minh City:

Other traditional travel websites like Booking.com, Kayak, Agoda, and Travelocity also have serviced apartment listings that can be reserved through their own channels. The benefit of booking through these sites is the ability to see former users’ reviews and ratings of the places.

An additional way to find serviced apartments is by simply walking around the area you’re interested in staying and looking for “For Rent” signs. These may be in English, but more likely in Vietnamese, so the key words to look out for are:

Chung cư (Apartment/studio)
Chung cư mini (Small studio)
Phòng trọ (room to rent)
Thuê (rent)

Talking to locals who can point you in the right direction could be helpful, too, if you don’t know where to start.

Longterm Rentals vs. Serviced Apartment Leases

When planning to stay in Ho Chi Minh City for an extended period of time, some people might consider looking at long-term rental properties through websites like Vrbo and Airbnb. Commonly, these types of places are more expensive for a nightly price, but if you talk to the owner about a more extended stay, they may be able to offer a more reasonable rate. It’s also possible that they want to keep their property open for multiple tourists during a peak season at a higher cost, so this might not be the best option.

There’s no cookie-cutter way to determine if a vacation rental is better than having a lease through a traditional serviced apartment complex. If you are planning to stay longer than six months, it would likely be more cost-efficient to look at getting a lease. Keep in mind that signing a lease is just as binding as anywhere else, and there’s usually less flexibility to change your mind (without fees or penalties) at the last minute. However, a long-term rental might be more viable or preferred for trips that are only three to six weeks.

Popular Services Apartment Complexes

People who plan to stay longer in Ho Chi Minh City sometimes prefer to live in a known serviced apartment community. These places are likely to have expats and usually include at least some amenities, providing an excellent value. Here are a few of the popular serviced apartments complexes in Saigon:

It shouldn’t be too hard to find the right place to suit your needs for an upcoming extended stay or move to Ho Chi Minh City. Serviced apartments are more comfortable and financially better choices for anyone staying longer than just a few days on vacation. With the help of the internet, discovering options should be a breeze.

Đăng bởi: Thắm Nguyễn Văn