Hanoi Day 3 Itinerary: Hotel Review, Bánh Mì, Pho & Massage

Day 3 of our 5D4N Hanoi itinerary is a continuation after getting back from Halong Bay. Here’s how we spent a relaxed day in Hanoi with bánh mì, a affordable massage, having pho by the roadside like the locals and ending the night with craft beer.

My VERY Honest Review of MK Premier Boutique Hotel (map)

By the time we got dropped off at our hotel, it was already late in the afternoon around 3pm.

For the next two nights in Hanoi, we stayed at MK Premier Boutique Hotel in the Hanoi Old Quarter. I chose them primarily because of their location within Old Quarters and their reviews were pretty high.

I booked a Terrace Suite (~SGD 214 for 2 nights via Agoda)… but things didn’t go quite as planned.

At check-in, we were told:

Our booking was for a Premier Balcony King room
That room was “sold out”
We were given a “complimentary upgrade” to an Executive Suite

So I showed them the booking, which explicitly stated that my booking was for a Terrace Suite, and they said it was a communication issue with Agoda which resulted in the discrepancy between room types. At this point, I was honestly quite pissed.

The manager was quite apologetic but insisted that the hotel had already given us a complimentary upgrade to the executive suite which is one of their best rooms in the hotel. So, in short, take the room. And since the room was already fully paid for and I was too lazy to find another hotel, we accepted our fate and took it. Probably not a wise choice.

Room Review: Executive Suite

Pros: the room is pretty big and spacious with a separate living room.

3 things to note on the bathroom

Sink is outside the bathroom (in the room itself)
You need to climb into the bathtub to shower
The showerhead is connected to the bathtub and water pressure isn’t great

Now, the real issue.

This is the ultimate dealbreaker (at least for me). When I was doing research on the hotel, I read specific reviews about the Executive Suite being very noisy.

Our Executive Suite is located on Level 2 of the hotel, overlooking the main street. In the daytime, it’s fine. At night, absolutely not. The Wonderful restaurant opposite was playing loud techno music until way past 11pm. The honking, shouting and street noise continued into the wee hours of the night, and started again as early as 5am.

If you are a heavy sleeper like Rick, no problem. If you are a light sleeper like me, it is absolute IMPOSSIBLE to get any sleep at all.

My saving grace: my wireless sleeping earbuds and Spotify.

Both nights, I slept with earbuds in, with Spotify playing spa and meditation music on max volume throughout the night. That was how I managed to keep my sanity.

Final Verdict: Would I Recommend?

Yes for it’s great location.
But if you are a light sleeper, be sure to bring earplugs or wireless earbuds like me.

Late Lunch at Bánh mì Phương Hội An (map)

We dropped our bags and quickly headed out for a late lunch. I found Bánh mì Phương Hội An just opposite, with a good 4.6-star rating, so we decided to give it a go.

Rick was quite hesitant to eat bánh mì due to previous not-so-good experiences, but my goodness – the reviews were not wrong. The bánh mì was AMAZING!

The small shop is located inside a narrow alleyway, and we almost missed it.

Rick ordered the ham and cold cuts, and I ordered egg and pork floss. The bread was toasted, warm, and crispy to the bite (not cold and hard like others we have tried). The ingredients, especially the radish, were fresh and added flavour to the bread.

Highly recommended!

Football Jerseys at M@i sports (map)

After a satisfying lunch, we went on a football jersey search mission for my son, who is a Man City fan. I found M@i Sports on Google, which is about a 4-minute walk away, so we decided to walk over and have a look.

And once again – Google reviews do not lie.

The whole shop has an unimaginable collection of football jerseys, even the latest kits. We showed him pictures of the jerseys we were looking for, as we couldn’t find them on display, and he actually had them! Rick and I were in total disbelief. Rick was especially impressed, as the quality is pretty good as well.

If you are looking for football jerseys in Hanoi, don’t bother checking other shops. Just go straight to M@i Sports.

Rick ended up getting Liverpool jerseys as well.

Body Massage at Minh Nguyệt Beauty Spa (map)

We headed back to the hotel with our loot to rest before heading out again for a massage at Minh Nguyệt Beauty Spa around 6pm.

Again, we found it through Google reviews (5.0 rating), and it was just 1 minute away, so we decided to walk in. Luckily for us, there were no other customers, so we were ushered in immediately.

We chose a 60-minute full body massage for 450k VND.

The massage started with a herbal warm foot bath with lime, lemon, lemongrass, anise, and a hot lemongrass tea.

Afterwards, we were ushered upstairs to a couple room for our massage.

Final verdict:

Rick said his masseuse was pressing a bit too hard (he’s not really a massage person to begin with)
Okay for me

Note on tipping

In Vietnam, they will usually give you a feedback form at the end of the massage, and one of the questions will be how much tip you would like to give, with options starting from 50k VND. Depending on how much tips you decide to give, they will then calculate the total cost.

We gave 50k each, and the final cost of the body massage for two people came up to around 1M VND.

Travel Tip: Go where the locals go (The search for Pho)

After massage, we are now hungry. So I asked the masseuse where she would recommend for pho. She pointed me in a direction – “walk straight and turn right”. She said that’s where she and the locals usually go, so I thought – if locals go there, it shouldn’t be bad. So I took up her recommendation.

When we turned right, we saw a whole row of roadside stalls selling pho. Oh… decision fatigue again. We settled for the one closest to us.

A bowl of hot Pho at Quan Hen (map)

I am unable to find the shop on Google, but I marked the location based on the banner. We ordered the good old simple chicken noodle soup — pho ga. One bowl is only 40k VND, less than $2 SGD. Gosh, so cheap.

When in Vietnam, do what the locals do. Eat pho on stools by the roadside.

Final taste verdict: you can’t go wrong with pho. The soup was hot and flavourful. The chicken meat was soft. I devoured the entire bowl.

What’s best after a good dinner? Dessert!

Vietnamese Donuts (bánh rán)

There was a roadside cart stall selling Vietnamese donuts (bánh rán) opposite, and I had been eyeing it the entire dinner. So I had to get it.

There are 2 types: sugar or honey. I got one of each, but by the time I ate them, they were cold and a bit chewy. I’m not sure if I liked them, to be honest.

I think they might be better if they were warm and slightly crispy? Maybe it’s just me.

In fact, I realised the next day the cart location is right outside the shop Bánh Rán Cổ Truyền Mật Đường who are renowned for their banh ran.