This was the complete opposite of my experience of Vietnam up to that point, I ended up at a Hotel just on the edge of the town centre where the staff spoke excellent English and were very helpful. The town is beautiful and although it is a huge tourist destination I wasn’t hassled too much. There are (of course) tailors everywhere and their ability to copy patterns from pictures; I was given a catalogue and asked to pick what I wanted made; is amazing.
The food in Hoi An was the best I tried anywhere in Vietnam, I stayed there four days and managed to do pretty much nothing for the entire time, but enjoyed every minute of it. For one day I did manage to get myself on a tour to the ruins at My Son which were spectacular impressive we reached the ruins around 11 o’clock though and it was already baking hot so we spent most of the time there hunkering in the shade, on the way back we took the boat to a craft village where they produce the ?antiques? that are sold in Hoi An.
Rosko recommends: There is so much to do in and around Hoi An, it is difficult to recommend one thing but the two things Hoi An is particularly famous for are the tailors and the food and it is well worth visiting just for them.
Food of the stay: Almost all the hotels, and most of the town, are on one side of the river, but the best food is found on the other side where you can find a line of little food stalls that were inexplicably missed by my Lonely Planet. The fish I had there was sublime.