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Our City Break At The Novotel Danang Premier Han River Hotel

See what’s it’s like to experience five-star luxury at the Novotel Danang Premier Han River Hotel in the heart of central Vietnam.

Novotel Danang Premier Han River Building
Image: ©2foodtrippers

What a difference a couple years can make.

In two short years since our first visit to Da Nang, the central Vietnam city has morphed into a vibrant city and popular tourist destination for Korean sun-seekers along with travelers from around the world. The city also attracts digital nomads like us who eschew stereotypical backpacker grunge in exchange for modern apartments and fast internet.

The Vietnamese seafront city keeps drawing us back – our third and latest visit extended for nine weeks. During this stay, we lived in a modern high rise apartment building, ate at local restaurants and drank third wave coffee every day. We also became local D-list celebrites thanks to Instagram, but that’s another story.

Despite our comfortable digs, after two months we craved the kind of luxury that we can best experience at a five-star luxury hotel in Asia. That’s how we ended up taking a Da Nang city break at the Da Nang Novotel hotel.

Novotel Danang Premier Han River Hotel Review

Enjoying Breakfast at Novotel Danang Premier Han River
Breakfast at the Novotel Danang Premier Han River didn’t disappoint these two food travelers. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Open since 2012, the 35-floor skyscraper boasts over 400 rooms and a swanky rooftop pool. The Novotel Danang Premier Han River Hotel skews on the luxury side for the Novotel brand with its impressive five-star rating.

Stylish and modern, this Danang hotel has a grand lobby with a cafe and shop. However, much of the action happens on the fourth floor where The Square restaurant and pool are located.

Service

Lobby Attendants at Novotel Danang Premier Han River
Have you ever seen friendlier lobby attendants? | Image: ©2foodtrippers

During our stay, we found the service to be both courteous and efficient as we would expect at a five-star hotel. Fortunately, we did not experience any problems during our stay that would have warranted extra service from the staff.

Checking in and out of the hotel was a breeze. Our room was cleaned and serviced promptly. Overall, we had no service issues or complaints.

Superior Room

Guest Room at Novotel Danang Premier Han River
Our superior room at the Novotel Danang Premier Han River featured a comfortable king bed as well as typical hotel amenities. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Our superior room featured contemporary design with bursts of orange that gave the design an extra flair. We appreciated the comfortable king size bed, excellent shower pressure as well as extra details like premium bath products, plush robes and free WiFi. However, the balcony was our favorite aspect of the room.

Balcony at Novotel Danang Premier Han River
But the balcony was our favorite part of the room. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Though we had already spent a good bit of time in Da Nang, we never tired of the view from our balcony. During the day, we could see both sides of the Han River with views of the Dragon, Han and Tran Thi Ly bridges. When we looked to the left of our terrace, we could marvel at the gorgeous beachside with views of Son Tra and the Vietnam Sea.

Sunrise at Novotel Danang Premier Han River
Our balcony was an ideal spot to watch the sun rise over the beaches of Da Nang. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Luckily, we woke up early and caught a fabulous sunrise. The sun rises and sets quickly and clearly in this part of the world. We lingered on the balcony to watch the sky burst into colors as the sun ascended from the ocean and created a golden glow above My Khe beach.

Night Bridges at Novotel Danang Premier Han River
At night, the balcony was a mesmerizing spot to gaze at the colorful Da Nang bridges. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Our room’s balcony also provided an ideal vista to view Da Nang at night when the city lights up in a veritable rainbow of colors. We had a great view of the Han Bridge, Vietnam’s first swing bridge, as well as the famous Dragon Bridge.

The Dragon Bridge breathes fire and squirts water on weekends. Guests may be able to witness the action from a Novotel balcony on a Saturday or Sunday night.

Pool

Pool at Novotel Danang Premier Han River
The pool at Novotel Danang Premier Han River is a quiet spot to relax with a city view. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Located on a fourth-floor rooftop, the Novotel Danang Premier Han River Hotel’s infinity pool is a showstopper thanks to epic views of both Son Tra from the East and the Hai Van Mountains to the west. If the views aren’t enough to satisfy guests, the pool also has a Splash Bar that serves cocktails and other beverages.

Swimming at Novotel Danang Premier Han River
Mindi enjoys an afternoon dip in the pool. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

The Novotel pool was our happy place in the afternoon when we needed to relax after exploring the city. Though the pool was heated, the temperature was cool enough to refresh us and soothe our weary bones.

Breakfast

Breakfast at Novotel Danang Premier Han River
Asian hotels tend to have impressive breakfast buffets and the Novotel Danang Premier Han River lives up to this billing. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

After eating local Vietnamese food for two months, we were happy to expand our culinary reach to food more typically eaten in China, France, Italy and the US.

We strategically studied the food options that spanned two large dining areas before filling our plates with a varied selection of tasty breakfast favorites like eggs to order, an imported wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, duck pate and a range of Asian fruits including pineapples, dragon fruit and papaya.

Breakfast Chefs at Novotel Danang Premier Han River Breakfast
How many chefs does it take to make pho? At Novotel Danang Premier Han River, the answer is four. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

From the juice bar to the pho bar, this Da Nang hotel breakfast buffet features a plethora of healthy and splurge foods. Though the Vietnamese coffee bar adds a fun element to the generous food options, the French Camembert cheese was our favorite part of breakfast.

Nearby Attractions

Night View at Novotel Danang Premier Han River
Da Nang comes alive at night. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Located just six kilometers from the Da Nang International Airport, the Da Nang Novotel is convenient to attractions in Da Nang, Hoi An and beyond. During our stay, we opted to stay near the hotel and enjoy some of the city’s best restaurants, cafes and bars.

For more adventurous visitors, this hotel provides a great base for exploring sites like super-popular Bana Hills. It’s also easy to spend a day touring nearby Hoi An. Then again, there’s nothing wrong with choosing to lounge at the pool or on the beach instead.

Coffee at Novotel Danang Premier Han River
We always need coffee before working on travel logistics. We drank these cups at the Novotel Danang Premier Han River. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

Arrival Logistics

Novotel Danang Premier Han River Entrance
The Novotel Danang Premier Han River Hotel is located in the heart of Da Nang. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

We recommend taking the hotel’s free airport shuttle from the Da Nang International Airport. This is the easiest and most cost-effective transportation option.

Book a Room At The Da Nang Novotel

Novotel Danang Premier Han River Sign
Welcome to the Novotel Danang Premier Han River Hotel. | Image: ©2foodtrippers

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About The Authors

About The Authors

Daryl & Mindi Hirsch

Saveur Magazine’s BEST TRAVEL BLOG award winners Daryl and Mindi Hirsch share their culinary travel experiences and recipes on the 2foodtrippers website. Since launching the site in 2012, they’ve traveled to over 40 countries in their quest to bring readers their unique taste of the world.

Disclosures

Article Updates
We update our articles regularly. Some updates are major while others are minor link changes and spelling corrections. Let us know if you see anything that needs to be updated in this article.

Sponsorship
We thank Accor Hotels for hosting us to facilitate this article.

Original Publication Date: October 18, 2018

Karin Esterhammer

Monday 3rd of May 2021

Loved this article! I lived in Ho Chi Minh City for two years and we visited Da Nang 4 times. That was 10 years ago so I’m happy to see it even more beautiful and modern. I wrote “So Happiness to Meet You: Foolishly, Blissfully Stranded in Vietnam,” which also relays the fact that the people are so kind. Karin Esterhammer

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