Hammock Homestay — Hotel in Hội An

My teenage son and I traveled to Hoi An for three days, and afterwards to Cham Island for another three days. Unfortunately, our Cham Island hostess (Ms Linh/Ling) had a medical emergency at this time and was not on the property during our visit. The older women in her family attempted to fill the gap, but none spoke English. Even with a translation device, they fell to calling Ms Linh for help or just shaking their heads. Eventually, my son and I resorted to our own devices and filled our days just fine. / The accommodations are tight. Picture a 10x12' room with a narrow bath squeezed down one side. The only furniture is a bed and a small, locking night stand. There's no where to place a suitcase or sit down other than on the bed. That being said, I think the room we had was one of the nicest. It led to a balcony overlooking the front terrace. We could watch the activity below and on the street. Everything is amazingly clean and very comfortable. The A/C works fantastic and there's a wall-mounted fan as an option, but it's a little noisy. The narrow bathroom is really nothing to complain about. The only difficulty we had, as well as another guest, was in making the hot water work. We figured it out on the second day. / I made our own breakfast the first morning consisting of two scrambled eggs, two VN bread loaves, and one mango. We were charged 100,000 VND(@4USD). The night before, when we arrived, we were presented with the menu. We chose pumpkin soup, beef noodles, and french fries. That cost us 200,000 VND. Snacks (cookies, yogurt, beer, wine, water, cola) are available in the living room fridge and while cheaper than US prices, are slightly higher than Hoi An prices -- which is to be expected since most everything on the island is imported from the mainland. We did eat some corn, mango and boiled peanuts from the street vendors, but I felt like the prices were inflated the moment we walked up to them. One of the other guests sought out another homestay for dinner and that worked to their advantage, although they admitted to feeling intrusive. The night before we left, we finally found a place to eat. (More on that in a moment.) I strongly advise bringing your own drinks and foodstuffs to supplement your eating experiences on the island. / There is a charge for EVERYTHING! so make sure you bring plenty of VND. There is no exchange agent, or bank, or ATM on the island. Residents only accept VND and maybe USD. No plastic or electronic transfers are possible at this time. Remember to budget out money for the return trip and a taxi from the Hoi An docks. If a Cham Island resident purchases your boat tickets, you might be able to get by for as little as 100,000 per person. Also, BOOK EARLY! We planned to leave around noon, but since we waited until the day before leaving to buy our tickets, the only option we were left with was a 7:15am boat. That meant we lost our morning at the beach. / Don't bring plastic bags. Do bring suntan lotion and bug spray. The mini marts here are truly minimalist. Also, the hotel does not provide the usual shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. The little foil pouches above the sink might have been soap, but we couldn't get them open to find out. Even if we had, there wasn't enough to last for three days for the two of us. / Most of us choose these remote places for the quiet. Our room was nicely insulated and we weren't disturbed by passing motorists or neighboring TVs. However, we were awakened each morning between 5 and 6 by the "wake-up call." This is a blaring, town-wide, loud speaker which presents the morning news and anything else the residents need to get their morning started. It can go on for an hour! In the evening, karaoke is the noise of choice. You can spot the culprits singing their hearts out from their porch or living room, completely oblivious to any and all around them. This starts about 5 and can run as late as 11, I'm told. || The two nights we heard it, it lasted about 2-3 hours. / Internet is available, but not necessarily wi-fi. Hammock Homestay does have wi-fi, but if you go into the community, you need to rely on your phone. Do purchase a sim card when you arrive in Vietnam. || It's very helpful when talking with the locals because you can use the translator, show them images from Google, and pull up Google maps. / We pack light and usually anticipate the opportunity to get our clothes washed somewhere along the way. Not going to happen on Cham Island unless you use your bathroom sink. Wash clothes before leaving Hoi An. / We took a motorcycle tour for 200,000 each. We went south along the coast for 8km or so, stopping along the way to take scenic photos. Then we turned around, rode past Bai Lang and over to one of the temples. Of course, there were people out front selling trinkets. I can't imagine that they get many customers as it seemed somewhat out of the way. The tour does not encompass the whole island because, I'm told, of a military post or other sensitive areas to the rear of the island. We returned to Hammock after an hour. It was an informative experience, but I don't know that it was fully worth the 200,000 per person. This tour was arranged through the homestay, so possibly you can get a better price if you approach someone on the waterfront. / We arranged our own boat tour. Another guest managed to arrange one via phone with Ms Linh for a price of 700,000 for two for up to three hours. I bargained for 600,000 down on the waterfront, but got more than just the tour. A family boat was procured to take us out where we did some fishing and some light swimming. I'm not very strong and have difficulties pulling myself back into the boat. Since there was no ladder on the boat, they had to use the little bamboo boat to assist me. While we rested on the boat deck, one of the fellows dove in and went hunting for crab and oyster. With the small fish my son and the boatmen caught, plus the crab and oyster, we had enough for a pleasant little meal. We were invited by the wife to join them for this meal and it was DELICIOUS! Turns out, they run a restaurant as well. We were invited back later that evening for drinks and conversation. No one but the wife speaks English, but it was a great experience. To find them, look for the billboard down by the round about. Behind it is a home that has a wide open porch for the 'restaurant.' One wall features a black and white mural with a wolf howling above a lake. Across the street is a wall under which some more tables and chairs are to be found. On that wall is a mural of the boats in the bay and 'Cham Island' painted in decorative letters. The husband, who took us out on the boat, is the one who painted them. He also made the restaurant's table and chairs. His wife speaks English and it was with her that I arranged the boat tour. Ask for Ms Thinh. The family name and the name of the restaurant is Ku Nom. / Cham Island has only had electricity for about two years. Changes are happening fast here. A very large resort is being built between the island's two villages. While it means jobs, it also means hardship on the island's environment and there is concern amongst the residents. See this beautiful community as...

The bed was nice and comfortable. Room was clean and I had the pleasure of having a balcony with my one night stay. The motorbike tour was 200k VND and I customized to just to tour around the two villages and beaches because I was tired of the mountains coming from the North.

I wish there are more information during the motorbike tour, the driver wasn’t able to speak good English so it is a bit difficult to communicate and understand the culture and history of Cham island. They have temples of history, one with whale bones and a bay where boats dock when huge thunderstorm strikes for example which I was only able to learn of by following a walking tour going back to the places the bike took me on. I find these local knowledge important since I’m not all interested in the activities but more on the cultural aspect.

The breakfast should be communicated in advance on the menu. I enjoyed it but I like to have meat for protein which I didn’t know they don’t have until the morning itself. For a banh mi, eggs and vege, I find it way too simple so I would rather go out for a walk and find something for more interesting and...

Cham Island is a must, and we recommend a couple of nights overnight at the Hammock Homestay. We stayed one night, but honestly we wish we could have stayed longer! I saw the reviews on a booking site and then contacted the owner directly via what's app message. Very responsive, she helped us arrange our speedboat transfer from Hoi An, and everything went smoothly, we had the best stay here. The location of Hammock Homestay is perfect to explore the island, we rented a scooter from the host and went to Bei Xep beach - amazing!! Right from start to finish it felt like a private experience, we had the beach to ourselves, white sand and clear water. Through the host we organised a local fishing trip and snorkeling and then in the evening had the seafood BBQ (trying 6 different seafoods!!) which was delicious and very fresh because the host brought everything that same day! Honestly this island is not to be missed, and the host helped to arrange everything for us which really helped. The room was comfortable and we learned a lot about the local culture and traditions. Best experience of our whole time...