Hotel rooms 'on fire', guests struggle to find places to watch the fireworks finale in Da Nang

The final match of the Da Nang International Fireworks Festival will take place on the night of July 13 between two “arch-rivals” – China and Finland, which is expected to attract a large number of tourists to the “livable city”. With the attraction of a series of events plus the fireworks finale in the summer, at this time, 3-5 star hotels in Da Nang are “sold out”.

Tourists struggle to find hotel rooms

Mr. Quyet Thang, a tourist from Hanoi, shared that in order for his whole family to be able to watch the final night of the Da Nang International Fireworks Festival, 10 days ago he searched for a room on online booking platforms, directly contacted many hotels around the Han River and the city center that had locations where he could watch the fireworks display, but all were fully booked on July 13.

Not only are hotels in the city center and along the Han River with a view of the fireworks "sold out", but hotels along the coast are also fully booked. Photo by D. Thuy

“A 5-star hotel near Thuan Phuoc Bridge, normally the room rate is only 1.6-1.7 million VND, but during the fireworks finale, it increased to 8-9 million VND/room. At first, I hesitated because the price was quite high, but when I called to book the next day, the hotel said there were no rooms left. Many hotels not only increase the room rate but also charge guests to watch fireworks on the rooftop at a fee of 250,000 VND/person,” he said.

Unable to book a room in the city center, Mr. Thang had to choose a hotel in the coastal area. However, this time, the coastal hotels are in a similar situation due to the surge in visitors to Da Nang during the final round of the fireworks festival.

“I struggled to book a hotel room. Luckily, there were still rooms available. The whole family decided to stay a little further away and then take a taxi to the city center, choosing a location near the Han River Bridge to watch the fireworks,” said Mr. Thang.

Not only are hotels in the city center and along the Han River with a view of the fireworks "sold out", but hotels along the coast are also fully booked. Photo by D. Thuy

3 star hotel price increased 3 times

Ms. My Trinh, Director of Bien Vang Hotel (Pham Van Dong Street) said that the hotel had sold out all rooms for the fireworks finale on July 13 a few months ago.

“Because the hotel has a view of the fireworks, most of the rooms are fully booked on competition nights, and the final night was fully booked long ago. Most of the guests who booked the rooms are regulars, so that they will come back next time. On this occasion, we only increased the room rates by 20% compared to normal days, each room ranges from 600-700 thousand VND/room,” said Ms. Trinh.

At Muong Thanh Luxury Da Nang Hotel (Vo Nguyen Giap Street), Ms. Ngo Thi Huong, Executive Director, also said that the hotel was fully booked for July 12-14. Room rates for these days average from 1.6-1.7 million VND/night. According to her, this year the hotel will not increase prices or charge surcharges during the fireworks festival to attract and stimulate domestic customers.

A representative of Awaken Danang Hotel (Vo Nguyen Giap Street) also said that nearly 300 rooms of the hotel were fully booked for the final fireworks night on July 13.

Located quite far from the center, but at Da Nang Mikazuki Japanese Resorts & Spa (Nguyen Tat Thanh Street), the room booking rate this weekend has reached over 90% capacity, the room price during peak season increased about 20% compared to normal days.

The confrontation between China and Finland in the final promises to be very exciting. Photo: T. Nghia

Talking about the 3-4 times increase in hotel room prices, the owner of a hotel on Pham Van Dong Street admitted that many guests who wait until the last minute to book will have a hard time finding a room and accept the high price. “Recently, due to the lack of bookings from guests, I had to contact the hotel next door to book. A 3-star hotel, which normally costs only 450-500 thousand VND, is now quoted at 1.4 million VND, a 3-fold increase, which surprised me,” he said.

According to Deputy Director of the Da Nang Department of Tourism Nguyen Thi Hoai An, during the 3 nights of the Da Nang International Fireworks Festival 2024 (DIFF 2024), the total number of guests served by accommodation establishments on these nights reached more than 198,000, an increase of 11.7% over the same period of DIFF 2023.

Of which, international visitors reached more than 80 thousand (up 29.6%) and domestic visitors reached more than 117 thousand (up slightly 2.1%) compared to the same period. The city's room occupancy rate reached 70-75%. Increasing the frequency of flights to Da Nang and tourism stimulus policies of the railway sector have contributed to increasing the number of visitors to the city. Especially during DIFF 2024, hotels recorded more visitors traveling by road from neighboring provinces.

Vietnamnet.vn

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/chay-phong-khach-san-khach-chat-vat-tim-cho-xem-chung-ket-pho-hoa-o-da-nang-2300169.html