Mai Vy: A Place To Call Home

By Bats Mohsinali

Photos by Fei

“In reality, we just died five times,” said Fei, as we dodged masses of motorcyclists en route to the hotel from the airport. Greeted by the rain that was to plague the rest of our stay in Saigon, we were dropped off at the street that would soon be our home for the next 10 days. Taking in the sights and sounds, we made our way down the alley that led to our hotel.

Alley leading in and out of the hotel.

First impressions always count. And Hotel Mai Vy did not fall short in that department. Having officially opened on January 21^st 2010, Hotel Mai Vy is located in District 1, owned and managed by Hang Thi Minh Vy and her mother. Introducing herself as Vy, it became more apparent why the hotel was named Mai Vy. Although compact, Mai Vy is equipped with all amenities one would need in order to have a pleasant stay in Ho Chi Minh City. The rooms and toilets are sanitary and cleaned daily, pristine white towels neatly laid out on the bed waiting to be used. Each room has its own television and a mini fridge, and the hotel even has free wireless internet available 24/7.

According to Vy, all the hotels around this small alleyway were once just homes. Most of them were bought out and made into hotels by the owners, and today hardly any houses remain. Almost all of them have been converted to restaurants and or hotels, all made to accommodate backpackers and travelers here in Saigon.

Before embarking on the hotel business, Vy’s mother worked at Ben Thanh, the local market, selling ‘everything and anything’, from spices to drinks to snacks and shirts at wholesale rates. If there was anything you needed, she was the go-to person. She worked at the market for seven years, until she made the plan to change their house into a hotel. They then moved to another house within the area, and began construction on the hotel in February 2009 aided by their neighbor- an architect who also helped them design their hotel.

Saigon, as anyone would know, is filled with tourists from all over the world. Mai Vy has seen its share of people, but Vy had to advertise the hotel so that it did not just hide between the rest. She created a website for the hotel and linked that to a website called Hotel World that advertises hotels from all over to all around the world, which eventually led to more business.

But there had to be something more to this story- I would always find Vy sitting at the dining table that adorned the lobby of the hotel entrance at the end of the day. I often wondered what she was doing with tons of books, simultaneously typing away on her laptop. When I enquired one day as to what she was doing she replied that she was studying English and chatting with her husband. I was surprised to find that she was married, at the tender age of 23. She is also studying English to better communicate with her husband.   

Our lobby of awesome. Free coffee tea and fruits = bliss!

Vy first met her husband in Saigon when he was a guest at the hotel and “he kept saying that he wanted to marry me. I thought he was crazy,” she laughed. Traveling alone in Saigon, Vy decided to accompany him in his travels around Vietnam. “We got to know each other better and I asked him then, do you still want to marry me and his reply was always yes”. So in March 2011, they were married. “He is patient with me as I learn to speak English,” she gushed. “He is always patient and makes me laugh, that is what I liked about him, he is also kind hearted”. She smiled as she lovingly told me about her husband Danny Kim, a Korean born American living in Colorado, United States. “I love his face,” she said, adding, “it reminds me of my father.”

As for the future, Vy and her mother hope to expand their hotel business. They want to buy out the restaurant next door and expand into a chain of sister hotels around Saigon. Presently however, she looks forward to starting her life in Colorado (United States) with her husband whom she misses. “My mother does not want me to leave,” she sighed, but her heart belongs with her husband. And so she has made up her mind to be with him. She is however, making the most of the time that she has left with her family, while simultaneously preparing the documents she needs, to hand over the hotel from her to her mother.

Vy and I at the hotel lobby.

Something to look forward to at the end of each day, we were especially excited to return to Mai Vy after our overnight trip to the Mekong Delta. We even began calling Mai Vy ‘home’. Not only is the staff welcoming but they are courteous and accommodating, allowing us to occupy the lobby for one of our sessions. Every morning we would be greeted as though we are a part of their family. Vy, her family and the rest of the staff at Mai Vy have made an impression on us. And a come back to Mai Vy is a definite “YES” if we ever return to Saigon.

Editor-in-Chief’s Note: One of our students plans to head back to Saigon in the coming two weeks, and in a testament to Mai Vy, will be staying there. For more information on Mai Vy, head over to http://maivyhotel.com/Default.aspx. 

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Bats Mohsinali, apart from being a kick ass Honors student at Monash Malaysia, is beyond awesome. She loves traveling and experiencing new vibrant cultures and indulging in the good things in life. Booyah.