Shop 'til You Drop!

This will be short and sweet just like our trip to Hoi An. The predominant reason for going was to get some clothing tailormade (as this is tailor heaven!) and we decided on a three-day trip, just so we had a little additional time to relax.

Leaving the office a little early, we took the 5.25pm flight directly to DaNang (the closest airport) and from there it was an hour drive to our hotel, Sincerity Hoi An. The hotel was lovely, it had a large pool, spa and very attentive staff. They also offered a shuttle bus to the main town throughout the day, which is extremely useful as taxis are not that easy to get hold off. The room itself was very spacious, and there was ample room in the standard double for the two of us.

We didn’t spend a lot of time at the hotel, but one service we used extensively was the free usage of bicycles. The hotel is a little further away from the Japanese Bridge (which is essentially the hub of Hoi An) but only a 15-minute bike ride away – and everywhere you look, people are cycling. The roads are really easy to navigate, and unlike the other cities in Vietnam, the roads weren’t AS crazy, therefore cycling seemed far more manageable.

So back to the main purpose of this trip – tailoring. When I say tailoring heaven, I am not exaggerating, as you enter the main town you are surrounded by shops upon shops, displaying all the latest fashionable items that they have made in store. It is almost impossible to choose which tailor to use, but thankfully we had done our research and taken on a few recommendations.

We used the first evening we were there to look around a few of the shops, and get an idea of service and fabrics – the key thing when choosing your tailor, is to find someone who will listen to what you want, but also give you a good indication of what is possible, and what will suit your body type. We found some people to be relatively pushy, so much so that when we said we wanted one suit, they insisted that actually we needed three (we live in a hot climate, and Neil probably wears a suit about once a month) – but others were a lot more attentive to the detail and were far easier to communicate with!

We ended up getting tailoring done at two different places, both of which I would recommend for different things.

A Dong Silk was our first stop, primarily because of the quality of their work. We were helped by Chau, who was nothing but friendly and patient, listening to everything we wanted and then accepting when we changed our minds a few minutes later. We were only there for a couple of days, so time was of the essence. We placed an order on our first day and it was ready to collect the following day, after 3 alternations. The quality was not compromised in the least. We actually ended up placing a second order, after seeing how great the first lot had turned out. They are a little costly, given they are one of the biggest tailors in Hoi An, but if you are looking for long lasting quality, then I would highly recommend. They pay attention right down to the detail and are great at giving relevant advice. I was recommended Maya by a colleague of mine. Whilst we bought the majority of our stuff from A Dong Silk (we had only intended on buying from one tailor) after entering Maya, I knew there’d be an additional order. I had been looking all around for printed material, from which I could make a big A-line skirt with, with little success. Within 5 minutes of being in Maya I had found two sets of material which I then had made into said skirts. In addition, Neil loved some of the display blazers and also had them made (at this point this was blazer number 3 and 4 for him). I was superbly impressed at how quickly they managed to turn around our items. We placed the order in the afternoon and everything was ready for collection that evening. Plus, it was all perfectly fit, within one fitting .

The lady (I'm sorry I never got her name) was beyond helpful and genuinely the cutest person! She was so excited to show me my items, and I was incredibly pleased with the quality.

Neil also had a ton load of ties and bow ties, with matching handkerchiefs made (pictured above). We both had a few pairs of shoes done too! All in all this trip was a shoppers paradise.

Aside from the tailoring food was pretty good here! We didn’t venture massively, as we kind of grabbed food on the go inbetween our shopping, but one place definitely worth mentioning is

Hola Taco! Annoyingly I wasn't that hungry when we visited, so only got to try the nachos. But they were the best I have ever eaten. They seemed to be baked rather than fried and the toppings were great – I’m no newbie to Mexican food, so this is a huge statement. THE BEST NACHOS EVER. We enjoyed the food so much, that we actually tried to go back before our flight home, but unfortunately, they were closed that Sunday!

Three excellent days, walking away with a gazillion wearable souvenirs and plenty of memories!

#vietnam #tailoring