Da Nang is increasingly becoming a travel hotspot in Southeast Asia. Located midway between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, this city is geographically blessed with a river and seafront, and surrounded by mountains.
It wasn’t long ago that travellers bypassed Da Nang on the way to and from Hoi An. Nowadays Da Nang has become a destination in itself. There are more international flight options, and there is even talk of a metro system for this fast-growing city.
This “Where To Stay” guide highlights the best areas to stay in Da Nang.
If you are new to Da Nang, there are two main areas to stay in;
cityside (by the river)
beachside (by the sea)
Search for hotels in Da Nang.
Index
Map of where to stay in Danang
City / Downtown Da Nang
Beachside / My Khe Beach
My An Ward/An Thuong (the best area to stay on the beach)
Resort Coast
Son Tra Peninsula
Da Nang Bay
Ba Na Hills
Map of where to stay in Danang
The areas referenced in this guide are shown on this map.
[View map of where to stay in Danang.]
City / Downtown Da Nang
The Downtown / City Centre area of Hai Chau District is the area between the Han River and the airport. This is the business and administrative area of the city, and it feels like a normal city compared to the beach.
To make your trip more interesting, stay as close as possible to the river between the Han River Bridge and the Dragon Bridge. Don’t bother staying on the other side of the river if it’s your first time in Da Nang.
[Yes, the Dragon Bridge looks like a dragon.]
The Han Market is the central point of action along the riverfront. Near the market are travel agents for long-distance bus tickets, train tickets, and tours. The riverfront north of the Han River Bridge is where the international luxury hotels are located.
Search for hotels in Da Nang City Centre.
Hostels
There isn’t a backpacker street like Pham Ngu Lau in Ho Chi Minh City, but a number of hostels have sprung up around the Han Market.
AnNam Hostel is near the market on Tran Phu Street.
Budget hotels
There’s lots of budget options in the city area to choose from. I stayed at the Evelyn Hotel, which is a basic budget hotel near the river. 2-star hotels like Vanilla Hotel Da Nang and Fulmar Hotel Danang are typical examples of what good value hotels in Vietnam are like.
Mid-range hotels
Wink Hotel Danang Centre was the second hotel to open for this Vietnamese hotel chain. They offer “affordable luxury” for “modern, aspirational travellers”.
[Check rates for Wink Hotel Danang Centre.]
Luxury hotels
On the north side of the Han River Bridge is the distinctive Da Nang City People’s Committee building. Hotels on the Bach Dang riverfront include the Hilton Da Nang and the Novotel Danang Premier Han River.
Beachside / My Khe Beach
It’s on the beachfront you’ll get a glimpse of where future Da Nang is heading. My Khe Beach has been on the ascent for years, but you could say it made the big time when it made the New York Times list of 52 Places To Go In 2019. In that guide, Danang was described as the “Miami of Vietnam”. That may seem like an incredulous statement, but when you see the emerging skyline on Vo Nguyen Giap (the beachfront boulevard) the comparison makes sense.
[Beachfront hotels on Vo Nguyen Giap.]
My Khe Beach stretches from the Son Tra Peninsula to the Marble Mountains, forming the seaside boundary of Son Tra District. It’s a long and wide stretch of soft, sandy beach that is regularly listed in “best beaches in the world” listicles. Once you walk along here it’s easy to see why it’s becoming such a popular tourism destination.
Da Nang has become a major destination for South Koreans and Chinese, which makes sense when you consider that it’s the closest tropical city with a beach to either country. Increasingly, Australians are discovering Da Nang, and I suspect it will only be a matter of time before the first direct Jetstar flights from Australia will arrive.
During the war the biggest US base was in Da Nang, and the beach was a recreational area for US troops where it was known as China Beach. That was the American name, and there was a TV show in the late eighties that kept the name alive. Given the sensitivity of current land and sea disputes between China and Vietnam, you would do well to not refer to it as China Beach (as I have seen it described by some blogs). The government even threatened to close Vietnamese sites that use the name.
In the 1990’s when the country was opening up again, the beach was a popular backpacker area with cheap guesthouses by the seafront. When I first visited, half of the beachfront was empty lots or had temporary seafood restaurants on land waiting to be developed. Those days have long gone as the beachfront is now more resembling the Gold Coast in Australia.
The northern section of the beach road is Hoang Sa, and along here is the Man Thai fishing village. It’s still a working fishing area, so it’s not the best section of the beach.
If you want a beachfront hotel then anything on or near Vo Nguyen Giap from Nguyen Huy Chuong down to Phan Tu is the best section. Like any beach resort destination, the further inland you go the cheaper it gets. You don’t have to go far inland though to get a good deal. I was 5 minutes walk from the beach for this budget hotel.
The beach area is still evolving, so so there is always a construction site somewhere. The Miami/Gold Coast references make sense when you see what is planned. One of the biggest developments is Times Square Da Nang. This is one of the biggest projects in Da Nang (and there are many). This is opposite East Sea Park, which is the area where festivals and musical events on the beach are held. This should be the most central location of the beach area, but the Times Square Da Nang project has stalled, leaving two unfinished towers.
[What Times Square Da Nang is supposed to look like.]
Next door to Times Square Da Nang is the A La Carte Da Nang Beach Hotel, which has a great rooftop bar for sunset views.
One of the hotels that stands out among the wall of hotels facing the sea is Chicland Danang Beach Hotel. Just look for the building with tropical plants covering the balconies.
[The green Chicland Danang Beach Hotel. The towers on the right are Times Square Danang.]
Hotels on this section of the beach are on the city side of the road. The Temple Resort Experience Danang is the only hotel on the beach.
Most of the hotels on the beach are local hotels with names that don’t conjur images of a tropical beach, such as Paris Deli Danang Beach Hotel.
The big Vietnamese hotel brand on the beach is Muong Thanh Luxury Da Nang hotel.
Most of the international brands are located further down the coast. The exceptions on the city beach are Radisson Hotel Danang and Four Points by Sheraton Danang. The Hilton Garden Inn Da Nang opened in 2023, adding a second Hilton-branded hotel to Danang.
My An Ward/An Thuang – The best area to stay in Danang
In the years that I have been visiting Danang, there is one area on the beach that has emerged as one of the best places to stay in Danang. My An Ward is the beachfront neighbourhood that has become popular with digital nomadss and expats. There are many international food options here alongside some of the best cafes in Da Nang.
My An Ward is the area Between Nguyen Van Thoai and Phan T. The hotspot is the An Thuong Tourist Area, which is not a cool name if you consider yourself “a traveller not a tourist”. You can also just say the My An area of the beach. The government recently renovated the streets in this area, which they refer to as a backpacker zone.
[The An Thuong street grid makes up the core of this cool area.]
The landmark of this area is the abandoned Holiday Beach Danang Hotel & Resort. Look for this building when you are walking back from the beach.
[Holiday Beach Danang Hotel & Resort.]
The centre of activity here is the row of streets that go up to An Thuong 6. Any streets near this block is ok to stay at as well. The street that forms the southern section of this block is Ngo Thi Si. This has become a bar street, and it is looking like.a backpacker party street is starting to form around here.
Accommodation types include hostels, hotels, and monthly apartment rentals. There is a glut of cheap hotels and apartments in this area, so there is always a good deal to be found. I won’t recommend any for price because the prices change depending on special offers by hotels and booking agents. For example, I stayed at a new hotel for $10 a night.
The Avatar Hotel (a 4-star hotel with swimming pool) is the landmark hotel in An Thuong, though it was still being renovated when I visited.
[Avatar Hotel.]
I stayed at the 3-star hotel Cocochine in this area.
If you are looking for a long-term beach residence, you might want to compare the expat beach areas of Da Nang or Hoi An before making a decision.
Resort Coast
The resort coast (as I call it) is the section of the beach where the beach road of Vo Nguyen Giap goes inland and the big resorts get the beachfront instead. This section of the beach is in Ngu Hanh Son District, the southern district of Da Nang. It includes My An Ward at the top and continues down until it reaches Quang Nam Province, which begins the Hoi An section of the beach.
The beach from Son Tra in Da Nang to Cua Dai in Hoi An is about 28km in length. At the current rate of development, the whole coastline down to Hoi An will be a continuous stretch of hotels, and it may be referred to as Greater Da Nang. This guide is only for Da Nang. For Hoi An, read where to stay in Hoi An.
The “resort coast” starts from Premier Village Danang Resort in the north, down to Cocobay at the southern border of Da Nang. Midway down this section is the Marble Mountains. South of the Marble Mountains the beach continues as Non Nuoc Beach.
If you are familiar with these kinds of resorts you will know they are vast properties and not really walkable to local amenities. I would recommend staying along here if you have an allegiance to a hotel brand, or you specifically want a luxury resort holiday and aren’t concerned about having easy access to urban life beyond the resort perimeter.
The best-located resort along here is Premier Village Danang Resort, which is close enough to the action of My An while being a fully-fledged resort.
Pullman Danang Beach Resort is also located close enough to the action to be a walkable resort.
As you go down the coast there are more famous names such as Crowne Plaza Danang and Hyatt Regency Danang Resort and Spa.
Opposite the Marble Mountains is Danang Marriott Resort & Spa.
Further south is the Sheraton Grand Danang Resort & Convention Center.
[Sheraton Grand Danang Resort & Convention Center.]
This resort coast is still a work in progress, with abandoned and half-finished hotels lining the coast. The Danang city boundary is at Cocobay Da Nang, which is an accommodation and resort area that is closed until further notice.
Son Tra Peninsula
[Da Nang view from Son Tra Peninsula.]
The Son Tra Peninsula is the green headland that marks the northern end of the beach. Its most visible landmark is the Lady Buddha statue, which can be seen halfway down the coast. There were plans to develop the peninsula, but so far it remains as a conservation area. Hopefully it stays that way. If you want to stay here there are two resorts to choose from, and like the resort coast it’s best for those wanting luxurious seclusion rather than experiencing life in Da Nang.
The InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort is a 5-star luxury resort tucked away on the northern side of the peninsula
The Son Tra Resort is another 5-star resort that has it’s own little beach that overlooks the bay towards the city.
As Da Nang is changing so fast I’ll be updating this post regularly to add any new notable hotels. hotels in Da Nang.
Da Nang Bay
In addition to having a riverfront and seafront, Da Nang also has a bay. Nguyen Tat Thanh Beach is the north-facing beach of Da Nang, giving a different view of the city. It’s not as developed, and when I have visited I found the beach to have bits of rubbish everywhere.
There are not enough hotels or amenities to recommend staying here, but I place it here for the public record.
A notable hotel that has arrived in this area is the Da Nang – Mikazuki Japanese Resorts and Spa. This Mikazuki Group hotel is the first five-star resort in Danang Bay.
Da Nang – Mikazuki Japanese Resorts and Spa.]
There are some apartment towers going up along the bay as well, so it may become a more well-known residential area in the future.
Ba Na Hills
Ba Na Hills is within the city of Da Nang, so I include it here for reference. Even if you haven’t heard of Ba Na Hills, you have probably seen the Golden Bridge (the bridge held by giant hands in the mountains). Here is my review of Ba Na Hills.
You can stay at Ba Na Hills, but the thing to know is that you will be staying in a fake European village inside a theme park. And it’s not like you can just pop down to Danang City for the evening. You are stuck there.
If that hasn’t put you off, then check out Mercure Danang French Village Bana Hills.
