Last updated September 2017 | Words and photos by Vietnam Coracle
This post was last updated 7 years ago. Please check the comments section for possible updates, or read more on my Updates & Accuracy page.
INTRODUCTION | REVIEW | MAP | RELATED POSTS
The Du Parc Hotel (formerly the Novotel) offers excellent-value, mid-range accommodation in the Central Highlands city of Dalat. Housed in a French building dating from the 1930s, the Hotel Du Parc provides colonial ambience and modern amenities at very reasonable prices. With cosy double-occupancy rooms averaging around $40-$50 a night, including breakfast, this is a great option for anyone seeking to experience the charms of ‘old’ Dalat, without having to pay the high rates of similar colonial hotels, such as Ana Mandara Villas Resort or The Dalat Palace. [Average rates are between $40-$50 a night. To check current rates, availability & make a reservation for the Hotel Du Parc please BOOK HERE]
*Please support Vietnam Coracle: I never write a review for money: all my content is free & my reviews are independent. You can support the work I do by booking your hotels via the Agoda links & search boxes on my site, like the ones on this page. If you make a booking, I receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you). Any money I make goes straight back into this site. Thank you.
Images of the Hotel Du Parc, Dalat:
The classic elevator shaft at the Hotel Du Parc 
Imposing facade of the Hotel Du Parc 
Standard rooms are good value, cosy & well-equipped 
Art Deco font over the hotel entrance 
View of hotel facade from a room 
Breakfast venue: Cafe de la Poste across the street 
The sumptuous bar at the Cafe de la Poste 
A great buffet breakfast is inlcuded in the room price 
Grand but bland: the hotel’s facade
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REVIEW: DU PARC HOTEL, DALAT
Address: 15 Tran Phu Street, Dalat City, Lam Dong Province [MAP]
Price: $35-$70 | Phone: (+84) 63 3825 777 | Website: www.dalathotelduparc.com
[Click the image or BOOK HERE]
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Dalat is a former French colonial hill station, 1,500 metres up in the pine-forested mountains of Vietnam’s Central Highlands. Many travellers come here hoping to find a romantic mountain town dotted with fading colonial villas. However, these days Dalat is more of a concrete jumble of hotels surrounded by industrial scale agriculture. But you can still live out your colonial fantasy by staying in one of the few hotels housed in colonial buildings. The Hotel Du Parc is the most affordable and unpretentious of these. A long, imposing, cream-coloured building with red roof tiles, the Hotel Du Parc is a grand but plain example of French colonial architecture.
Colonial architecture: the imposing French facade of the Du Parc Hotel
After passing under the Art Deco entrance, there’s a wide lobby with a bar on the left, reception on the right, and a classic old elevator in the middle. The latter, with weighted wrought iron doors that have to be manually opened and closed, and glass sides revealing all the mechanisms, is the hotel’s showpiece. It’s great fun to watch the cogs and pulleys operating as the lift takes you to the third floor (at a speed marginally quicker than taking the stairs).
The antique elevator is part of the fun of staying at the Du Parc Hotel
The rooms have wooden floorboards, windows with views over Dalat, ceiling fans (there’s no need for air-conditioning in the cool mountain climate here), and all the modern amenities you’d expect, such as satellite TV, bathroom with bathtub and hairdryer, complimentary coffee and tea, writing desk, and free Wifi. Rooms are comfortable and cosy with plenty of character. Rooms at the front (facing north) have views over the city but can get a little noisy because of the road, while rooms at back (facing south) are quiet and have views over the Dalat suburbs and pine-forested hills in the distance. My favourite little touch in the rooms at the Du Parc is a heated lamp in the bathroom, which, in the cold mornings and evenings here, takes away the chill when stepping in and out of the shower.
Comfotable & cosy: rooms at the Du Parc have wooden floors & furnishings
The buffet breakfast (included in the room price) used to be served across the street at the Cafe de la Poste. Sadly, this is no longer the case. Instead, breakfast is in the light-filled Bistro Restaurant, behind the hotel. Although not quite as atmospheric at the Cafe de la Poste, this is still a bright and clean setting, and the breakfast is still very good, especially considering that rooms prices are rarely higher that $45 a night
Breakfast used to be served at the Cafe de la Poste across the street, but now it’s in the Bistro Restaurant
The Du Parc is centrally located, just a short walk from popular sights like Ho Xuan Huong Lake and Dalat’s central market. Staff are friendly, well-trained and speak pretty good English. The Hotel Du Parc shares many facilities with its more luxurious sister hotel, the Dalat Palace, just across the street. The tennis courts, spa, gym, and bar of the latter are all open to guests of the Du Parc, and deals are also available for the golf course across the lake. The hotel can organize any number of excursions in and around Dalat and there’s a shuttle service to the airport.
The colonial era wooden bar at the Cafe de la Poste, across the street, is very atmospheric
Prices for standard double occupancy rooms are around $45 a night, including breakfast and all taxes. This is excellent value for the kind of accommodation that the Du Parc offers. Suites can be up to $100 a night, but at this price you’d be better off spending the same money on the more luxurious colonial rooms at Ana Mandara Villas Resort or the Dalat Palace Hotel. There are 140 rooms so, unless you’re travelling during a Vietnamese holiday, rooms are usually available even at short notice. [Average rates are between $40-$50 a night. To check current rates, availability & make a reservation for the Hotel Du Parc please BOOK HERE]
*Please support Vietnam Coracle: I never write a review for money: all my content is free & my reviews are independent. You can support the work I do by booking your hotels via the Agoda links & search boxes on my site, like the ones on this page. If you make a booking, I receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you). Any money I make goes straight back into this site. Thank you.
The Hotel Du Parc is excellent-value colonial accommodation in Dalat
Disclosure: I never receive payment for anything I write: my content is always free and independent. I’ve written this review because I want to: I like this hotel and I want my readers to know about it. For more details, see my Disclosure & Disclaimer statements here
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This is a charming hotel under renovation and closed in August. Good location for town center.
Hi Cindy,
Thanks for the update. I hope the renovations will be finished soon.
Tom
Hallo Tom
was in Dalat about 3 months ago…caught a bus up from Nha Trang (which was packed with Chinese and Russians..!!) and walked past this hotel; my thought was that must be expensive..haha.
We ended up in small hotel on the hill; that night about 10 buses parked opposite with much revving and juggling and a street light right outside the window ensured we got little sleep.
Will know where to stay next time.
cheers, Peter
Hi Peter,
Oh dear 🙁 Yes, it does look like an expensive hotel from the outside, but even though the standards are high, the prices are very reasonable.
I hope you get a chance to stay there next time you visit Dalat.
Tom
Hi Tom,Once again very informative articles.I intend to be in Vietnam by the 19th of Feb. with the intention of motor cycling from Vung Tau then to Mui Ne,Dalat ,Na Trang then up futher ,depends how i find the traffic as i have only ridden in Australia,any pointers about bike hire from Vungers also is it reasonbly safe riding up to Dalat from the east in regards to the busses and trucks descending,that has me a bit concerned. Cheers Darryl
Hi Darryl,
I used to rent bikes from one or two of the waterfront bars/cafes/restaurants opposite the ferry terminal in Vung Tau. The last couple of times I used Ned Kelly’s Bar – they were good: decent staff, good bikes, reasonably priced.
No, you shouldn’t have a problem with trucks and traffic riding up to Dalat from the east – the mountain roads leading from the coast up to Dalat are very quiet as the trucks take Highway 20 instead. There are lots of options when travelling from the coast up to Dalat – take a look at this map as an example. Highway 20 is the one you want to stay off as much as possible.
I hope this helps
Tom
We just spent two nights at the Du Parc Hotel and was delighted by the hotel! The breakfast truly is spectacular, with real French croissants as well as English and Vietnamese breakfast items. They particularly impressed us when they organised scooter rental and a bus from the hotel to Quy Nhon – at great prices, with absolutely no effort from us! All this at a bargain price for a standard room, so I definitely agree that it is good value for money!
I have to mention the amazing street food street we found around the corner from the hotel: Nha Chung. This place has everything you want at very good prices, and is bustling with locals, especially between 16h00 and 18h00 when the schools in the street are finished for the day. The kids are keen to greet you and show you what their favourites are! A very special, more modern place is called Delicious… look out for it in this very street!
Thanks, Ilse.
Glad you enjoyed your stay at the Du Parc. I love staying there too, especially the breakfast 🙂 I’ll check out the food street you mention next time I visit.
Tom
Hi Tom,
I’ll spend my next whole week in Dalat. So excited!!
Do you know where they rent bikes, normal ones? As I see, there are only bikes for couples which are so inconvenient.
Many thanks!
Phương
Hi Phuong,
You can rent normal bicycles from lots of places, especially around Truong Cong Dinh Street. I hope you have a great week in Dalat! Don’t forget to visit some of the waterfalls 🙂
Tom
The kind of place where i never go … may be because I have not yet engaged XD
Until now i Only go in low cost hotel or guest house when i travel because it’s cheap and because it’s more “vietnamese style” ^^
Maybe one day i will try one like that !
Thank you to share this experience with us.
It’s a good value place to stay – around $35 a night. I like staying in local guesthouses too, but sometimes it’s nice to stay somewhere a bit different.
Tom