Sapa's central area is fully booked on September 2nd, tourists accept to stay far away

Since mid-August, when she knew that September 2nd would be a 4-day holiday, Ms. Thanh (living in Nam Tu Liem district, Hanoi ) discussed with her family about planning a trip to Sapa.

Instead of driving himself, the 40-year-old passenger booked a sleeper bus from Hanoi to Sapa for safety. This is a high-quality bus with double beds, priced at 2.7 million VND for a round trip for 4 people including parents and 2 children.

Continuing to search for accommodation, Ms. Thanh spent nearly half a day on Booking and Agoda platforms but could not find a place that suited her family's needs and price range.

Guests staying at a luxury resort in Sapa (Photo: Times Travel).

“I want to choose a room in the city center for convenience in traveling to entertainment venues and tourist attractions. In the mid-range segment, both platforms report that there are almost no available rooms in the city center,” said Ms. Thanh.

After half a day of contacting, the Hanoi guest finally found a 2-star hotel with reasonable price and convenient transportation. She immediately decided and transferred the deposit so that the hotel could reserve a room for her early.

Meanwhile, with just over a week left until the September 2nd holiday, Minh Phuong (24 years old, living in Hong Bang district, Hai Phong ) decided to go to Sapa because her boyfriend wanted to go elsewhere. In the end, both agreed to go to Sapa this time to see the golden season.

A homestay in Suoi Thau hamlet of Ta Phin village with a view of terraced fields (Photo: Ta Phin Lodge).

When asking some agents who specialize in selling combos including accommodation and transportation, she found the prices higher than expected, so she contacted homestays far from the center.

Finally, the Hai Phong guest found a homestay located in the center of Ta Phin village with a view of the mountains, forests and terraced fields. The room rate is nearly 500,000 VND/day, but this place is about 7.3km from the center.

“It was too late to book a room and there weren’t many options left, so we had to settle for staying far away. But in return, the homestay was located in the middle of nature, so it was also a chance for us to rest, recuperate, and recharge,” Phuong said.

When Dan Tri reporters contacted a number of high-end hotels and resorts in the central area, most of them reported being fully booked. The few remaining rooms were mostly in the high-end segment, costing from 5 million VND/day.

A representative of The Mong Village Resort & Spa, a resort (Cau May Ward, Sapa) said that rooms were fully booked from mid-August. Room rates range from 2.1 million VND to 2.3 million VND. This is the same price as during normal times of the year. The resort is committed to not increasing prices during the holidays.

Sapa town center, some tourist spots such as Ta Phin, Ta Van, Muong Hoa Valley, Cau May are areas with high density of high quality accommodation facilities along with many entertainment areas and 3-star hotels and above are still the segment with the highest number of bookings by tourists.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Mai, representative of Sinavi Homestay and Coffee (Cau May ward, Sapa), said that from August 31 to September 3, the homestay was generally full of guests.

“During the holidays, if tourists book rooms on platforms like Booking or Agoda, it is often harder to find than usual. The reason is that at this time, accommodation establishments often lock all holidays on the platforms and sell them at higher prices.

Usually, they will only accept rooms from guests who have booked for 2 days or more. In addition, there is still the phenomenon of agents holding rooms in advance and then selling them in combo form, so it is more difficult for individual guests to book,” Mr. Mai said.

According to Mr. Mai, room rates in Sapa during this time may increase by 30%. However, the local government is also closely involved, encouraging people to offer reasonable prices, in line with the listed prices.

“Usually, accommodations in the budget or mid-range segment are more likely to increase prices and may have additional surcharges during holidays, while high-end hotels and resorts will always have stable prices,” said a representative of Sinavi Homestay and Coffee.

Guests staying at a luxury resort in Sapa (Photo: Times Travel).

In addition, tourists coming to Sapa this time also tend to want to stay at homestays with panoramic views of nature or terraced fields valleys. These are accommodation areas far from the center, with prices starting from 500,000 VND/night/person but are still chosen by guests.

Commenting on the number of visitors to Sapa during this year's holiday, Mr. Ha Van Thang, Director of Lao Cai Tourism Department, said that the number may increase compared to the same period last year.

“Despite the heavy rain in August, Sapa still welcomed a 5% to 10% increase in visitors. At the moment, Sapa is unlikely to run out of rooms. However, room bookings may fluctuate on days close to the holidays. The Department of Tourism will coordinate with the Tourism Association to continue to closely monitor the situation to promptly come up with the best plan to welcome guests,” said Mr. Thang.

Also on this occasion, in order to strengthen the management of tourism activities during the holidays, Lao Cai Department of Tourism advised the Provincial People's Committee to issue a document directing relevant Departments, Provincial Police, Traffic, Health, Market Management, People's Committees of districts, towns and cities to promote state management of tourism, develop plans to ensure security and order, traffic safety, and ensure food hygiene and safety.

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/du-lich/khu-vuc-trung-tam-cua-sapa-kin-phong-dip-29-du-khach-chap-nhan-o-xa-20240822120657258.htm