Where to stay in Da Lat: The former hill station in Central Highlands of Vietnam

The best areas to stay in Da Lat, including a guide to the most iconic French colonial-era hotels.

Da Lat is a former French colonial hill station in the Central Highlands region of Vietnam. The city is 1500 metres above sea level, and its cool climate and mountain scenery makes it a popular getaway from the heat of Saigon.

Da Lat is often promoted in travel guides as an idyllic French town in the hills, but the reality is that it’s a bustling provincial capital with the traffic of a typical Vietnamese city.

Looking on the map, it’s not obvious where the city centre is. The city is built on in a hilly area, and the streets a jumble of roads that follow the contours of the terrain.

This Where To Stay guide covers where to stay in the city area of Da Lat.

Where to stay in Da Lat guide

Map of Da Lat hotels
Best area to stay in Da Lat
City (central area near the city market)
Other areas to stay in Da Lat
French Quarter (old villas outside the city area)

Map of Da Lat hotels

Hotels and other locations mentioned in this article are pinned on this map of Da Lat.

[Map of hotels in Da Lat.]

Best area to stay in Da Lat

If you’re visiting Da Lat for the first time then stay near the central market in the city centre.

City

The Central Market is the focal point of Da Lat. There is a night market here that is converted into a pedestrian area on the weekend.

Near the market is the Xuan Huong Lake. There is a road that circles the lake, so there are no lakeside hotels. It’s a nice lake to walk around though.

Budget hotels

Da Lat is awash with budget hotels, so there are always deals on offer if you are just filtering for the cheapest room.

There is a budget hotel area on Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, which is not far from the market area. This road winds around a hill, and some sections are wall-to-wall cheap hotels. I stayed at the TTR Midtown View in this area.

Search for cheap hotels in Da Lat.

Mid-range hotels

Mid-range hotels in the market area include Nice Dream Dalat Hotel (3-Star)

Sandals Flora Hotel (3-Star) is next to the central market, which might be a problem if you don’t want a noisy area at night.

There are some other Sandals-branded hotels around Da Lat, which might be confusing for North American readers. The Sandals brand in Da Lat is by a local tea and coffee company called Doidep, and is not related to the Sandals Resorts in the Caribbean.

Colline Dalat (4-Star) is situated on top of the central market area. The street entrance includes a shopping mall that is part of Dalat Center, and the back of the building descends into the main market area.

Another hotel near the market is the TTC Hotel Dalat (4-Star).

The Du Parc Hotel Dalat (4-Star) was built in 1932, and it’s the closest you will get to the colonial-era ambiance of French Dalat.

Túi Ba Gang Central Hotel (4-Star) is a modern hotel within close walking distance to the central market.

The larger hotels are further out from the market area. The Saigon Dalat Hotel (4-Star) is a hotel by Saigontourist Hotels & Resorts (a domestic hotel chain).

Even though Da Lat is a popular tourism destination, it is still provincial in outlook. The familiar big-name hotel brands have not made it to the Central Highlands region of Vietnam.

One of the few international brands is the Mercure Dalat Resort. The hotel features French-inspired architecture in a garden setting.

The hotel is near the Dalat Railway Station, and a section of the old Dalat railway runs as a tourist attraction (though it may be years until the Dalat-Thap Cham Railway is restored).

Luxury hotels

The Dalat Palace Heritage Hotel is a historic luxury hotel that opened in the heyday of the French colonial era in 1922. It’s one of the most famous of the French era hotels in Vietnam.

The hotel is facing the lake and is an easy walk to the central market. The front of the hotel has an expansive lawn that runs down to the lake road. It feels like the sort of place where a butler would say “release the hounds” if they saw you on the grass. The hotel was previously managed by Sofitel.

Ana Mandara Villas Dalat Resort & Spa is a luxury hotel that is comprised of 17 French villas from the 1920s. The hotel complex is set in a pine forest on a hillside in what is one of last remaining green areas of the city. The hotel is about 3 km by car from the central market.

Other areas to stay in Da Lat

French Quarter

There is not really a French Quarter, but I place this here to explain the area because some travel guides and hotel booking sites list it as an area. Some websites make it sound like nothing how it looks in reality.

When I think of “French Quarter”, I think of walkable streets with historic buildings like the New Orleans French Quarter. The French Quarter of Da Lat would be better described as the French Mile (or French Kilometer if we are keeping it French). This so-called French Quarter refers to the colonial-era villas that can be found on Tran Hung Dao Road.

[Tran Hung Dao Road.]

There are numerous villas along this road in various states of repair. Some are completely dilapidated, while others have been restored and turned into hotels.

Dalat Cadasa Resort is a collection of villas along Tran Hung Dao that are managed under a single brand. The villa complex is set in a forested area with big gardens, and each villa has its own style. These villas among the highland pine trees looks most like the Da Lat that is described on travel guides.

[A villa in the Dalat Cadasa Resort group.]

The villas aren’t ultra luxury (they are listed as 3-Star), and if you stay here it’s not convenient to walk into the city area.

Also on Tran Hung Dao is the MerPerle Dalat Hotel (5-Star). I place this here in case you are wondering what the gigantic hotel is that can be seen from the city centre. The MerPerle Dalat Hotel was threatened with demolition when it was discovered that they built beyond what had been permitted. The hotel is popular with tour groups as there is easier access for buses.

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