Best hotels in Vietnam

Vietnam's Mekong Delta is a mesmerising maze of waterways, floating markets and emerald-green palm groves – but most visitors only scratch the surface. These private sampans, sized to navigate the narrowest tributaries, take you somewhere entirely different: canals too slim for commercial boats, villages untouched by tourism, and encounters with rice paper makers, coconut farmers and brick artisans who've honed their crafts for generations. Recognised as a Lonely Planet 'Top Choice', the experience is refreshingly intimate – a dedicated crew of four or five looks after everything from five-course dinners to cycling excursions through the countryside. It's slow travel at its finest, drifting through Ben Tre's legendary 'Coconut Kingdom'.

In strolling distance of Ho Chi Minh City's sweeping boulevards and jam-packed markets, Fusion Suites is a finely-tuned home away from home, where the interiors are cosy and casual and the suites pristine and pretty. The in-house bakery provides cakes fresh out of the oven (flavours range from red artichoke flowers to rich chocolate - tell us more!), and after a day of exploring the city, a rooftop cocktail is the only way to top it off. Speaking of which, there are plenty of historic sights to discover and a whole lot of shopping to be done all in a stone's throw from the hotel.