Traveller can't understand why Vietnam trip using incredible hotels is only costing £10 a night

A cruise ship worker who swapped the open seas for time on dry land can't get his head around why his month-long stay in Vietnam is costing as little as £10 a night.

But viewers think the answer lies right in front of him after one of his recent posts about his time off in south east Asia.

Bryan James has been working on cruise ships as a guitarist non-stop for the last three years, with the musician now taking some well earned time off from round the clock work for a bit of R&R before heading back onto the massive engineering marvels.

The American had recently been part of the launch crew behind Royal Caribbean's $1.35 billion (£1.04 billion) Utopia of the Seas, which set sail in July with 5,700 passengers on board as well as 2,200 crew.

"I'm not going to be going home like most crew members do," Bryan said.

"I'm going to use this to try and see if I can find a new home because the United States right now is incredibly expensive and when you're not working at home your money is just disappearing.

"So I'm going to a place that is very affordable from everything I've read online; I'm going to Vietnam."

So after a 14-hour trip from San Francisco to Vietnam, via Hong Kong, Bryan finally arrived in the city of Da Nang.

And the research he undertook was seemingly true, with his hotel in the city costing him just $14 a night, or roughly £10.50. That's just over £300 a month; a proper bargain compared to Western prices.

On the cost of the hotel, which was right by the beach, Bryan was left shell shocked, saying: "I don't know any places on this planet where you can stay for $14 a night and in a place as nice as this.

"If you know more of them then tell me because I'm on the hunt right now for very affordable places to go to bed."

Bryan upgraded the $14 a night room to a $21 a night room, which got him an even bigger room and bed with huge windows showcasing the city. It also came with a kitchen and huge wet room.

With this in mind, he has set himself a task to see what a $100 a night room gets you in Vietnam.

But in documenting his videos, viewers think the answer as to why extremely nice hotel rooms are so cheap comes down to one simple factor: the time of year.

In a follow-up post, Bryan revealed he 'might be the only guy dumb enough to book a month long trip to Vietnam without just checking the weather once'. Is it rainy? Is it sunny? Turns out September is typhoon season.

"Three days after I get here there's a huge typhoon warning over the whole city. It's getting quiet and shutting down. People are chopping limbs off trees and prepping their windows."

Responding, viewers said he'd answered the reason for the cheap hotels in posting this video.

One responded: "Hence the $14 room! Stay safe."

A second said: "Maybe this is one reason why the hotels are so cheap."

And a third wrote: "My friend booked a honeymoon vacation for her brother in September and she chose the same hotel I stayed in February, she was so surprised it's three times cheaper. How bizarre..."

A quick check on Booking.com shows that Da Nang, where Bryan is staying, is full of hotels for as cheap as £9 a night and going up to £120 a night for March 2025, which is in the peak of the dry season for the country. So while he might be benefitting from typhoons putting prices down on the luxury spots, you can still stay there for dirt cheap prices.

It is more likely that the hotels reflect the cost of living in Vietnam as a whole, with the monthly salary being 17.3 million Vietnamese Dong (VND) per month. That's just $697 a month, or £522. For contrast, the average monthly take home before tax in the UK is roughly £2,300.

The costs when it comes to Vietnam is the flight, with flights from the UK costing more than £500 each way. If you fancy going, though, it's clear to see your time there can be very affordable if you can save the pennies for the air travel.