Rooftop’s full name is Ha Van Rooftop Lounge, located on the top floor of the Ha Van Hotel Building, a place i often jokingly refer to as a “complex”: eating at the ground floor (Yen’s restaurant) – drinking at the rooftop (Rooftop Lounge) – and sleeping at the middle floors (Ha Van Hotel). It has been built and put into operation since 2007 under the management of Canadian cousins: Nicolas and Arnaud. It can be said that Nicolas is the soul of the bar from 2007 till 2015 before handing it over to Arnaud at the beginning of 2016. Nicolas himself created everything from nothing until it became a bar ranked 17 out of 340 bars – restaurants graded in Nha Trang on Tripadvisor with a high rating point of 4.6.

Though it is the favorite and the first bar for Nha Trang’s expats, the Rooftop is decorated with Vietnamese lanterns, cane chairs and golden pattern cushions. Quite apart from the fact that the owners here are very religious. Right in front of the entrance next to the bar is a big Buddhist altar incensed regularly. Actually, looking at the scene of a white guy holding incenses in his hand, running around the bar and praying seems interesting for Vietnamese. I wonder if the God of wealth and the God of land understands foreign language. But I think that they trust in the theory of the locals that “worship will bring good luck”

The Rooftop has two main areas: the bar lounge and pool table lounge. The bar lounge is on the right of the entrance and is the hottest area of the Lounge due to the presence of the DJ table and the main stage where sexy hot dancing takes place after 23h. In case of being a big group and needing an open and not too noisy space to chat or to play billiard, then pool table lounge is the ideal one. What I like the most here is the airy and open space, nice sitting corners, and a very comfortable ambience. No dress code is required, you can put anything you want from a short to a trouser, from flip-lop to high-heels, from bikini to traditional Ao Dai… People can absolutely be themselves when hanging out there. Rooftop is also a safe destination for women who like to do solo drinking. I didn’t see any fighting during three years sticking my ass here… but vomiting sure did happen.

The fun at the Rooftop often begins and ends quite late. If most of the bars turns down the music at midnight, then the Rooftop seems to be more playful place when the last customer leaves the bar around 2 or 3am.  There is a DJ performance every night from 23h and weekly live music shows from local and international bands. The shows are good with high quality and no cover charge. But these are still not the most special events of the bar. We cannot talk about Ha Van Rooftop Lounge without talking about the legendary Ladies Night on every Friday. When beautiful girls and handsome guys of the town are all gathered together, beer foam spills, music all the dance floor and the bar is covered with multi-colored laser lights. And of course the free cocktail for all ladies from 21h till midnight also a plus for this event.

Another great thing of the Rooftop is that its kitchen is opened the whole night so customers can recharge their batteries and have enough power for all night long parties. I am not a fan of fast food, but I have to say that french fries and hamburgers here are wonderful. French fries are crunchy outside and soft inside coming with homemade mayonnaise while mouth-watering hamburgers with full of melted cheese and juicy patties served on wooden trays with fresh garden salad or French fries. Definitely worth the money.

Additionally, Rooftop is the place to go to be surrounded by young and beautiful people. Here from the owners to the staffs, everybody is cute and always smile. If Nicolas is a quick and ingenious guy with a very charming look, then Arnaud owns a baby face, which is able to immediately bewitch any girls. He is also an intelligent guy speaking fluently English, French and pretty well Vietnamese (he might have a good teacher, I suppose). “I do business in Vietnam, so I need to understand Vietnamese language as well as Vietnamese cultures” said Arnaud. So you girls, a bartender with an eye-catching look, a brilliant mind, and good heart what are you waiting for?

The Rooftop has both Vietnamese and foreigner staffs speaking a total of 04 languages: Vietnamese, English, French, and Russian so that it’s a right place for both locals and international travelers. 

If you guys ask me that if I am satiated with the Rooftop, I could answer right away that “not yet”. Somehow, I am always attracted by the bar, always feel a bit nervous each time passing through the restaurant on the ground floor, excited to get into the elevator to the 4th floors, taking the stairs for one more and gently tuck the red curtain up to “officially” enter the bar. Every visit offers different emotion such as: “wow, Monday today but very crowded” or “hmmm Saturday but where are the Nha Trang alcoholics” … The Rooftop always brings me a curious, stimulant and addicting feeling because I can never correctly guess which secrets the red curtain are hiding, which antics are taking place, or who is behind it. A secret makes a woman woman, and a red curtain of mystery makes a captivating bar.

A bad news is that the bar has just raised the price. Although it should not be considered expensive, it is not cheap either. Click here for their menu.

In conclusion, I like everything of the Rooftop, except that there is no parking. It’s an inconvenience to the local people as me. So if you are brave, you can park your motorbike on the pavement. If you are not, the parking next to Sailing Club nearby the Rooftop is the safe place for your motorbike.

Other information:
– Opening time: from 6h30am to 3am
– Breakfast time: from 6h30am to 1pm – by le chef Nicolas
– Happy hours: from 5pm to 9pm – Buy two cocktails get 01 cocktail free
– Weekly events: Live Acoustic (from Sat to Thur), Ladies Night (Friday) 

I hope you find my review informative. If you like my content, please consider supporting what I do by like, share or buy me a coffee here. Thank you  😆

Service used: Foods and drinks
Price: free entrance – Drink from 20.000vnd; Food from 60.000vnd
Overall rating (for reference): 9/10
(Note: Price and service are reviewed in September 2016)
Contact info: Ha Van Rooftop Lounge – 73/06 Tran Quang Khai St.
Phone: 058 6522 569
Website: http://www.havanhotel.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hotelnhatrang/
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Review by: Phuong Do
Photo: Ha Van Rooftop FanPage