Dalat Family Hostel

We had a really nice stay and would come back. Our deluxe private room was comfortable, and the staff were pleasant and helpful. The gym was a useful bonus, with a squat rack, bench press, dumbbells over 17.5kg, and a Roman chair. It did need cleaning, and we tidied up before using it. The pool was good for a daytime swim, though it isn't heated. There are two pool tables, and reception sells beer for 35k.

Yen was always willing to help with anything I needed, and the staff were friendly and helpful throughout. The food was really good too, especially the fried rice with chicken and egg. I only stayed two nights and wish I'd stayed longer. 10/10.

The family dinner at 6.30pm costs 89k and is good value, with 30 or more people able to sit together in the huge hostel. It's a nice way to meet people. They have two pool tables and bring in a DJ afterward. The place has a swimming pool and gym, which were the main reasons we booked. The pool was in bad shape: the windows are left wide open, so bugs and sediment get in, and there's no filtration system, leaving the water sitting stagnant. I never saw anyone swim in it. The gym was also rough. The bench press and squat rack with their barbell and plates were really the only usable things. The adjustable bench was unsafe, its backrest snapped off, with a boxing pad strapped on unstably and jagged bolts and broken wood sticking out. It's hard to say what kind of hostel it's trying to be. It wants to be a party place but doesn't quite feel like one, and it isn't a family hostel or family homestay either. Cocktails cost 250k, which is way too much for Vietnam. Happy hour from 6.30 to 8.30pm offers buy-one-get-one, but it still feels overpriced. Most other hostels I've visited in Vietnam charge around 100k. Beer is 30k, but that's for a tiny can, not a bottle.

The private room was spacious, and the bathroom was nice. The location was good too. But the room was extremely noisy, with music blasting from downstairs. The pool looked nothing like the photos, and was dirty, with no seating or anywhere to enjoy the facilities. The whole place felt like a construction site, run down or unfinished despite having plenty of potential.