Sam Villa Hotel Dalat

The staff were very clean and accommodating. They also rent motorbikes cheaply. I can't think of anything to complain about, even after trying hard.

We booked because of the good reviews on booking.com, but I suspect they were fake. The property has another name, Sugar Land Hotel, so I suspect they may be cheating. We got a standard double room in the basement. It was tiny and cold, with a horribly strong, unpleasant smell and no view. The bathroom was dirty and mouldy, and the water was barely warm, so a hot shower wasn't possible. We regretted choosing the place, but arrived late and tired after the road, so stayed one night and left immediately.

The owners were nice. The room had big windows, hot water, and a TV that worked.

The staff are very inexperienced, though they mean well. The young woman was on her first day, and when I asked the young bloke to show me where to get fuel for the motorbike they hired me, the tank was empty. He rode flat out and I managed to keep up until we got fuel, then he disappeared. Dalat is hard to navigate, with no straight roads, and I was lucky to remember landmarks on the way there. I made it back in freezing rain, but he wasn't there. That made me furious, since he must've known I had no idea how to get back and didn't have my phone. Finding this place with a map takes an advanced diploma in navigation. The rooms are new but the fittings are poorly built. My shower was fine yesterday, but today the water was boiling hot, no matter what setting I used. A drunk guy downstairs screamed half the night, and I thought he might start a fight with the poor assistant. I'm a tolerant person, but it kept me up. I tried calling the police, but they just hung up. As a Westerner, I found the two cubic inches of toilet paper nowhere near enough. I'm not sure if it's meant to go in the bin, but the toilet blocked. Luckily, I used the arse gun to flush the paper down. Apart from all these dramas, I'd say the hotel would be about a 5.