Ben's House Boutique

During our month there, the staff were friendly and quick to respond. We were in room 302, with lots of natural light, a nice balcony, and plenty of space. It had more equipment than we expected. The bed was very comfortable, the shower stayed hot, and the wifi worked great. The beach was a 7-minute walk, with restaurants all around and a fresh produce market 5 minutes away. A 10/10 stay, we hope to return.

The location was the main plus. Nothing special, but the beach was easy to reach, and food and shopping were convenient. The washing machine worked well, though the drying rack outside isn't in a great spot, and rain would probably soak the laundry. There was a large TV in the sitting room, and the sofa was reasonably comfortable. The rest of our stay was awful. We arrived at 10pm to a dirty apartment, and the next morning I spent 45 minutes cleaning it before it felt habitable for my three young children. The bathroom smelled vile, and leaving its window open most of the time let insects in. On day 4 there was no hot water at 8:30am for showers or dishes. I messaged because the front desk was often empty, and someone came, but the shower still went cold after four minutes. We were told to shower quickly because each room has a small water tank. My guess is it's 5 litres, which seems too small for an apartment with 5 people. The bathroom smell had also worsened by then, and our children noticed it. Communication with the host was poor. The booking.com listing said there was a 24 hour front desk, but we arrived to an empty counter with our keys left there. Nobody was around before 9am, and after 7pm there was rarely anyone there. It was also unmanned at times during the day, so help wasn't guaranteed. On day 8, as we were leaving with our luggage, the power went out and the elevator stopped. We were lucky not to get stuck and miss our booked travel, which would have cost us money. There was nobody at the desk again, so we left the key cards and walked out without even a goodbye. We'd been travelling as a family for 2 months and this was our 18th place to stay, and one of the worst. Some people may have had a different experience or stayed too briefly to notice the issues, but I wouldn't come back, even if we were paid. I'd look elsewhere.

The room itself was fine and practically furnished, but that couldn't make up for the poor indoor air. It was extremely stuffy, badly ventilated, and had a strong, unmistakable mold or mildew smell. We were uncomfortable very quickly, and it didn't feel like a healthy place to stay. It seemed like there might be moisture behind the tiles, which could explain the smell. There were flies in the bed on different occasions, and the cleanliness wasn't perfect, but the air quality was easily the biggest problem. The kitchen had no bin, and reception was empty most of the time. To add to the disappointment, the room we'd booked had been given to other guests.

We left after just one night, even though we'd booked for two weeks. We'd been travelling around Vietnam for several months and had asked in advance whether there were any issues with this accommodation, on the basement or garage level to the left. They assured us it looked like the photos and might only be more humid because of the RAINY SEASON in Da Nang. That was the first red flag, since it wasn't rainy season, and we'd already experienced the latest typhoon season. The moment we arrived, there was a strong mildew stench and drainage odor. We found 8 (!) air fresheners hidden around the tiny place. The kitchen area and high shelves were dirty, white mold showed through the mortar on the tiled walls and on painted walls, and there was mold in the kitchen cabinets. The bedroom air conditioner barely responded to its remote, though the other unit worked fine. Nearly every cabinet or furniture door squeaked and clearly needed maintenance. We raised the problems with the host. They offered to fix things during our stay, but that would have meant replacing the kitchenette because mold had got into the paneled wood, scraping and repainting walls, cleaning moldy mortar with bleach, and running a dehumidifier for hours or days. We didn't want all that going on while we stayed there. Earlier reviews mentioned the same issues, and they should be dealt with out of respect for guests' time and health. The apartment does resemble the photos, technically, but the wide-angle lens makes it look much bigger than it is.