Buu Dien Halong Hotel

We booked two villas, and the service and cleanliness fell short of what I'd expect from a 5-star resort. When our luggage arrived, the attendant put it all in one villa and told us to move the rest ourselves, even though he could have used his vehicle to take it to the second one. There was a trash bag left beside the entrance to one villa, and that villa was less clean than the other. The carpets had dirt and crumbs, and a bathroom smelled of urine. We called the front desk, and a housekeeper came to investigate, but initially didn't believe our explanation. After smelling it, they called it musk, though it clearly wasn't. Our father spoke to them in their language, and then the housekeeper agreed. They did some light cleaning, but the smell remained, so part of our group slept in the other villa, which had a spare room. The front desk host also wasn't very helpful when we asked for a restaurant recommendation in Ha Long Bay. All they said was “seafood,” with no place or specific suggestion. I expected better cleanliness and service for a 5-star hotel. I hope the staff get better training to help tourists with recommendations in the area.

The food was so delicious it really touched me, and I especially appreciated the kindness of Thuy Linh, Ha Anh, and Ceuan. Thank you for the great service and care. My family and I are making lovely memories here.

The staff were patient and kind, and the gym was even opened just for us. Our room was lovely, though we had to buy kitchenware before we could use it. Getting from the room to the city center was pretty easy. We also played pickleball, and Oakwood gave us a ride to the court.

We had a day cruise to Lan Ha and spent another day on Cat Ba instead of taking an overnight cruise. That suited us much better since we didn't want to spend several days on a boat. Oakwood was genuinely a 5-star stay, with beautiful villas and resort grounds, plus lots of good choices at the breakfast buffet. In our experience, many 4- or 5-star hotels in Vietnam don't quite match their rating, but Oakwood does.