Black Pearl Cat Ba Hostel

The room was spacious and clean, with good air conditioning. We had booked a double, but were given a twin with two big beds. The place sits right on the banana pancake trail, which is a very tasty one to be on! They're lucky to have the guy from NZ working there. The other staff could learn a thing or two about customer service from him.

The rooms were clean and practical, and the hostel is cheap. The food is okay for the price. The younger guy at reception was friendly, but the older one was the most unfriendly person I've ever seen at a front desk. He wasn't welcoming and kept pushing his tours like a robot. The tours are run by a very bad crew, too. Don't book there!

We spent three days here, ate at the restaurant every day because the food was very cheap, and booked a different trip each day: a half-day national park tour, a Monkey Island day trip, and a Halong Bay tour that ended in Hanoi. Ending there saved us the cost of an extra bus back before our flight. The owners were really nice and spoke great English. Our double room was clean and felt safe, with AC, and the location was great. Stay here if you're on Catba!

This is the kind of budget place Cat Ba has to offer. It costs less than many options on the island, though it wouldn't count as cheap elsewhere in Vietnam. A small breakfast is included, which is a plus. The room was generally unclean and had cockroaches or other bugs. The owners don't speak English, but managing with Google Translate was fine. We had lots of power cuts while on the island, and without air conditioning these rooms get very hot.