Hanoi Milton Boutique Hotel

I felt unsafe and harassed here. After I came back from dinner, the manager cornered me and demanded 3,000,000 VND for a Ha Long Bay cruise I hadn’t booked. I showed him my ID to show that the names on his list weren’t mine, but he kept insisting. He followed me toward the elevator and seemed to be trying to work out which floor I was on. I got off on another level, and then found him running up the stairs after me. I had to confront him aggressively and verbally to get him to leave me alone. They tried to charge 3 million VND for a cruise that typically costs at most 2 million VND for two people. The manager followed me toward my room after I refused to pay for what I believe were “phantom” bookings. The next morning, Thanh at the front desk was respectful and listened to my concerns. He offered a tour at a much more reasonable price, though we booked somewhere else. Extra nights cost 400,000 VND. Despite Thanh’s professionalism, I can’t recommend this hotel. I found it untrustworthy and unsafe.

On our last night, around 1:00 a.m., the receptionist used a master key to let two drunk men into our room without permission. We’d met the men earlier on a group tour, and afterward they started harassing one of us. We felt trapped and completely unsafe. Repeated calls to reception were ignored or disconnected, and none of us slept. We left at 5:30 a.m., hours before our 9:00 a.m. flight, because we were afraid. The earlier problems had already made the stay stressful. We booked a room with two single beds and one double, but were given only one double bed at first. When we showed our confirmed booking, the receptionist argued that it was “either/or.” After a lot of unnecessary back-and-forth, we got three single beds, still not what we’d booked, and accepted them to avoid more trouble. Our room keys also kept failing, so we had to return to reception each time we wanted to get in. We reported the incident and tried to make a formal complaint, but nobody responded or seemed to care. We have evidence of the unauthorized room access and staff misuse of the master key, and are now filing a police complaint. This was one of the most unsafe, stressful, and unacceptable hotel stays we’ve had. Avoid this place at all costs.

The hotel was nice and affordable, and the staff were so accommodating. We’ll come back.

For a one-day budget stay, the location is handy, right in the heart of the old quarter near marts and restaurants. The place is spacious, but the air conditioning didn’t work well, so we had to ask for two electric fans. The lights kept flickering, the shower didn’t work properly, and neither did the blower. There was no lock on the door, so my friends had to put a chair against it at night to block it from the outside.