99 Bui Vien Hotel

The location is great if nightlife is what you’re after, and the staff were friendly. For a very affordable price, you get what you pay for, though. The rooms looked nothing like the photos, which may have been AI-enhanced. They were mostly clean, but underneath the bed looked as if it hadn’t been cleaned in years. We killed two cockroaches in the bathroom during our four-day stay. The shower temperature was okay, but might not suit anyone who likes really hot water. Bass from nearby bars comes through at night. Sleeping with ANC AirPods can help. Don’t book this with kids. Check independent sources before you reserve so you know what to expect.

I chose this hotel for my mom, who was travelling alone in Ho Chi Minh City to visit friends. I was careful to look through the photos and reviews before booking, especially since it cost a little more than other options. The photos on Booking.com seemed edited and fake, and the reviews did too. The pictures guests posted on Google didn’t match the website photos. The trouble started at check-in. The manager wanted my mom to pay the full amount in cash. She called me because I’d entered my credit card details with Booking.com and expected payment to be taken from the card. I didn’t want her to pay cash and then have the card charged too. The manager said they couldn’t charge guests through Booking.com and only accepted cash in person. He wanted me to cancel the reservation there, but I refused because I would have been charged a cancellation fee. Since there was no charge on my card, we agreed to pay cash for the room. Two or three days later, while my mom was staying there, the hotel tried to charge my credit card through Booking.com. My card declined it. Why try to charge the card when the full stay had already been paid? I contacted Booking.com to have it investigated. Four hours later, the hotel cancelled the booking, and now I can’t leave a review there about what happened. The manager also lied when he said they had no control over Booking.com payments. He was very rude on the phone. The hotel cancelled bookings to avoid negative reviews, used fake photos, and tried to charge twice. I’ve never had this kind of problem with another three-star hotel in the last ten years. Be careful and avoid this hotel.

We couldn’t sleep there. Music blasted all night, and the vibrations came right through the walls. After one sleepless night, we asked to cancel our remaining two nights, but the receptionist refused. Instead, they offered us a “sound-isolated” room. That evening we were moved to a windowless room. It was in the same poor condition, and the music vibrations were just as bad. When I complained again at reception, they shrugged and said nothing could be done. We had booked three nights. The room looked nothing like the photos, it was old, badly maintained and disgusting. Terrible service and staff attitude. Avoid this hotel at all costs.

After a ten-hour trip, I got there and was shocked by what seemed like a fraudulent employee. The booking website showed the reservation as available for one night, and the actual booking said one night too, not two hours. Yet the room name said two hours. This looks like a way to deceive guests so they can’t get a refund. I’ve filed a complaint about the deception and poor service.