Lucky Star Hotel 146 Nguyen Trai

The location is convenient and the price is low, but I can't recommend this place with so many other hotels nearby. The AC mostly pushed out hot air. When I called reception at 3:00 am, they tried to fix it but couldn't help. I asked to move rooms and was told I'd have to pay for an upgrade, which seemed ridiculous. There was no breakfast, and we had trouble checking in, so we waited in the reception area with no AC. The bathroom was grimy, with mold and dead bugs, and an air vent was dangling by a piece of string. This was the worst hotel I've stayed at in Vietnam. There are plenty of other places around here, so I'd stay elsewhere.

The front desk staff were friendly enough, and it was quiet at night. The location is great, but the room felt expensive, perhaps because it was New Year's Eve. It was tiny, just enough room for two beds and our bags squeezed in. The bathroom was small too, with a handheld shower, though it was clean.

The clean floor and sheets, adequate toiletries, and prompt delivery of extra toiletries were about the only bright spots. Our room smelled intensely of cigarettes, as if someone were smoking beside us the whole time. There were no-smoking signs, yet every room had an ashtray. I can only guess that nearby guests were smoking indoors. The room itself felt grimy, with chipped, dirty walls and a roach in the bathroom. There was no hot water, and the refrigerator barely stayed cool, a problem if you travel with medication. The AC rattled loudly enough that we needed earplugs, and it cooled the room but never made it cold. The smell and grime left us disgusted, and we wouldn't recommend Lucky Star. When we arrived, staff asked us to cancel our Booking.com reservation and book directly for the same price, saying we'd be able to check in earlier. We cancelled, but some rooms for our group still weren't ready and those people had to wait. We were also told the water bottles were free, then pressured to pay for the ones we'd used at checkout. Both things felt scammy. For these reasons and more, book somewhere else.

We had booked and paid for a room with two single beds at Lucky Star 226, but at check-in we were told it was fully overbooked. We had to take a taxi to Lucky Star 146, where they said only one room was left, with a queen bed for the two of us. The next day they asked us to pay extra to upgrade to two single beds. At checkout they charged us for everything in the room, from instant noodles to snacks, though there was no complimentary notice or snack menu. The location was noisy, and the hygiene was awful, including the towels and a broken glass shower door. A terrible experience.