Zeus Living Central Hotel

I came back to this hostel after a night elsewhere because I like the District 1 area. The beds were soft and comfortable, the bathroom was decent, the shower got quite hot, and WhatsApp messages to staff got fairly quick replies. Wi-Fi was strong and reliable, and the nightly price was good value. It's easy to walk to the Saigon River, Saigon Skydeck, and lots of restaurants. But I got bitten by bedbugs. I spotted two crawling on one of the bed curtains and told staff. They changed the sheets and moved me to another bed. I hope they do more to deal with the problem. If they can get rid of the bedbugs, this place would deserve a much higher rating.

The room with its own hot tub was the best part, especially at about $40 CAD a night, which felt very cheap for that setup. The hotel is in a great spot in District 1, just a five-minute walk from the Bitexco Financial Tower. Wi-Fi and four complimentary spring water bottles were included. My stay was nearly perfect, except the bed and pillows weren't comfortable, and for some reason the floor seemed to get wet every day.

There was a stale cigarette smell throughout the entrance hall, the common areas were extremely dirty, and the room was in terrible shape despite looking like the photos. I found mold on the walls, unidentified stains on the floor, and several amenities that didn't work. The room's door hiccup was broken too, which made me feel unsafe, especially when staff knocked at 9pm to "verify my identity." Ridiculous. I expected a smooth stay at this fully digital hotel, supposedly in the city center. Instead, I waited an hour outside the entrance for the building and room access codes because the place was so disorganized. I complained through Booking.com. The owner said I had to pay for the full stay and claimed he would refund 20% of the total. I suspected a scam and asked him to put the agreement in writing and sign it. Booking.com's customer service rejected my claim through the property. Thieves!

I stayed in room 201, an eight-person shared room. It was clean, had excellent 24-hour A/C, and self check-in was easy. There are two cameras in the room. The Jacuzzi in the pictures is for a private room, and the coffee shop is available at an extra booking cost. There are four bunk beds, lots of space to walk around, and a window for natural light with a curtain to keep the room dark in the morning. Each bed also has a dark curtain, but no night light. My bed was farthest from the street, and I could hear some music, though it didn't bother my sleep. The mattress was great, the two pillows were average, and the blanket was excellent and warm. There's a mini fridge. The bathroom is in the room, with a separate shower, toilet, and sink. Shampoo, body wash, hand soap, and two excellent-quality towels were provided. There's also a toilet on the ground floor next to the stairs. My locker was big enough for a 50L backpack, but it already had its code on it when I arrived. Staff had put amenities inside and closed it without changing the code, so other guests could know it and open the locker. People can also watch the code while it's open, and cleaning staff know it too. A keycard lock would be safer. Nguyễn Huệ is 400 m away, about 6 minutes on foot; Ben Thanh market is 850 m, or 12 minutes; the water bus is 900 m, around 12 minutes; and Bui Viện walking street is 1.4 km, about 19 minutes. The sink is very noisy, which can bother people in beds 1 and 8, and the toilet door makes a loud sound when unlocked from inside. It woke me several times. Bed lights and a rack or hangers for clothes and towels would help, as would a larger toilet trash can, since the current one fills too fast. Staff communicating online also seemed out of sync during shift changes. New staff sometimes didn't know whether a guest had paid or extended their stay. Date: 13/9/25