Next 68 Hostel

A very bad stay. I booked two days and one night at Canh Dieu Mountains Hotel through Agoda for my recent trip to Ninh Binh, and had to accept the room because the booking had already been paid for. The ground floor was a shoe store, and there was no reception, so it took a lot of back and forth to get to our room. The room was dirty, dusty, smelly, and hadn’t been cleaned before we arrived. There was no Wi-Fi either. Breakfast was included with the Agoda booking, but we weren’t served any. When I asked, the owner said they’d stopped offering it a long time ago and wouldn’t resolve it because they hadn’t worked with Agoda for a long time. I’m sharing this so you don’t have to go through the same bad experience. Thank you.

We paid little for our twin room, and it did feel like you get what you pay for, but I don’t understand the five-star rating. The mattress was uncomfortable, and the toilet sink leaked, leaving water on the floor. The room smelled of mold, and with no windows we couldn’t air it out. The positives were the room price and the option to rent a decent motorbike at reception for $6 a day. If a good night's sleep matters to you, I’d consider spending a bit more on a hotel or hostel.

A nightmare in Ninh Binh. I booked because the listing said there was 24-hour reception, which mattered since my train arrived at 2 a.m. But the entrance was covered by a metal sheet, and nobody answered after I rang the bell several times. I was stranded and had nowhere to stay in 10C weather, left wandering the streets until other hotels opened at 6 a.m. DO NOT BOOK HERE.

It has a family-run, homestyle feel, which you might not expect from a hostel. Breakfast was good, though it wasn’t included, and convenient in this part of Ninh Binh. The area moves at a slower pace, but you can rent a scooter here to visit other places. The staff were very helpful.