Ngoc Tung Hotel

The sheets were clean and the rooms were okay, and the staff were helpful, though they spoke very little English. The location is convenient, roughly halfway between the beach and the dragon bridge. The downside was the noise from the construction next door: jackhammers woke us at 6:30 on Sunday, and concrete was being poured until 11pm Friday night. Beds are hard, which seems standard in Vietnam. Maybe it'll be a pleasant place once the building work is done.

We paid 150.000 for a small, quiet room with A.C. The lady was friendly, and it was a relief to find such a pleasant place when some nearby hotels have rude staff. We also booked our bus here, which was good value and hassle free.

We paid 150k for a small room for two, and the same amount per person for the bus to Phong Nha. The rooms were spotless and good value. The owner was incredibly welcoming, one of the nicest locals we've met in a while.

We were supposed to stay two nights, but after the first night they told us to leave because the room had been booked already. Then we followed the owner's recommendation and bought a bus ticket to halong bay. He said it would go through Hanoi to halong bus station without changing buses. Instead, we were dropped in Hanoi at 4am and told to wait until 8am for another bus to the station in town. That bus left us at the marina, 30km from the bus station in halong town. Pretty terrible service and organisation from everyone involved.