Trang Nguyen Hue Hotel

Great location and a pretty nice place. The dorm is clean, though it could use a bit more cleaning. The bathroom should be cleaner, and it needs things like hand-washing gel.

We felt really comfortable and happy during our stay. The room was huge, looked modern, and everything felt brand new and clean. There was none of that humid smell you get in some other hotels in Vietnam, which was great. They brought us complimentary bottles of water each day, and even though the hotel is in the party area, our room faced the inside and we couldn't hear any music. One thing felt a little odd: when I asked for the room to be tidied, they emptied the bins and brought fresh towels and water, but didn't make the bed.

I booked this hotel at least three months ahead because prices can be much higher closer to the date. Just a few weeks before check-in, they messaged to say they'd charge me twice the booked price because it was around the holidays. They said they'd count the reservation as a no-show if they didn't hear from me. They should have planned ahead and set their holiday prices before customers paid. In their reply, they emailed me through booking.com with an attitude, saying they had the right to cancel instead of offering a sincere apology. Right after I booked, I got a generic email with an option to cancel, but no further explanation. If they really wanted me to cancel, they could have explained why they sent that option. Their follow-up emails before the threatening no-show message asked for my phone number and things like that, rather than asking me to cancel, which seemed really odd. I didn't feel obligated to respond.

I booked through Agoda, and the booking was confirmed. Just before I was due to go to HUE, the staff told me to cancel because they'd forgotten to lock the room. That meant they had oversold, and had no room for my three-day, two-night stay. I expected to stay here based on my friend's recommendation, but it turned out like this.