Gold Plus Hotel

Everything was very good, and the staff were friendly and helpful. The location is close to the bus station and Phongnha cave. You can book cave tours and bus tickets here. The room has two double beds and is spacious and very clean, with working hot water and air conditioning.

We spent two nights at the Gold Plus Hotel and were very unhappy with the experience. There were a couple of positives: our night bus stopped just 50 m from the hotel, and the laundry was fast and straightforward at 30,000 VND per kg. But those positives were far outweighed by the problems. The room description promised a garden view and balcony, but we got neither. There was just one window facing the hotel’s inner staircase, where people passing could look in. We kept the curtains shut, so no daylight came into the room. When we raised this with the receptionist, he said the hotel wasn’t responsible for giving misleading information and asked us to pay extra for another room. The bedsheets weren’t clean. After the first night, the room hadn’t been cleaned and our towels hadn’t been replaced. The receptionist said we should have told them we wanted cleaning. Everywhere else we’ve stayed, including hotels, homestays, and apartments, daily room cleaning was taken for granted. The bathroom window wouldn’t close, so we could hear everything our neighbour said or did. Mosquitoes could also get in easily and made the nights a nightmare. Breakfast had very limited choices compared with other places in Vietnam. A motorbike cost 100.000 VND a day to rent there, while places just 50 m up the road charged 75.000 VND or less. When we hired one elsewhere, the receptionist seemed angry and stopped speaking to us. He wouldn’t even say hello or goodbye, though we always spoke to him respectfully and without anger. Given all this, I’d strongly recommend booking somewhere else. Phong Nha has plenty of good options with nice hosts. Edit: I added a screenshot of a message I got from the receptionist after posting my review.

We’d arranged and paid in advance for an early check-in after arriving from Ninh Binh at 4am, and had notified the hotel beforehand. When we got there, it was pitch dark and there was no staff or security in sight. A staff member was asleep beneath the stairway. We didn’t get the room we’d booked online, and the bed still had its plastic on, so it creaked every time we moved. Breakfast was all over the place. I’d look for another hotel with better security, staff, and service. There are plenty along the street.

We booked three rooms for two weeks, and the guy kept calling to confirm. We confirmed about five times, but when we arrived, he’d given the rooms away. We had to spend hours searching for somewhere else on a holiday weekend. The people there were useless when we showed up. Gold plus? More like lead minus!