ChaPa Ecolodge — Hotel in Cau May Ward

The road to the Chapa Ecolodge is a bumpy one. We arrived In Sapa town at 10pm with our airport transfer as they wouldn’t drop us off at the Chapa, so we had to get a taxi. The first taxi refused to take us and we only understood why after doing the trip for the first time with the only willing taxi driver (150k Dong). It was pitch black and the road was scary and so bumpy.

When we arrived, we were greeted by one of the lovely, helpful staff members who carried our bags to our room. It was pitch black and we couldn’t see anything outside. I’ll be honest, my wife was a little concerned by this point. First impressions, the room was cosy and clean but pretty cold. But that was quickly fixed with the heater. Straight to bed for us.

I was praying for the view to be as good as the pictures when we woke up and I was praying for it to be sunny and no cloud, so the view was clear. Hallelujah, it was breathtaking when I pulled back the curtains. Phew!

My wife wasn’t very well whilst we were here so we became good judges of the food on our stay, as we ate mostly at the Chapa. They’re good cooks. Some days we had all three meals here and it was great. The spring rolls are so nice and the Vietnamese coffee (with condensed milk) was beautiful. They were also very good with catering for a severe peanut allergy.

I think people come to Sa Pa to trek and visit the villages. This spot is in a great location for Lao Chai, which was our favourite part of our trip to Sa Pa.

If you want the true homestay experience but you don’t want to go completely full out - this is perfect. It’s like the luxury homestay. It’s not a hotel, so be prepared for a different vibe. If you want a hotel, book one in the town.

The staff were so helpful and accommodating. I would highly recommend this...

1- first impression: upon the check in, the restaurant which is within the "reception" was super dirty, with food on the floor and on the tables and flies over it. The reception boy was wearing a dirty t-shirt. 2- we got inside the bungalow and the bedshits were obviously used from the previous guests, with yellow/hard stains, hair, and with marks that shows people were sleeping there. The same with the toilet towels, they were folded but once we open it we found yellow hard stains that easily go away when we try to clean it by hand. 3- we called the reception boy and we asked him that we need to change the bedshits and the towels , he told me that they were clean and i show him he said hair is from the cleanning lady (plenty of it) and he just wipe it with his hand to the floor, he keep insisting ... and he brought only the lower bedshit to change wraped under his arm, not even folded. He said the other items he can not change it as he didnt have more (what shows that they are using dirty ones). He was really rude trying to tell me that was clean and obviously not. 4- The toilet have a bad smell all the time and is freezing and very humid during the night until we get sticky skin. Hard bed. 5- Once we lock the door room , we can still open it if we slide it. We didnt have any rest at this place and there is many other details. For that price you can find better clean places...

Positive aspects first:||You have a amazing view.||||That's it - no more positive facts. ||||Outside of Sapa you find Sapa EcoLodge. The street to the hotel is totally in disrepair, there are a lot of potholes. Based on that most taxi driver refused the drive to the hotel. Luckily we found a guy who drove us to the hotel for 150.000d||||We booked three nights at Sapa EcoLodge. It was the most expensive hotel during our travel through Vietnam - so I had high expectations. Now I would say it was the worst hotel.||||Our room had a normal size, but the bathroom was unhygienic, maybe it wasn't cleaned the last few weeks. It smelled absolutely disgusting. ||Room service didn't work well , the bin at the bathroom (which included used toilet paper) wasn't emptied so the smell was everywhere in our lodge and was really disturbing. Our bed wasn't made, the towels (in total 2) weren't fresh and had several stains.||||We rented a motorcycle for 1.5 day (monday 9am - tuesday 7pm). After we returned the key they charged us 2.5 days - their argument was the return after 6pm (they didn't tell us when we booked the motorcycle). We felt betrayed and tried to discuss the price. Sadly they became unfriendly. We had to pay 400.000d for 1.5 day for a motorcycle - normally you have to pay 100.000d each day in Vietnam.||||I wouldn't recommend to visit Chapa Ecolodge. I was really...