Banana Inn Hostel — Hotel in Hà Nội

I'm sorry to leave this review because the staff is extremely nice. BUT on the hostel bulding side: hygiene is very poor. Their cleaning methods are not enough for a place with lots of people using the same toilets and showers. There was a lady who would change the bins daily and kind of "clean" the common areas, but when my partner and i were there, there was a huge chunk of long hair in the shower for days, untouched. I had to tell reception if they would perform cleaning daily as the showers were clearly not touched. Same thing for the toilet..splashes everywhere for days. On the floor they would "mop" with the same dirty cloth for the entire building, simply moving dirt from one side to the other. Never saw a bucket of water, so unsure how they intend to clean the floors. The beds are big, beddings are clean, but the space is small in the shared rooms so you are literally squashed with lots of people in a small area. There are no doors or rooms, it s just open floors with beds in them so you can hear people walking on 1st floor from all the way up and viceversa. . Second thing: the hostel offers transport to other cities/countries. We booked through them a bus to Laos. Worst decision ever. DO NOT BOOK TRANSPORT WITH THEM. You'd better off going to external agencies or directly to the bus station. We got asked to be ready at 3pm, that the journey would take about 18hrs and that we would reach Vientiane the following day at lunch time. So we prepared for such a journey. a guy came to pick us up on time...on a scooter. Waited for a second guy to come with his scooter. They got us to the bus depot where the first guy bought us the tickets with possibly the worst bus company ever. Turned out our bus would leave at 6pm, so we had to wait hours at the bus station for nothing. We got to the bus, to find out that the vip sleeper bus of another company cost just as much as the cheap old one the hostel got us. Our bus left eventually at 7pm. My partner and I got assigned two "beds" next to a stranger instead of 2 separate ones. Asked to change, no way they did. Got to the border at 2am, left to wait inside the bus until 6ish am. Bear in mind no airco and no possibility to open a window. 30+ people breathing and snoring on a crammed space. Impossible to rest. Long story short we eventually arrived at Vientiane at crazy 5pm! It had been 26hrs since we first left the hostel. The vip sleeping bus company got to the same location at 3pm (we met a guy who shared their experience with us). . Yes I know that hostels are cheap for a reason, but one is giving up on privacy more than hygiene, so I strongly recommend for the hostel to seriously improve their cleaning quality. Second, be clear with your customers with the company you re booking them with and the details of the journey. If we knew the bus would leave at 7pm and get to destination at 5pm next day, we would have organised differently.

It is very central, but there s better options for similar price...

I stayed here one night with my partner, and then we quickly moved elsewhere… Let me start with the positives:

The beds were nice and clean. Spacious. You had a bedside lamp and small shelf. You got equally spacious lockers. great price - but you can get better value for your money elsewhere… The staff was super nice and accommodating, some of the nicest I’ve met on my travels so far. So big kudos to them.

Now let’s continue, with the less positive details…:

The photos on Hostelworld really sold this place to me: the modern, cool interior & architecture made it seem fancy. But upon arriving I quickly was reminded, that photos oftentimes dont show “the full picture” 😅…

The place was tiny, cluttered and cramped. Yes, the interior design was really cool looking, but in reality turned out to be super impractical and not cosy AT ALL! The cool roll down blinds on the bunk beds were impractical and made a lot of noise in use.

There were couches in each little dorm, but it was super crammed.

The natural light was nice, but lack of curtains meant feeling exposed at night.

The toilets and showers were literally TINY.

The bunk bed on top (three layers) was super difficult to get into.

Furthermore all rooms - literally ALL, from the reception at ground floor to the dorm on fourth floor, were connected and did not have a door or any type of closure between them. Which meant it was hard to ever find a quiet spot or be able to sit and talk to people without potentially bothering people three floors away. Furthermore, play the piano!!

Furthermore, the areas were just kinda dirty. It felt like only the bare...

Aw, 'my' banana inn in noisy, crowded, somewhat smelly Hanoi... I could give you reasons as to why I didn't fall in love with this city (in winter the sun never shines through) or I could just tell you why I enjoyed my stay at this hostel! It's well located, as others have commented before, it is right in the center of the Old Quarters, but in a back alley (kinda hard to find the first time) and thus quiet at night. The three bunkbed layout is less scary/noisy as I thought, the usual late comers and early risers apply, as in every hostel. Anyhow, the bathroom facilities are ok (nothing to write home about, sink too small, your stuff gets wet in the shower), the rooftop view is classy, the included breakfast is nice, and the wifi decent (though you need to do a quick re-login every 60min). But the heart and soul as in every good hostel is the staff. My go to was Lee and she made sure I had all my questions answered and more. She supplied me with local tips and saved me from spending more than a day in boring Halong Bay City and urged me to see Cat Ba, which I enjoyed. She planned the tours for me, which ran smoothly, out to Halong Bay and Nimh Binh... its super touristy and yet nature kept me in awe. In any case, I was happy to meet Lee and the entire staff and am greatful for them making my stay at the banana a such positive one (I even returned here for a second stay)!...