Hanoi Central Backpackers Hostel — Hotel in Hà Nội

This review regards the hostel itself and the guided tours they facilitate. Lets start with the hostel:

Pros: staff is very welcoming, helpful, attentive and friendly rooms are very clean, probably the nicest you’ll find for this price anywhere in the world beds and pillows are super comfortable breakfast is super nice they are in a remote side alley and they close the rooftop bar at 11 pm and take everyone to a pub crawl so it’s super quiet at night, I didn’t even need earplugs the crowds are very lovely and pleasant, fun to have a drinks with at the bar, perfect for solo travellers they offer almost any tour you can think of directly from the hostel

Cons: the beds in the dorm rooms have pieces of wood at the front and back of them and are only 1.9 m long, so if you’re 1.8 m tall or higher you’ll not be able to stretch out at night there appears to be quite some moisture in the rooms for unclear reasons and they’re hard to ventilate the showers only have one temperature and it’s painfully hot some lockers are not in the best condition and may be a struggle to open or close if you’re unlucky (or their alarm goes off randomly, yes they have an alarm) the rooms are not easy to close properly, so most guests and also cleaners will leave it unlocked. Definitely don’t leave any valuables open in the room!

So all in all well worth the price. I would definitely come back here. Since this review is mainly regarding the hostel I therefore give 5 stars.

Regarding the tours — I did the Ha Long Bay cruise, the street food tour and the free walking tour. The street food tour was amazing! Very entertaining and educational and totally worth the price. The free walking tour was super informative and entertaining as well. Both lasted about 5 hours, so much longer than advertised. The Ha Long Bay cruise however was a bit of a disappointment, for two reasons: The food was terrible, not just for Vietnamese but for human standards. The meat was hard like a shoe and everything fried smelled like old fat. I looked in the pantry of the ship out of curiosity and it wasn’t clean. I got food poisoning afterwards, but this could’ve also been from something else. I’ve heard from other people that the food was good, so it seems like you may get more or less lucky with the chef. But still at this price it’s unacceptable. The tour is designed in such a way that every day a group depart and arrives to the ship. Therefore, even if you book the 3 day cruise, you don’t actually spend the whole second day hiking, but you’re back at the boat at 2 pm and the afternoon is exactly the same as the first (which isn’t communicated very transparently on the website or in person).

So to conclude: The views are magnificent and it’s a fun experience, so I would still recommend it. But under all circumstances definitely book a 2 day cruise!! Because if you like it you can easily extend to 3 days, but if you don’t you waste less time and money.

Attached are some pictures of the breakfast, the street food tour...

This is a five star review for a private room, but first let me make sure this hostel is for you: this is a social, party if you want, hostel. You pay more for that aspect, but may find value in it. If you have stayed in similar hostels, book this place and I highly recommend it. If it’s your first, read on.

Room: amazing AC, amazing beds and bedding, functional safe, ok shower, decent toiletries. You will hear noise through the walls. Bring ear plugs. Still slept well. Overall the reason I loved it here. Worth noting the AC gets turned off 11a-2p in the dorms. Private room has full control of theirs.

Common areas: great bar with AC that serves food and coffee at normal hostel prices. Nice terrace which is a calmer refuge from the screaming of the bar if you seek it out. Younger me would have loved the drinking games inside. Best hostel breakfast I’ve ever had (see photos). Vegetarian options. Good coffee. You may be on a high floor and find the elevator slow. Such is life, you are choosing a big hostel.

Guests and guest management: young crowd of solo, group, and couple travellers. Wonderful mix of people. Friendly manager fast to respond to problems. No one pushes tours on you, but they are there (did not use so no rating on this). If you are an introvert you may find it a lot here, but may want try this for a night or two.

Area: you are in the chaotic charming old city. The Circle K nearby is tiny and not the best. I will stay outside of this busy part of town next time (also cheaper). Massages and food seemed to be hit or miss in this touristy area. Go to A One Bahn Mi on the corner. This was my one regret— next time we are staying in a hotel on the border of the old city for less money and easier walking. But it won’t be social!

Accessibility: must walk short distance with your bags as cars cannot access this street. Step in the front with no ramp. Elevator not to be depended on but useful particularly during the day with bags.

LGBT+ Friendliness: no complaints, but would welcome a flag to signal this. Suggestion to give out stickers at the bar to help find community.

Value: better deals out there for similar or better accommodation but this is not just a room, also an experience.

Not reviewed: tours, dorms, laundry, pub crawl, walking tour, how management deals with breaks or unruly guests.

Would stay again: yes, but mostly if solo or spending more...

Cash STOLEN from the locker.

It's been a month since we left the hostel, and we didn't write the review immediately because we were too angry to write a word. I travelled to Hanoi with my boyfriend, and we stayed in Central Backpackers for two nights. On the second day, we went out at around 10 am and came back at around 10 pm. As soon as we went back, I realized that all cash in my backpack was gone. I put the backpack on the floor, not in the locker provided by the hostel, so I didn't suspect the staff at first. But when I opened the locker which was perfectly locked without any damage, I found that all cash in my wallet was gone, as well as some small changes in a small pocket. It's obvious that the staff or someone who knew the staff stole it, because only the staff had access to everyone's private locker. It's funny that they provide you with their own locks, the keys of which are only held by you and themselves.

We went to the police station without telling the staff, because we read from the review that they would stop you from filing a police report. The policemen were pretty serious at first, and went to the hostel with us. After a while they took us back to the police station and let us wait for like two hours, and then they came back with the manager of the hostel. This time the policemen changed their attitude completely, and tried thousands of methods to stop us from filing a police report that stated the truth. They wanted us to say that the money was lost on the street, oh yeah so neither the hostel nor the police was responsible. The manager also said that we had no proof that we lost anything in the locker, but it's funny that there was a poster on the dorm's wall saying "please store everything valuable in the locker, cause we are not responsible for things lost outside of it." (Of course, so you can steal valuable stuff a lot easier.) So next time I should probably put a secret GoPro in the locker to record everything huh?

In the end, the police forced us to file a report that was not even close to the truth. And clearly it was a CONSPIRACY between the police and hostel, because if you read previous reviews of this hostel, there were lots of them stating the exact same thing. Huge regret that I didn't read them before choosing Central Backpackers. So please, read mine, and avoid this place if you can. Never, Ever,...