Hanu's House — Hotel in Hà Nội

The reason we booked a room at this place was because of the positive reviews of the host family. Unfortunately, for us it was the worst experience with a host ever. The check-in was okay and we were offered to ask if we need anything during our stay. However on the second day my girlfriend had a cold and i wanted to get a bottle of tea for her. So i went downstairs with my own water, bottle and tea bag and asked respectfully if there is a possibility to boil it to make some tea, mentioning my girlfriend being ill. This question seemed to trigger a big discussion between the host and his mother. I did not understand what was going on and apologized for any troubles i obviously caused with my question. Another issue we had with the host family was their lack of respect for our privacy and personal space. We felt like we were constantly being watched and monitored by them. They came into the room every day to exchange towels, which is ok. But once they left the door unlocked with our personal belongings inside the room, which definitely should not happen to our point of view. When i wanted to pay for the room on the last day i was very much ignored at first. After handing over the money without really getting attention i asked if they would have availability in case we come back to Hanoi. At this point i realized we must have done something wrong as the host first said they are fully booked and then rudely told me the guesthouse is closed now. Obviously we were not welcome here any more. We honestly see ourselves as easy going, friendly and respectful guests and we really don’t know what we did to receive such a bad treatment. Their lack of respect for our privacy, as well as their dismissive attitude towards our questions and needs, made us feel unwelcome and uncomfortable throughout our stay. We would not recommend this guesthouse to anyone looking for a pleasant and welcoming place to stay. To be fair, the room was good for the price (234.000 Dong per night) and the bed was comfortable. However i hope that this family in future learns that there is much more than a good room to accommodate and welcome guests at their place.

UPDATE: reply to the hosts reply

Thanks for your reply. Sadly the way you reply confirms our experience. I feel there are many false assumptions here that I would like to clarify. Regarding the electricity, I’m sure we turned off the aircon every time we left the room. If we forgot it once, I really want to apologize for that. Regarding the water, I never asked for free water but for drinking water to refill our bottles to avoid buying plastic and reduce waste. We have stayed in many guest houses in Asia and many of them had refill stations to reduce plastic. We also paid for refills. That was my intention asking you. Also we know about our privilege to come from a developed country and because we respect developing countries and their environment we want to keep our ecological footprint as small as possible. By the way I never was talking to any of your neighbors, that’s simply a lie. And actually I don't want to comment on my financial status at all, but since I'm also being judged unprofessionally and personally here's my view: just because a man owns a smartphone in the 21st century, I dare to say that this is not an indication of wealth. There are numerous options like rebuy for used devices. In any case, I did not pay $1000 for it. In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that in such cases, it would have helped to simply have a clarifying conversation to tell us what to change instead of reacting emotionally and rude based on false assumptions. Very sad for both of us. All the...

Réponse à l’hôte : Je me permet de rectifier de nombreuses choses 1- VOUS nous avez autorisé à fumer dans votre salon sans fenêtre à notre arrivée. VOUS avez fermé la seule issue de sortie en prime donc nous n’avions pas le choix que de fumer dans cet endroit clos. Aucune chance que nous avions fait la fête puisque nous n’étions pas là les deux premiers soirs ! Les seuls fois où nous sommes aller dans votre salon c’était pour JUSTE fumer. Si le fait de nous ouvrir la porte à 2h du matin était un problème, il fallait de un nous le faire savoir et nous aurions largement compris, de deux laisser des clés pour pouvoir rentrer dans le logement. Votre établissement est un hôtel avec des chambres, il est bien notifié sur Airbnb que nous sommes libres de nos mouvements et qu’il n’y a pas de couvre feu. Communiquer aurait pu empêcher de nombreuses choses. 2- « forcé votre chien a fumer passivement avec vous » c’est une belle blague, la prochaine fois évitez de nous autoriser l’accès à votre salon pour fumer si cela vous dérangez, il suffisait de dire non ou de juste pas le proposer à notre arrivée. Encore une fois, manque de communication 3- Agresser et violenter des personnes âgées, c’est une aussi une belle blague. VOUS êtes venus nous crier dessus comme si nous avions 6 ans. Nous vous avions souris dès le début, en vous disant bonjour à chaque fois, pas UNE réponse. Pouviez vous me rappeler quand nous vous avons touché ? Excusez moi je pense que vous confondez avec l’hôte (l’homme) qui vous a violemment poussé la main quand il a commencé à nous crier dessus et que vous avez essayé de donner votre avis. J’aimerai bien voir les images CCTV, pour voir ce que vous appelez faire la fête, parce que si vous parlez de la musique que vous avez entendu, il s’agit de la sonnerie de téléphone de l’hôte. Et Pensez une nouvelle fois à notifier qu’il y a un couvre feu dès 22h la prochaine fois. Cela évitera les mal entendus. Ps : pour l’amende de 50$ pour fumer dans la chambre, étonnamment l’hôte nous a dit en nous criant dessus et pour votre information il s’agissait d’un cendrier de poche que nous avons vidé 🙂 Dommage d’en arriver là à cause d’un manque de communication 4- pour le fait que nous sommes arrivés tard, j’ai bien notifié que notre accueil avait été très bien, faite preuve de bonne foi, nous arrivons quand même à dire les bons côtés. 5- sortir sous prétexte d’aller à l’ATM mais partir sans Payer la chambre, bien sûr, nous n’avions même pas nos valises avec nous, je vois pas l’intérêt de partir sans nos affaires. Vous avez de nombreux commentaires sur votre manière d’accueillir les gens, il s’agirait de se remettre en question. Vous savez très bien ce qu’il s’est passé, cela ne sert à rien de...

I have read all the reviews and they are quite entertaining. I’m writing this to help future bookers understand what this place is and what it isn’t.

This is a HOMESTAY. You’re staying at someone’s home with people who’s sole job isn’t to care for you 24/7 like most hostels will.

The place is quiet, comfortable and clean. With 10/10 value.

It does not smell of dog and the dogs are nice, okay a dog may bark occasionally but please get over yourself.

They seem very accommodating to allow access late at night as they do lock up the store front which is the access. Just let them know when you’re coming so you don’t have them staying up all night waiting for you.

WHO THIS IS NOT FOR If you want a place with easy in and out access past 10-11pm, this is not the place for you. If you want to party in the accommodation, this is...