Vinpearl Resort & Spa Hạ Long — Hotel in Hạ Long City

4 nights at this resort. To get straight to the point, it's not worth it. Go to another resort in Ha Long city.

This resort is not family-friendly. At the time of booking, Agoda was running a promotion offering free accommodation for up to two children under 12. I made a mistake by not including the children in the party during the booking process, but according to Agoda's policy, I couldn't correct this mistake afterwards. While contacting the resort, I found out that they were also running their own promotion allowing free stays for children if booked directly through them at that time.

Despite exchanging dozens of emails with the hotel, they remained adamant that since the children were not included in the initial booking, I had to pay for their stay. I even provided several screenshots that I took during the booking process to compare rate conditions, but it was of no use.

Although the amount wasn't large, considering the countless things you can do with that money in Vietnam, it could be significant. It was certainly an unpleasant way to start a vacation. I have never seen such strict charges for children, who are part of the family, at other destinations, which was surprising.

However, this disappointment was the smallest among the many I experienced at this so-called top-notch resort. First of all, the fact that this resort is on an island is very inconvenient. Half of the time, you will feel like you arrived at the dock just after the boat had left. After waiting 10-15 minutes, we had to compete with rude those tourists to get on the boat. They have no concept of lining up or avoiding cutting in line, and unfortunately, this resort is full of those tourists.

Even when you get off the island, the area around the dock is very desolate. Compared to the bustling Ha Long City, this area feels like a graveyard. Moreover, walking around is very inconvenient because of the dogs roaming without leashes, so you have to take a taxi to get anywhere.

You might think, "We'll just stay inside the resort," but the amenities are lacking compared to other Vinpearl resorts. There is only one swimming pool and a narrow private beach. The restaurant and room service menus are not diverse and are too Westernized, offering limited choices. Why is it Westernized when most of the tourists are Chinese? It’s puzzling.

The housekeeping quality is also below expectations. Even after housekeeping was done, the bathroom remained dirty. It felt like they hurried through dry cleaning to avoid dealing with the humidity.

Communicating in English was also difficult. We decided to use an extra bed after seeing the room and informed the reception that we wouldn't use it, yet an hour later, the extra bed arrived in our room. It took two hours for ice to arrive after we requested it, and once it didn't arrive at all. Bellboys took a long time and were inaccurate when transporting luggage to and from the island. We often found ourselves waiting for luggage either at our room or when arriving on the mainland.

Ultimately, the only accurate services at this hotel were room service, pool bar usage, and additional child charges. They provided a very precise bill for these, which we paid.

Making money is good, but remember that you are in the business of handling someone's vacation. Making them happy is...

VinPearl Ha Long was absolutely stunning and I believe it has great potential. But there are a few kinks that need ironing out.

Set on its own island, you are ferried to the hotel which feels very extravagant. Given a typhoon had just hit the area, the hotel was up and running and at full capacity which was quite astounding. The hotel itself is spectacular, and when you walk in to the lobby it’s clear that you’re staying at a 5 star hotel. But the 5 star experience unfortunately ended there. Our trip was riddled with just far too many hiccups and miscommunications for me to be able to give a 5 star rating. And I so wanted to be able to.

Our room was quite dated and a bit grubby, and when we arrived it hadn’t been cleaned sufficiently (the coffee table was grimy with food stains). The Executive Suite rooms are in need of a bit of a refresh. In saying that though, our room was spacious and was overall good value for money, so I was happy to clean the areas that needed cleaning and carried on with my stay.

The main issue that we encountered at this hotel was the customer service. Some of the staff were fantastic, but with the Exception of The Pavilion Restaurant and the breakfast buffet, service was very slow. In addition to this, staff didn’t seem to be on the same page about things. For instance, my husband and I received a 10% discount for making a dinner reservation at the main restaurant, but the rest of our booking party were advised that they couldn’t get this same discount despite having a reservation. We were also advised that our daughter (18 months) was too young to use the babysitting services at the Kids Club, but our friend with an 11 month old was able to use the service. Phone calls were also made to our room on multiple occasions around 8/9pm which woke our sleeping baby. Room service was also slow, and one evening when we ordered room service for our daughter, the order was never placed and it ended up taking 1.5 hours to arrive. At this point she was too tired to eat and went to bed upset and hungry.

The biggest debacle of the trip, however, was an issue with a simple glass of wine. I will preface this by saying that upon follow up, the issue was resolved by Hotel Senior Management, but I feel it’s worth outlining what happened. Two of our friends ordered a glass of their cheaper wine, and the waitress accidentally opened a bottle of wine that was equivalent to $120 AUD. When this was discovered by staff the guests were asked to pay for it, when they said they wouldn’t the waitress returned with a ‘manager’ and were advised that if they didn’t pay, the waitress would have to. Not wanting the waitress to have to have 2 million dong deducted from her salary, my friends paid for the bottle. After a lengthy follow up this issue was resolved, but it was the final cherry on top of a stay that was riddled with miscommunication and, at times, sub-par service.

The potential here is great, and it could be really really fantastic. And at the end of the day, I will still recommend that friends stay here because the location and facilities are outstanding. If Vinpearl can just work on their customer service and consistency, they will be able to provide guests with a true 5-star...

Positives: Beautiful hotel which looks really lovely at night time. Food was delicious and it was a really lovely touch to see a kids section at the lunch and dinner buffets. Our 4 year old looked forward to this everyday!! Chef Son and Chef David were always around to check in with guests and get feedback on the meals. We enjoyed the pork belly, selection of Vietnamese desserts and the croissants in particular. So much of choice at every meal!!

Two pools outdoors and one of them was for kids with floating rings. Again another big win with our little one. I believe there was an indoor pool as well but we didnt use this as the kids loved the two outside. The beach was nice to walk on and we enjoyed just relaxing under the cabanas but we chose not to swim as the water wasnt very clean. Shuttle boat to and from the mainland at various times of the day is very convenient and allows guests to visit Halong City and any attractions there throughout the day and even at night. Kids club was different to the ones found in resorts in fiji or phuket and parents were with their kids but there was plenty for them to play with both indoors and out. The outdoor play area is great for kids under 8 maybe. Activities like painting hats or porcelain figures is an additional charge. Staff at the reception, restaurant, pool and kids club were always friendly and willing to help.

Negatives: The rooms were spacious but we did have to ask for it to be cleaned as we found nail clippings on the floor when we put the beds together. Noise from some of the other rooms. I am not sure if its because we were on the 8th floor or if it was because the walls are not sound proof but late at night I could still hear kids and parents yelling out and running around! I am a parent and get that kids make noise but its the first time I have heard the noise come through in a 5 star hotel room. We also felt a bit uncomfortable when dining as there were kids and some adults touching food with their hands and then putting it back. We had 2 kids of our own and always remind them to use serving utensils as others need to eat but it was a bit difficult to make our point when they kept seeing other guests and their children doing the opposite. This might be culturally appropriate but from a safe food and hygiene point, it raises some questions Overall, Vinpearl Halong Bay is a place to relax, enjoy good food, spend time with family and just do nothing🙂. We had a pleasant stay and would reccomend it to anyone...