Lavis 18 Residence Ho Chi Minh City — Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City

Excellent Superior Studio that feels cozier and is more spacious than an international 4 star hotel room like Novotel. Service is good and housekeeping is effective in keeping the room cleaned everyday - except the space behind the curtains.

Comes with amenities like hairdryer, in-room safe, good iron and ironing board, an adequately equipped kitchenette with hood. Dish sponge and detergent can be requested and delivered to the room. If there is a choke, maintenance is very prompt too.

They offer the same extended range of toiletries as a hotel such as comb, toothbrush, vanity kit, sewing kit and shower cap. The shampoo, conditioner and body gel are quite nice and gentle even though it does not carry an international brand.

The bed is firm with good enough pillows (4 on a queen bed). The bed linen and towels are changed daily. The complaints about the crowing roosters are valid but probably because the guests themselves are light sleepers. I had no problem with the roosters or the usual Neighbour noise the area is quiet and does not have any pub or disco to keep one up late into the night.

Washer and dryer are self service and complimentary for guests. This is located in the basement. There is an option for the apartment for full service laundry but they charge per piece and not by weight at the local laundry shops. The only grouse is the lack of clothing racks within the room for delicate pieces that cannot be dried in the dryer. So do use your imagination to McGyvver a make-shift laundry hanging space within your apartment.

The gym is alright. Good enough for cardio work and people who know their way around free weights. It wasn’t my favourite gym of similar service apartments in HCM. I brought my own skipping rope and resistance bands which helps with providing more workout options.

Aircon is a powerful standalone unit and quite well maintained. There is a Samsung Tv with many local channels and a few international channels from Channel 40 onwards such as AXN, CNN, HBO and Discovery Channel.

There is a good sized work table and plenty of storage space for those who want to work out of the room for an extended stay. Personally love the one person sofa which I am typing this review from.

The location of the apartment is within a local neighbourhood next to a local market where you can easily pick up breakfast, fruit, raw food for cooking, toiletries and basic clothes. There are convenience stores and little local cafes and shops within walking distance to pick up more water (room provides only 2x300ml bottles per day). Do explore the place by foot in the day and night as it offers different offerings for the different times.

Do: Try a local hair wash Get a mani pedi Sit on squat chairs by the little alleys for a bowl of noodles, coffee, grilled banana snack/dessert, a local coffee...

FOREIGNERS. THIS IS IMPORTANT. BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL BOOKING AT THIS HOTEL. They will charge you these secretive fees at the end of your stay. They will purposefully “forget” to add certain towels and plates on some days so that they can charge you for these “LOST” items at the end of your stay. I was charged with a HEFTY. fee even though I didn’t break a single plate, let any towels out of my hotel room, and drank the provided water bottles as I was led to believe that they were free of charge. The story on being charged with FOUR “lost” towels is that one TWO nights the cleaners “forgot” to replace the dirty towels. Both nights were in different bathrooms. They did this so that we wouldn’t notice. I am extremely FURIOUS. with the outcome of my stay at this hotel. There are MUCH better hotels that you can find that won’t charge you in the secretive way that this hotel did. Seriously unbelievable behavior by the cleaning staff. I really do love and respect cleaning staff at establishments but I believe this staff was trained and told to “forget” to refill certain items when cleaning the rooms. This hotel has good food, respectable waitstaff, and is relatively clean. I had stayed here previously and it was a dream. It was nice and clean. But THIS time, it was overrun with hidden fees which made the establishment HIGHLY untrustworthy to me. It truly is such a shame. But since I believe in karma, although this establishment did me dirty for their own benefit, I will not try to curb them from additional customers. All I’m gonna say, is for this place to change their distasteful, secretive ways. If they won’t change, then foreigners make sure to STAY. AWAY. You WILL get scammed at this place. I would give this place ZERO stars. ZERO STARS. If I could copy and paste this review and give this establishment 10,000 ZERO STAR reviews I would. Really thought you could mess with my money like that. Seriously a bunch of scammers. Thanks a whole lot for RUINING my vacation. I would’ve had fun otherwise, but you just HAD to end my vacation off on a bad note. Charging me for things I didn’t take. I hope you enjoy yourselves and the amount of money you...

Wholesome advice: dont go there. Save your money and time. Horrendous experience. Upon arrival 5pm, the receptionist told us they could not find our booking on their system, even We had the booking record and receipt charged in full. They said it was not their problem and that we had to contact Agoda ourselves. The Agoda chat function only had automated answer. Due to such delay we were late and undressed for a very important dinner. After returning from dinner, they magically found our booking reservation. I asked how. They said they contacted Agoda and figured themselves out. Price: fair. Location: seems very prime. But mindful there s a high school next door, meaning will be woken up early morning by the school drums, and the alley is packed during pick up hour. The taxi could not get in we had to walk a fair bit out. Room: nice size. However very stuffy. Tiny bathroom and shower. At 11pm after a shower, we found one of the towel had a hole in it. But it was too late so we didnt report it immediately, very regretful. We reported the next day and demanded a refund of the remaining nights cuz no way we were gonna spend another seconds there. They said why didnt we report on the spot and promised they will refund. Once we checked out and left, rang back for a follow up, they said we couldn't get a refund cuz we reported too late. Asked to speak to the manager, the staff got on to the manager but she didn't want to speak to us (they forgot to mute the phone so we heard everything, and recorded it too). Caught them red handed but didnt end up speak to the manager. No refund. Just an apology for...