Hue Serene Palace Hotel — Hotel in Hue City

BEWARE OF THIEVES IN THIS HOTEL! On April 25, 2018 my wife and I checked into this hotel for 2 nights accompanied by two other couples. On arrival we found that the entire single lane street had been dug up and was a horrible mud pit! Not a good start. On 27 April we checked out at 9.30 am and forgot to retrieve our Australian passports, credit cards, cash and my wife's diamond ring from our room number 402 safe. Around midday we realised we had forgotten to retrieve our passports etc. and phoned the hotel. Mary, the desk manager told us on that phone call that the safe was empty when opened by the bellboy so we returned to the hotel to file police reports etc. We believe that the bellboy was telling the truth. In fact we suspect that the theft occurred the previous morning when we were out. That day we were all out till mid afternoon when I returned alone for a rest. After a while I noticed the room was quite hot even though the air conditioner was turned on. I looked behind the curtains and saw that the balcony door was wide open. I thought nothing of this and closed and locked it but did mention this to my wife when she returned a few hours later. The balcony is shared with the adjoining room 401 where our friends were staying but is on the 4th floor facing the street. You would need to be spider man to climb onto it! Note that a CCTV camera was recording 24/7 every entry to our room and the adjoining room 401. We think that this theft was likely to have been an “inside job”. When the police attended on 27th April, the desk manager Mary, accompanied by the hotel manager, acted as our interpreter with the policeman in the room. They both seemed very keen for us to leave town, telling us that it we would have to stay till late the next week to get a stamped and signed copy of the police report itemising our lost valuables (cash, credit cards and jewellery). These items had a total value of US$3,500 as declared to police in my statement written on the Hue Serene Palace hotel letterhead in room 402 and signed and dated at 2pm on 27 April 2018 in the presence of the police officer, the hotel manager, my wife and other hotel staff. After we had finished with the policeman in the hotel room our driver took us to the office of the Immigration Police to obtain a document confirming the loss of our passports. Mary acted as our interpreter as the immigration policeman did not speak English. The immigration police officer got angry with us and thumped the table with his hand when we tried to write the word "stolen" on our statement. We had no idea what Mary was saying to him in Vietnamese. We felt quite intimidated by him and were forced to write the word “lost” instead of “stolen”. We needed these signed and stamped statements to be able to obtain an exit visa to leave Vietnam. We chose to leave Hue and drive back to Da Nang when Mary assured us that she would get the statements stamped and signed the next day. In fact Mary sent photos of the signed and stamped statements via whatsapp to us that evening after we arrived in Da Nang, claiming that she found another immigration office opened to sign them. The Serene Palace Hotel then sent the originals to us in Da Nang by private car the next morning at their expense. We felt that we had been manipulated into leaving Hue and that the hotel management wanted to get rid of us as soon as possible. We have never received official police copies of our report itemising the stolen valuables but did managed to take photos of the statements we wrote for the investigating police whilst seated in room 402. All up, it took 12 more days before we could leave Vietnam. We had to obtain travel documents from Vietnam Immigration to allow us to fly to Ho Chi Minh where we applied for emergency passports, exit visas and entry visas back to Malaysia. Footnote: Read the managers response below then log in to google and click on my John Irvs icon at the top of this review, look at the photos I loaded and see how many of his lies you can detect! Why would you want to...

The staff at this hotel was very friendly and helpful. Kelly answered when I called from the airport to ask how much I should pay for my taxi and when I arrived to the hotel she took care of my check-in. Kelly took her time to go over the Hue map with me and helped to create my plan for Hue and book my tours. I told her I wanted to go to my room to think about all the options she gave me and she didn’t pressure me into anything, she just told me they would be there when I was ready. The room was a good size and the balcony was a nice touch. I had an awesome view of the city. There was plenty of storage space for unpacking your bags. My only issue with the room was the hand held shower vs the shower being on the wall. The ladies in the restaurant were always pleasant for breakfast. They offered cooked to order options for breakfast and then they had a fruit and bread buffet to go with your entree. The location was great for walking around the town. I caught a taxi to the Citadel and walked back. I was glad I chose to walk back because I noticed how close the walking streets were with tons of food options. I wish I would have stayed in Hue more...

Off the beaten path, down an alley-way is a cute, clean, friendly place to stay in Hue. The staff and service is incredible, the rooms are fantastic, and the amenities are awesome, including a complimentary breakfast every morning with stay. The breakfast is beyond amazing! Fruit and pastry buffet with plenty of fresh juice, coffee and tea. Order eggs, pancakes or Vietnamese traditional breakfast as many times as you need. They also provide lunch and dinner for purchase in their restaurant as well. Book your tours to the DMZ, pagodas and temples, Perfume river and many more through the hotel. The hotel, as do I, recommend touring the Imperial Palace and will provide a map of the city for your convenience. It seems as if they also book massages and spa treatments. Didn't try this service out but saw ads for it all over the hotel. They offer laundry services too. One word of caution: STAY AWAY FROM THE XE OM DRIVERS!! They are street hagglers and will do anything to take all of your money. It was nice to have a ride around the city, but not to have to negotiate the price...