Lao Cai Galaxy Hotel — Hotel in Lào Cai

I found this place by chance. in my business trips, I used to stay in the busy parts of the city, further north and close to the China border. The Lao Cai Galaxy Hotel, being on the east bank of the Song Hong River, is away from shops and restaurants although it's a 5 minute brisk walk to the train station. Near there, I could wait for my evening coffee slowly dripping, while watching travellers wait for their trains. It was pleasant. ||I stayed in a Vip room with price comparable to similarly named rooms in the more popular hotels. I think the standard rooms are better value as the bathroom floor gets wet after a shower (no tub even though advertised). On my first day, the room faced the street. Then I moved to one facing the river. A better view but twice I found a window opened. The housekeeper must have opened it to let in fresh air. But it let in bugs so I couldn't sleep that night. Can be avoided by checking in the afternoon! ||Twice in my five days stay, the lift didn't work (to save power?). If you happen to be carrying luggage this could be a problem.||The restaurant serves decent food: I ordered dinner three times. Spring rolls, Stir-fried veggies and Stir-fried Beef, as well as vegetables soup seemed standard fare but the food was delicious. I complained once about the excess salt.||The Manager and a girl in the front desk spoke good English. The Manager really wanted to please his guests. I was invited to join the hotel's staff dinner. All staff were very friendly. ||I would...

Nice and clean room with a view over the river. My reservation was cocked up with Agoda (I booked from a cafe PC and didn't get a confirmation email) but they had a room waiting for me anyway.||||Strange noises from the curtain at night turned out to be a gecko calling. They are very shy and eat insects, so no need to be alarmed.||||The downstairs eating area is reserved for groups, don't gatecrash a wedding party (oops).||||Breakfast and dinner is in the restaurant next door, you have to go out the main entrance and along a bit. They are strict on times it is open and the atmosphere, food quality and service was extraordinarily average. Hint: they will place a big fan at the end of your table to blow air to keep the mosquitos away. Unfortunately it also blast-cools your food.||||But this review is about the hotel, not the restaurant, and I have no...

We had spent 2 lovely days in Sapa and didn't want to miss the day train to Hanoi so we booked 1 night at Galaxy Hotel. ||It's about 2 years old, fairly clean and it seems like only the manager speaks English. He was there to greet us and was there in the morning to take us to breakfast at the hotel restaurant next door. (When we made the booking through Booking.com, breakfast was not included but they gave us a breakfast voucher. ||The room is big and you can swing a cat in the bathroom. But the room we had (420) has a big window in the bathroom but no curtains! Be aware if you don't want to show too much of yourself! I have observed people from the road looking up. ||Tea and a hot water kettle is provided in the room but no bottled water. ||Would...