Novotel Nha Trang — Hotel in Nha Trang City

A comfortable stay with a warm welcome and fantastic location in the heart of Nha Trang.

I cannot fault the location, it was great. Our view from our beachfront room on level 15 was amazing and the room was although somewhat dated, very clean and comfortable.

However there are a few things which had I known in advance I would have booked elsewhere without hesitation and hopefully this review will allow others to be better informed.

The pool, it is never in the sun. It is on the wrong side of the hotel to receive it, it is also tiny!

Breakfast, it finishes on the dot at 10am most days. Don’t doddle down at 09:50 because you will literally have 10 minutes to grab whatever you can as it will be fully cleared away by 10:01!!! After that time the staff will be loudly setting up the dining room for lunch, lifting the window blinds and generally making it as uncomfortable as possible for you remain to enjoy what’s left of the scraps you’ve had. When I’m on vacation I want to sleep in a little and have a leisurely breakfast. This was simply not possible here, we only ended up having breakfast once as a result before finding more appealing places elsewhere.

THE BEACH! This was perhaps the biggest disappointment. Yes we know it’s a public beach, but don’t let the website fool you into a false sense of security when they say they have their own exclusive section of the beach. The “limited availability” is EXTREMELY limited to just 8 loungers. Yea EIGHT loungers for a hotel with over 150 rooms!!!!! Apparently it is a government restriction which is fine but this needs to be clearly highlighted at time of booking on the website for full and honest transparency which it was not. When we came down the first day all the loungers were gone, when we complained we were told “but we told you at check in” which was not the case and anyhow it should have been clear from the website. Needless to say we did not manage to get a lounger for the rest of our 7 night stay which was very frustrating. We gave up after a few days and went further down the beach to a better facility to pay for a spot. This resulted in the hotel bot getting more money from us.

Otherwise the location is excellent, next to the night market and lots of great dining options. We did not eat at the hotel for dinner so I can’t comment on that. We enjoyed the room and loved the sunken shower. The staff were very friendly and the cocktails by Măn were delicious at the lobby bar.

Would I be back? Probably not. The beach situation was simply not what I was expecting and I feel I would probably go to the Sheraton a bit further down as it has a pool which has the sunlight or the Marriott on the island for exclusivity.

But thanks for a lovely stay...

This was my final hotel during my 20 day stay in Vietnam. I can say everywhere in Vietnam I was treated like a welcomed guest, or rather like a welcomed family member, and up until my experience with Novotel, I thought it would be the same here. As it turned out, my laundry needed to be done again and I called the desk in the early morning and they let me know it would be no problem at all. They told me to just leave the clothes in a bag outside my door. All I had was 11 tee shirts, 10 pairs of underwear and three small scarfs that belonged to my gf...basically one small standard load of laundry. Ten hours later my laundry was ready and I happily tipped the guy who brought up my laundry 50,000 dong (about $2.50). As I was looking for a clean pair of underwear, I found a bill for exactly 1.4 million dong...about $70 in cash. That's a lot for 11 tee shirts and 10 pairs of underwear, so you can imagine what the first thought that went through my head was...I assumed they made a mistake and added one too many zeros. I mean $7.00 is reasonable in Vietnam, a little on the high side for Vietnam, but reasonable. So I casually went down stairs the next day and cheerfully pointed out their little error. But to my surprise, they stuck to their guns. They said they did the laundry as they were instructed, so the contract must stand. I clearly pointed out that nobody had the courtesy to tell me ahead of time the price of 1.4 million dong, but they wouldn't budge, even after speaking to their hotel manager. So as politely as I could, I told the manager that I would never come here again and I would tell all my friends in America not to come to this hotel. I only hope in some small way this costs them a little more than 1.4 million dong in business...go to the next 4 star hotel down the road!

....12/2013 Update:

Troi oi!! OMG, Novotel notified my gf 3 weeks after we checked out, that they had reviewed their records and they indeed did make a mistake. They apologized for not telling me what the bill would be and refunded the entire $70.00. I'm changing my review to 5 stars here. That's pretty impressive, though a big 5 star hotel, they're still decent enough to admit they're error and preserve their good will.

I love Vietnam! Such kind decent people.

So everybody...go to...

I am still in Nha Trang. I booked 4 hotels for total 8 nights in Nha Trang. Novotel was the third hotel I stayed. Currently I am staying at the fourth. Of those four hotels I stayed (or staying), Novotel is the hotel I would visit again in the future. It isn’t the most expensive hotel of the four. But in terms of the benefit/cost ratio, Novotel comes the first. 1. Location is great. It’s located at the heart of Nha Trang, right in front of the beach. There are many restaurants near by. 2. Hotel has several parasols and chairs on the beach. They are free for the guests. Very convenient. 3. The staffs are great. Someone stole my passport right after check-in. I visited a massage shop before my room gets ready. And massager stole it while I was lying face down. (The massage shop was recommended by a hair cut shop right across the street. Be careful.) Of course I was mentally shaken. But the staffs were so helpful. They were concerned about my situation, and didn’t hesitate to lend me helping hands. They even proactively prepared some documents, in case I come across unforeseen situations. This sort of considerate gestures helped me calm down. This was a classy service. Also I can sense they shared my information to see they were so ready. I stayed at a cheaper hotel before Novotel. It had a bigger and newer building. These are what I experienced. It took three phone calls and three staff visits over two hours to open a safe that was locked from the beginning. And so many group tours. I was constantly surprised by their loud voices during the breakfasts. I even saw 5-6 shirtless young men sitting in front of the hotel chatting. No one stopped them. I was shocked. And those attitudes of front-desk staffs…. Don’t get fooled by photos. There was one person I wanted to thank before I leave Novotel. But he wasn’t on duty….And yes, it was strictly massage. What are...