Nguyen Shack Homestay — Hotel in Ninh Bình Province

You have probably seen the listing in Lonely Planet, the high ranking on Trip Advisor, and the amazing views shown on the website. In all honesty, that’s what led me to book a 3 night stay at the Nguyen Shack earlier this month. This stay included nights in both the large bungalows and the “basic” shack. ||||There were a few pertinent issues with our stay, but the main issue was with the staff themselves. At several points the staff called me fat. For reference, I’m 6’2 and weigh 185 lbs. I wish I had washboard abs, but I’m certainly not what you would consider large. To make sure nothing was being lost in translation, my wife asked if they meant tall and they said “‘No, he’s fat.” When they asked if I wanted help carrying my bags and I said “It’s ok, I like the exercise” the woman at the front desk said “that must be because you are fat”. We told them this was not polite and it continued to happen during our stay. ||||The staff has very good english, but had a habit of poorly communicating several other issues. We paid for clothes to be laundered and were not told that a drying machine was available. Our clothes were hung out to dry on our first night and were not yet dry by the time we checked out on the third night. The woman at the front desk discussed it with another staff member and it turns out that they simply didn’t want to use the dryer because it was more expensive than air drying. We were still charged the full laundry price despite the clothes being soaking wet. ||||||The accommodations aren’t necessarily as advertised. You’ll see similar comments in other reviews, but there is obviously no heat or AC. This is totally fine and wasn’t factored into my rating. What wasn’t well advertised is that for the basic accommodation you are sleeping in one large shack with 5 other couples/travelers. The walls do not reach the ceiling, so you hear everything (and that includes the shared bathroom). If you are shy about others hearing your bowel movements or hearing those of your cabin mates, then this isn’t the right choice for you. ||||The gap in the experience between the basic shack and the bungalows is wide. We were only able to book the bungalow for one of the nights as it was fully booked, so we booked the basic room for the remaining two nights. The bungalows at least offer some privacy and you get some great views from the balcony areas. The basic rooms are not worth the $20 usd price. While it seems low, you can get a newly built room with air conditioning in a nearby Homestay offering amazing views for $10.||||The location is decent and gives you a good base point for climbing Hang Mua, but you will be farther away from restaurants or any activities than other options. The bikes are free, but are not kept in very good condition. The next door neighbor (you’ll see them on the walk down the dirt road into the Nguyen Shack) rents motorbikes, but they are more expensive than other options nearby. The Nguyen Shack staff didn’t offer an answer for what a fair rate should be for scooter rentals next door should be even though the location about 100 meters off the main road would seem to indicate that most of their customers came from the Nguyen Shack.||||The views are indeed there at the Nguyen Shack, but after visiting the surrounding area these views are not in short supply. The entire area is beautiful and many of the surrounding homestays or other hotels offer very similar views. We left with one night left on our reservation and stayed at a local Homestay run by a delightful family. It offered beautiful views of Hung Mau and the surrounding limestone karsts and we were treated as friends and not just another customer to rush through. ||||To summarize, despite very good reviews from other guests on trip advisor and a listing in Lonely Planet’s guide, I think the Nguyen Shack may have lost its luster as it now enjoys a steady stream of guests. The Nguyen Shack might have once been a great and authentic place to stay, but I think those days are...

The location and staff is what truly makes this place unbelievable. All of the staff spoke very good English and were always laughing and joking around. The setup of the main restaurant area makes you feel like you are apart of their family. We really liked how we saw the fresh food show up daily in the morning and because of the kitchen location, felt like our family was just cooking us breakfast or dinner. We figured going in that the food might be an issue because of the secluded location but we were completely wrong. All of the meals were top of the line. We stayed there for 3 nights and on the 4th day, we were leaving at 10pm on the night train. They held our bags for us and let us hangout all day. They said we could take the bikes or go out during the day and not to worry, that they would hold and watch our stuff till we got back. |The hotel is in the perfect location. It is located at the bottom of the famous Mua Cave lookout point. They also have free bicycles to take around the town or motorbikes to rent for the day from the neighbor. The staff helped us set up activities for the 3 days we were there based on what we wanted to do. They geared each day differently based on if we wanted to walk, rent a motorbike or use the bicycles. They even helped us call a taxi when we were leaving when I was having issues booking a Grab. They gave us local restaurants to try the night we left before the night train and made sure our taxi took us there. |Another thing that stood out to us, was the filtered water jugs in our rooms. We have stayed at a couple hotels all over Vietnam and they are clearly making an effort to reduce plastic waste. We were able to refill our water bottles daily and was a great touch. |About the rooms... the WiFi worked great. There was never an outage or issue. We also thought bugs were going to be a concern but were completely wrong. The bamboo hut is located over a wetland at the bottom of a mountain with a lake.. we saw maybe one mosquito a night. They offer mosquito nets that go over the beds too so bugs were never an issue. Again that was a huge surprise to us having stayed in jungle locations in the Mekong delta in the south. If you are worried or concerned, just bring some extra bug spray to be safe. It also was a little cold the first couple nights and because of the bamboo style hut, heaters were provided in the room with extra blankets. I think later in the year that isn’t an issue but just know that if it gets cold, the hotel staff will still take care of you. |We loved everything about this hotel and the staff. We wouldn’t stay anywhere else in Tam Coc or Ninh Binh. Truly an...

The shared hut is not as advertised and is essentially one large room with dividing walls that do not reach the ceiling. That means you hear what 4 other rooms are doing at all times, including using the one shared bathroom. The bathroom is soaked at all times because of the shower placement.

The bungalow is an ok value for the money, but the staff were very rude during my stay. They called my wife and I fat on multiple occasions even after we told them that it was impolite. For reference, I am 6'2 and 185 lbs and fall within the "normal" weight range. My wife is also well within the normal range, but it's mean spirited to say that to guests.

We did not receive our laundry back dry as the staff decided that they would rather hang dry the laundry for 3 days (while it was misty and rainy) instead of using the dryer.

The motorbike rental next door seems to have a relationship with the Nguyen Shack, but the staff were unwilling to tell us what a "fair" rental rate would be. They attempted to charge us 2 times more than another rental shop down the street (still within a close walk).

I'd advise guests to look at other homestays in the area that also provide great views of Mua Cave and the surrounding rice paddies for even lower prices. We ended up cancelling our last night and moved down the road where we enjoyed staying with a wonderful family who were extremely friendly and whose homestay offered even better views of the area for less than the cost of staying in the...