Funny Monkeys Homestay — Hotel in Quảng Bình Province

Warning: there is CONSTRUCTION directly next door. They are building a church and the construction is literally happening within a couple of meters from where you eat breakfast. Also in the morning between 6:30 and 7AM the church plays LOUD music and on a speaker right next to the room for ten minutes, apparently with the intention to summon locals to help build that day. (It happened both mornings we were there). Also at the end of the day they blared what sounded like a recording of loud church bells through the same speakers. This homestay is in a beautiful location, with great views and mattresses that aren’t too hard which is nice, but unfortunately it is ruined by the noise, which especially sucks if it’s your intended rest morning after doing some tiring cave expeditions. If it wasn’t for the construction, I would’ve given them a higher rating, but I also think they could be more upfront about the fact that there is a noise concern. Maybe charging a discounted rate until the construction is finished (but so you know, it looks like it could take a few months). But to be honest this homestay does give off a bit of hustler / overselling vibes. The fact that it is categorised as a “3 star hotel” on google maps is a good indication. It is clearly not. It is a homestay, not a bad one, but simple in its amenities. It does feel like an authentic Vietnamese experience in the sense that you’re staying in a proper Vietnamese house, there’s construction noise next door, a speaker making noises early in the morning and indeed there are some bugs in the room. But at least don’t label yourself as a “3 star hotel.” Also we booked a Paradise Cave tour through the homestay and it costs about 25% more than if you book directly (although we couldn’t figure out how to book directly, but we heard the price others paid). Also so you know breakfast isn’t included if you book on booking dot com. It looks like it is but it simply says breakfast is available in green (a bit sneaky). The food wasn’t bad though and the staff were friendly and were great at preparing the meal for us in the morning. Just there is a hint of a feeling of hustling going on. If you’re a backpacker in Vietnam and only here for a while, you probably won’t notice the hustle and you’ll probably enjoy the opportunity to live in a more authentically Vietnamese house, but I don’t think anyone will like waking up with construction and loud speakers right next door. I hope they at least warn future...

Overall: We will NOT return. This place will milk you for every penny, with inflated prices, terrible service, and a dismissive, defensive attitude when questioned.

Background: My friend and I stayed at Funny Monkey Homestay for two nights — June 19 and 20, 2025. We had met one of the co-owners in Côn Đảo in April, who strongly recommended the property, even though she said it had been sold. We later learned it had simply been handed off to the other co-owner. Trusting her words, we booked — our first mistake.

The Service: Our initial interaction via Zalo was pleasant. But once we arrived, things quickly went downhill — from ordering food to laundry, transportation, and motorbike rental. Communication became indifferent, and the service ranged from disorganized to outright dismissive.

The Pricing: We booked directly with Linh via Zalo for the largest room (two double beds, top floor) at 700,000 VND/night, bypassing third-party platforms.

On checkout, we asked for a short 5km ride to our next hotel. The quote? 250,000 VND. When I asked why, the owner replied:

“This is a tourist area.” “I’m not forcing you to take it.”

We ordered a Grab for only 67,000 VND — more than 3.5x cheaper.

To put this further into context:

We paid 650,000 VND for a 56km ride from Đồng Hới Airport to Chày Lập.

We later found a 4-seater car for 400,000 VND for a 36km ride from Karst Villas to the airport.

And yet this homestay quoted 250,000 VND for 5km — no explanation beyond “this is a tourist area.”

We were also quoted 150,000 VND/day for a Nouvo motorbike, while a better Honda was offered nearby for 100,000 VND/day.

Laundry? They charged 60,000 VND/kg for basic wash-and-fold — that’s 2–3x the price you’d pay in Saigon, Vietnam’s most expensive city.

Food? Overpriced and bland. They forgot our breakfast order — and there were only three tables being served.

The Room: The photos reflect the view, but not the condition:

The “private balcony” is actually shared.

The AC struggled to cool the room during the day, even with an extra fan.

The bathroom floor is uneven, causing water to pool. We had to sweep it toward the drain ourselves — no heads-up, no apology. See video below. Conclusion: Funny Monkey Homestay is a case study in overcharging, underdelivering, and poor hospitality.

We won’t be back — and we recommend you think twice before booking.

📎 Screenshots of our Zalo conversation are available...

We stayed here 2 nights, it was a wonderful experience and the staff really makes the stay! They are really friendly and prepared to help with anything. Also good to note: their english is very good! The food was also delicious!

The room was fine, nothing major wrong other then the shower that drainages slow but something to be expected and it will not “ruin” your stay.

The room we had was in the ground Floor next to the reception and restaurant but it is quiet at 22:00 h.

I guess we where a bit unlucky because we stayed Sunday to tuesday and there is this church next to the homestay wich blasted very loud music at 4 in te morning on monday! It luckely only lasted half an hour and was probably because some sort of celabration of the church. We did mention it to the staff and they where even kind enough to give us a discount, wich we DIDN’T expect but was a very nice surprise.

They also organize tours etc from the homestay. We dit the tour where we went to paradise cave first, then had lunch at a restaurant near the dark cave. After we suited up in swimsuits we went from a zipline and ended close to the dakcave. We then proceeded to go in the cave and have a mudbath deep in the cave. Afterwards there where all sorts of fun water activities like a slide in to the water, another zipline and many more water activities. We where brought by minivan/bus from A to B to C etc.

I can almost say for certain that you will have a lovely stay here!

(Activity we didn’t know about soon enough) The duck farm! Apparently there is a duck farm close by where you can pet ducks and we heard a lot of people talk about it, we didn’t have the time unfortunately but if you have the chance, pet some ducks for me please!

Have fun and Enjoy! And be kind to the staff they are lovely people and I think I have never met such friendly...