Hưng Phát Bungalow — Hotel in Quảng Bình Province

Most definitely the most uncomfortable experience we’ve had so far on our 10 months of travelling in EU, SA and Asia. We booked the deluxe room, but the owner, Son, checks us into a smaller and less expensive room. We didn’t find it necessary to demand room change, as the room was big enough for the two of us, but then we naturally expected to be billed the amount of the room we got, not the one we booked and didn’t get. When we pointed out the mistake to Son he insisted we’d gotten the deluxe room even though it was clear from the information on booking.com and the other guests that that wasn’t the case. He behaved very unprofessionally and insinuated several times to my boyfriend that things would become violent if we didn’t pay the amount. In the end we were so unsettled by his behavior that we caved in. All throughout our stay we’ve felt cheated by Son. He was nice and pleasant enough in the beginning even though he kept pushing us to purchase one of his tours, but once he realized we were going to visit the caves by ourselves his mood changed. The portions of the breakfast diminished, he advised us to put double the amount of gas on his scooter than ended up being necessary, when we complained about conditions of the scooter and asked for another he said it was the only one he had even though four other much better scooters was stored in his garage and later used by some other guests, he tried to have us pay for three days of scooter although we only used them less than 2x24h, furthermore he cursed us for asking for 6 towels during our stay, although 2 of them he used to clean up the water leakage in our room and 2 others we used by the pool, which wasn’t all that clean. Besides paying more for a lesser room, the one we got was far from perfect, not that we expected it to be, but still you wouldn’t expect the room to be filed with ants, water coming in from rain and a overflowing bathroom drain - more than enough to expect some sort of compensation - but no, not here... here you get less for more money... and physical threats if you complain about this. My boyfriend and I would not recommend this place to anyone. Buying the tours at the place you stay at should not be a condition for being treated well and fairly...

First I was going to give a good review for this homestay: the beds were comfy, the place is very quiet, clean, the owner offered us bikes for the day and made sure we were okay all the time, the place is surrounded by rice fields etc. The owner also picked up banh mi for us to go when we didn't have time to sit for breakfast. Apart from the flush that was broken, it was pretty great.

However, I've changed my mind, because the owner is extremely pushy and has a borderline behavior that we haven't seen anywhere else in Vietnam. He insists that you book the day trip to caves that he suggests (it costs 60$/person and I think it's not good value for money); he enters your room if the door is open to see if you're okay (very surprising for us French; at first we thought he was really attentive but it's just weird); he will not let you walk 10min to go to a restaurant and will insist he takes you on his motorbike (I swear, we said no 10 times but he ended up following us on his motorcycle and we just HAD to go with him, even though we're scared of motorcycles). A lot of things like that happened.

I've read another comment from a french woman saying the same things. It probably doesn't happen to everyone. My friend and I were two girls, maybe that's why.

Additionally: the cleaning staff tidied up our room between the 1st and 2nd night, which was nice. But they threw away my shoes. I realized too late, when I was already in the next hotel, that I didn't have my shoes anymore. The owner said they threw them away because they thought they were old (??!!), and he tried to send them to me, but I never managed to...

A great three night stay!

This accommodation is really lovely; the room was comfy with a lovely view and terrace underneath with a hammock, dining table and swing, a pool and the cutest puppy!!

The reason why this honestly is so great is Mr Son; the hostel isn’t too central however he provides great free bikes and will pick you up/drop you off from your transfer. He stays up for people arriving in the night, at 2am he picked us up straight from the bus! He let us have a late check out to store our luggage and shower before leaving in the afternoon. He also arranged our transfer to Hue - nothing was a trouble for him!

He is wonderful at organising activities and helping us spend our time wisely. We had a chill day where we borrowed bikes and cycled to the centre to go to Phong Nha Cave (you don’t need to do a tour to do this if you have time and I would recommend going here before Paradise Cave). He persuaded us to go on a tour which was really fun; the botanical park to see a waterfall, Paradise Cave (so stunning) and Dark Cave which is super fun.

As my Sister and I didn’t want to drive a scooter (though he insisted we borrowed it for free in the evening!) we walked Family Cafe for food both nights of our stay. On the way back the first time he drove past from picking up guests so he gave us a lift and the next day he insisted on driving us since it is so close!

We also cycled to The Duck Stop which is super fun! The cycle was fun as the bikes are great.

When I eventually return to Phong Nha I will make sure to stay here for the comfy accommodation and...