Phong Nha Coco Riverside Homestay — Hotel in Quảng Bình Province

Our stay at Coco Riverside was, without a doubt, the worst experience we had in all of Vietnam—and that includes a 6-hour bus ride with a driver who thought he was auditioning for Fast & Furious: Mekong Drift.||||It started off with a red carpet welcome… for everyone except us. There was even a cute little chalkboard with guest names written in cursive. Ours? Omitted like we were banned from the cool kids' table. We should’ve taken that as a sign.||||Then came the bombshell: the owner casually let us know that our actual room with a “mountain view” had been double booked. But fear not! She had a special alternative ready: a noisy roadside room with two toddler-sized beds and a cockroach doing the cha-cha in the corner (evidence attached, if you’re into horror).||||We explained—politely at first—that we weren’t about to pay the same price for a downgrade and an impromptu insect dance show. Instead of apologizing, the owner launched into a barrage of excuses that would make a bad student blush: “I was busy,” “I didn’t have your contact,” “Mercury’s in retrograde,” etc.||||Eventually, she revealed that—surprise!—there was another mountain-view room available at a nearby sister property, Coco Homestay. We walked over, with our bags on us, only to find the room covered in dust and the kind of smell that says, “I haven’t been loved in a while.” Still, we were tired and out of options. We reluctantly stayed.||||We voiced our disappointment again, and the owner—clearly in the spirit of customer care—offered us two “free” coconuts as compensation. At that point, we were emotionally dehydrated, so we accepted.||||The next day, things somehow got worse.||||A staff member put the owner on speakerphone, and suddenly we were in the middle of a soap opera plot twist. She yelled at us, claiming we canceled the booking (we didn’t), that we owed her full price (for the dusty shack), and that the coconuts were not, in fact, free. Plot twist: the coconuts were now weaponized.||||Despite explaining that Agoda suggested cancellation as an option after the double booking—not that we initiated one—the owner insisted we were the villains in this tale. Her attitude was less “sorry for the mistake” and more “how dare you tell anyone I made one.”||||In the end, we paid more than the original booking price just to escape the madness. She even had the audacity to charge us for the coconuts. We gathered what was left of our dignity and relocated to Victory Road Villas—slightly more expensive, but infinitely more peaceful. You know, like an actual vacation.||||Final thoughts:||Double booking happens. Mistakes happen. But this wasn’t about a mistake—it was about how pathetically it was handled. No apology. No accountability. Just denial, gaslighting, and coconut-based emotional damage.||||Avoid this place like it’s a buffet during a norovirus outbreak.||There are too many lovely, respectful, honest accommodations in Phong Nha (like the Victory Road Villas) to waste your time...

We stayed two nights in Coco Riverside. I am judging this as a home stay and not a hotel, as the standards are lower, and it would be unfair to compare.

We found this place nice and relaxing, in a great location on the river with nice views.

The family were a bit hit and miss with communication, especially when I confirmed we had organised our own itinerary and was not going to book any of the tours they propose. Our bus was late by an hour, and because of this, they texted to say it was too late to pick us up from the bus stop, which is about 1km from the property. This was disappointing, but we got there in the end ourselves.

On leaving, they also charged us 50k VND to drop to the station, which is such a short drive, and to be honest, other home stays always give the short lifts for free, so a little disappointing.

The breakfast is small but the eggs and tomato was tasty. The rooms are basic, but fine for a home stay. However, there’s is no sound insulation at all, and this means it can be difficult to sleep. They really should try to remedy this. Same with the door being glass instead of a solid wood and sound insulated door. Addditionally, for improvements, I recommend a safe for the rooms, and maybe another stand to place bags/backpacks on. The bed was quite rigid and not the most comfortable. The hammocks out on the deck in the pictures unfortunately don’t exist.

The owners were nice enough, and will chat to you if you chat to them. Shan and Hung have good English and are easy to deal with. In general, nice and relaxed. They also provided us a motorbike for the day for 150k VND which is a little more expensive than nearby, but it was handy and we liked that.

Overall, I would recommend this place if your main goal is the adventure touring in the area. I also recommend Oxalis Adventure for the tours. They were excellent and professional. A lot of the funds go to be reinvested back into the local area which...

Worst experience. Run away! I've traveled all over Asia and I've never been treated like that. To start with, the air conditioning didn't work/cut off every 5 minutes. We were very hot during the nights. Then, they offered us breakfasts by showing us the mention "1 free meal + a drink" as if it were the case per day when it was just the first time. In addition, the prices are not written on the menu which can lead to unpleasant surprises. If you plan to go to Paradise Cave, make sure you go there on your own! The host made us go through his "partner agency" insisting several times that we take the $110 package instead of the initial $50 one. No matter, the group excursion is useless and just serves to take money from you! Finally, we got back late at night, so there was no one at the reception desk, and we left early in the morning to catch our bus again, with no one at the reception desk. What a surprise when, once on the bus and sleeping, the driver woke me up to answer a phone number that was actually the host, demanding I pay $100 😂 Or they'd call the police! A very strange way to manage customers. They're demanding the price of the outing (when we thought we were supposed to pay the agency directly because they sent me a message on Wattsap to pay them) + what we ate 😂 Really run away, there are plenty of better...