Happy Family Guesthouse ( ThuyAn Homestay ) — Hotel in Xã Đồng Phú

We chose this Homestay because it had a pool!||||This place is located on An Binh Island so a boat is always going to play a part in getting you to it!||||We came from Can Tho on a FUTA bus that was bound for Ho Chi Minh City. It took less than an hour. ||||We think that 'The Phuong Trang Rest Stop, Cai Be' is where we should have got off. Then get a taxi to the ferry wharf that is closest to the Homestay. Check your map and do your homework. It was tricky but it was daytime so we didn't get too excited. We eventually got there! We ended up at the wrong wharf and so our boat ride took an hour instead of 30 minutes. We enjoyed seeing all the fish farms along the way so that was a bonus. We did feel slightly nervous at the wharf when we had locals trying to persuade us to go on their boat. They all seemed to guess where we were heading. We rang our Homestay to ask what we should do but unfortunately there was nobody on duty that day who had good English and it was all lost in translation! Ah well, the joys of travelling! Just go with it! It's all worth it.||||This Homestay is so relaxing. We loved sitting by the river and watching the world go by.||||Outside the Homestay, there's a narrow dirt track. There's no calling a cab here! You won't get far here on foot. ||||We jumped on the bikes and found a quite large market. Turn left out of the Homestay and follow the path for 3.4km. Google Maps misled us so ask the locals for directions. It was great for buying fruit, trinkets, lunch and frogs! There was so much everyday Vietnamese life to observe along the way. It was pretty easy riding too but hot. Go early to avoid the heat.||||At the markets, look for a large, sort of modern, café that has cream floor tiles and red and green plastic chairs. Sit there for breakfast with the locals. Order some pho which will come from the next shop! ||||Do yourself a favour and download the Google TRANSLATE app. We used it all the time. There's so little English spoken in this area. We hardly saw any other tourists.||||Mosquitoes were not an issue but we regularly applied repellent.||||Our room had great aircon. Note that some rooms do NOT have aircon, just a fan. Check when you book if this matters to you. The shared bathroom was a few steps from our door. Easy.||||If you are travelling with kids, the pool would keep them happy. Young children could ride on the paths but would need some road sense as there are motorbikes passing regularly. It's not particularly dangerous but you just need to be careful. It's a very educational experience. ||||We are two ageing backpackers in our mid 50's and we really enjoyed the experience here. Two nights would have been sufficient but three meant we had an extra day to read, eat, relax and go to the markets again to buy supplies. There is nowhere else to eat other than the Homestay or the markets.||||Keeping in mind how little we paid to stay here and our access to a pool, I have to give 5 stars, but it ain't The Ritz! The accommodation is basic indeed but more than adequate. ||||We recommend ROOM 15 with a queen bed and single bed. We didn't use the mosquito nets. The aircon was great plus we had a fan. We had some natural light and a cot! It was handy to hang our clothes on and charge our devices on! Don't worry about the thin mattresses. They were quite comfy and we slept very well. ||||May was a very quiet time of...

It was the worst experience I ever had in Vietnam. This guesthouse was a nightmare as we only wanted to leave the place faster. The showers are shared and this is not a big issue. Only they are filthy, they smell bad and the walls and ceiling are damped. Rooms - mattress smelled like must and it was awful to feel that smell during the entire night. I had to cover a part of the bed with clean towels that I had but the rottenness smell came through. The mosquito nest was not clean, we tried to cover the bed with it during the first night but it was impossible to breathe under it so we asked the stuff to wash it the next day and it was better. There is no air conditioning, only fans that make noise and don't have much effect on the comfort as they only direct the musty air, no fresh air from outside. Also, the walls in our rooms were covered by mold. Cuisine - it is good as is prepared by the family but as everything is smelly around you don't feel very safe to eat. It seemed they gave almost no attention to sanity and we had mixed feelings about most of the food. Garden & pool - they have animals in the garden and this makes the smell less enjoyable. The pool is not as in the pictures, it is rather a small pond for kids. Activities - they took us on a boat trip to a so-called "floating market" but at the time we were there nothing was happening. Then the captain of the boat who could speak no English took us to a candy factory and artisanal rice products. At the hour of the day we got there nobody was working and all the ovens were off. The captain explained with his hands the process but it was a bad joke. They charged us for this trip and they didn't even appologize for taking us there outside working hours. Staff - they try to make you comfortable but at the end of the day is all about money. It seems like a good guesthouse that was mismanaged for a while. I was stomach sick the second...

Great homestay. The facilites are really good and there is even a swimming pool. I think rooms can do better with a night table Lamp. The service goes beyond exceptional making sure you feel good and welcomed. They even checked I arrived safe to my destination. Breakfast offers many options. I had a fruit platter that was good enough. You can order food there: it’s big portion and delicious and rightly priced given the location. Deck to look at the sunset in the Mekong is perfect.

Only thing I did not like at all: The Mekong delta tour they offer is below average. I expected a bit more of adventure but we just visited average markets with the usual touristy magnet. We took a small boat for about 10’ to a random canal and the lady did a U turn to go back to the big boat. Best was to see the folk music, but even that got shaded. We were offered fruits and a lady asked what we wanted to drink, we all thought was included in the tour and then we had to pay an overpriced coffee (for the kind of coffee). So, pretty disappointed with that.

However I do think that the homestay is really good, just do the tour with a different...