Green Karst Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Đồng Văn Town

First the positives: mostly friendly staff, even if they dont seem to care as much as the rest of the hotels on the loop.||But I have to question where the great reviews for this hotel came from. 4 1/2 stars average? Must be joking! ||They sneakily list their location on the map as close to the main square in town, but when we arrived they told us the location was actually the restaurant, and the hotel was further away. OK it's only an extra 5 minutes walk but still annoying nonetheless. ||When we arrived, the guy working there went up to check the room. When he come down he told us he was "upgrading" us to a better room - which turned out to be a far worse room than the one we had booked. Very small, dirty bathroom and there was no water available at times (see photo). Stayed for 2 nights and of course the room was never cleaned, explained by the fact we saw the cleaner lying starfished on the bed in the room he was meant to be cleaning. To top it off there were two thin long holes in our room door where you could see directly in to the bed (see photo). ||Also wasn't told that they lock the hotel doors at night, so was stuck outside knocking the door until we found the side door open. ||Overall not a great visit. We checked out and stayed in Lam Tung down the road which was...

First the positives: mostly friendly staff, even if they dont seem to care as much as the rest of the hotels on the loop.||But I have to question where the great reviews for this hotel came from. 4 1/2 stars average? Must be joking! ||They sneakily list their location on the map as close to the main square in town, but when we arrived they told us the location was actually the restaurant, and the hotel was further away. OK it's only an extra 5 minutes walk but still annoying nonetheless. ||When we arrived, the guy working there went up to check the room. When he come down he told us he was "upgrading" us to a better room - which turned out to be a far worse room than the one we had booked. Very small, dirty bathroom and there was no water available at times (see photo). Stayed for 2 nights and of course the room was never cleaned, explained by the fact we saw the cleaner lying starfished on the bed in the room he was meant to be cleaning. To top it off there were two thin long holes in our room door where you could see directly in to the bed (see photo). ||Also wasn't told that they lock the hotel doors at night, so was stuck outside knocking the door until we found the side door open. ||Overall not a great visit. We checked out and stayed in Lam Tung down the road which was...

I've been to Vietnam a few times and my time at Green Karst definitely ranks among the top experiences. Many bike the 'loop' swiftly, but I would recommend making Đồng Văn your base for a few days instead, and visiting the copious breathtaking destinations on and around the loop from there. That way, you can pick and choose when to visit what, wait for good weather, revisit places you really loved, and so on.||||Tân and his wife Dịu are hosts of the highest distinction, clearly willing to go the extra mile for their guests. I witnessed Dịu disinfecting the wound of an unlucky biker, for example, and Tân took me to the market to buy clothes and negotiate on my behalf after I merely mentioned that I was looking for a new top. In sum: Stay a few days here, you won't regret it! (Also, the receptionist, Tho, is very pleasant and I recommend asking him to teach you a few phrases in Hmong before you head out on your bike; this will drastically improve your chances of a smiling welcome from the mountain dwellers outside the town!)||||I believe the premises in town may be changing next month, but everything I have said here should...