.....Unless you want to pay 4 star prices for a 2 star hotel (without the 2 star service)

ok where do i start ......

its a lovely hotel on first impressions .... if you ignore the fact you are surrounded by building sites and rubble and general mess .... yes, you can see the bay if you have binoculars. The reception area is lovely, and despite being very dissapointed about the location, it seemed it would live up to its 4 stars.

Howver, thats where it ends. We attempted to check in ....we had paid via a travel agency for one night , and had booked another nights stay, however on arrival after around 20 mins of what can only be described as faffing about they said we needed to pay cash why i dont know ... this is alledgedlly a 4 star international hotel. in addition, they asked for the same rates we had paid via the travel agency (with booking fee) when the cost of the room was clearly marked as less in reception. When we asked why, they said 'we give you fruit in your room' to which we replied 'thats ok, we dont want fruit' ... cue more faffing.

We told them we could only pay by visa, and they swiped the card the wrong way, which read card error, and would not put it through again. by this point, we were starting to get pretty annoyed as it had been a long journey from Hue that morning. They gave us the key and said that we could pay after we were settled.

upon reaching the 5th floor we were met by the overwhelming smell of paint as they were repaining all the corridors - its unlucky that we chose their week of renevations to stay, but again, another thing to put us off.

The room itself was fine. Minibar, decent sized bathroom.

We had a look through the hotel guide - as this place is in the middle of nowhere we wanted to see what options we had in the hotel to eat. We began with the skybar, which opens at 5pm.

We sat for around 15 mins in a completely unattended bar before someone appeared ... also the wine list was incorrect, from all the choices available, only one bottle was left.

we ate out that night, but decides to spend the next day by the pool, and take advantage of the poolside bar as decribed in the guide (2nd floor) where we could enjoy drinks, snacks and sandwhiches.

This bar does not exist!!!! what we actually forund was a bit of a grubby pool area ... 4 wooden uncomfortable sunloungers, without cushions, no bar of any description and no one around whatsover (despite this also being the floor where the spa, sauna, beauty rooms etc are) when i went to reception to ask where the bar was - showing the description on the leaflet, i was told sorry. no bar and was shrugged at.

We have stayed in 2 star hotels which are of a far higher standard and been very happy and wanted to treat ourselves to a bit of luxury this time and were very dissapointed. to be expected to pay $100 (75 english pounds) was unacceptable - if we hadnt already paid, we would have certainly left the hotel to find better accomodation.

Further into town for the same price there are some far better hotels. we certainly learned our lesson.

Following a week of hectic Ha Noi, The Mithrin in Ha Long was a welcome break.

I agree with the other reviews on here, where they mention that the hotel is a way out of the city. However, I was also advised to steer clear of the city as it wasn't anything special and therefore, I don't feel as though this hindered the hotel or my experience.

Bearing in mind the above, which some have used to mark down the hotel. On a plus side you are literally 10 minutes walk from the main Tourism Wharf, whereby you will find the Junks and boats touring people around the bay. The hotel also provides tours and will happily arrange a junk for you to see the Bay. My partner and I were lucky enough to get a whole boat to ourselves.

The hotel boasts a top floor bar, although this was rather quiet and little expensive in my opinion. The main restaurant is located in the lobby and offers reasonable value for money. The prices are a little inflated, but the portions huge. My advice, order the Pho Bo, at $2.50 that alone was enough to feed a small army. Breakfast was good, the best during my travels, so far. There is an omelette chef and the usual fruits, veggies, pastries and cooked rice dishes.

The room was spacious, equally the bathroom. Housekeeping were swift, early and nothing went astray. You get all of the trappings of a Western Hotel, free bathroom condiments, dressing gown, slippers. The laundry service was superb and very prompt.

My only issue was with the windows. Initially we were given a 10th floor room (which had superb views of the bay). However, the windows are not secured at this height and given that I sleep walk. I had some fears as to my safety. On requesting a floor change they were happy to accommodate me and we were placed on a lower floor. Bear this in mind if, like me, you are prone to walking in your sleep of if you have children. God forbid something may happen.

The other services offered, although I never used them, are a salon, jacuzzi, steam and dry steam rooms etc. They appeared a little under used and neglected. I think that with a little more attention to detail and investment, they could be a useful asset.

The staff were lovely, although they did struggle to understand some of our requests at times.

Be aware though, that the hotel is located in a developing location, so building works were and, I would imagine, will continue to be an issue. There is no beach as such, although the ads and sites lead you to believe there is. Noise is at an absolute minimum even when construction is taking place. So if you can put up with the eyesore then it shouldn't trouble you too much.

Finally, if you shy away from minibar prices as we do, take a trip out back to the high street, there are a few shops in which to buy some water, nibbles and tied me overs, at very reasonable prices. Take a day bag and fill it to your hearts content.

Overall, I was really satisfied with The Mithrin, so much so, that I extended my stay by two nights. It really was what I needed to refresh and get back on track, following an enjoyable but rather tiring week in Ha Noi.

We stayed at this hotel on Friday 9 April 2010, and fortunately only for one night. As others have described, the hotel is located slightly remote, however, it is closed to a couple of big sea food restaurants. Our room on 10th Fl. has a beautiful view of the bay, spacious enough for an extra bed for our daughter, while bathroom is not only roomy but comes with one small soap, a blue gluey bath- gel, shampoo,2 toothbrush kits, shower caps and a little comb, 2 sets of bath towels, 2 sets of hand towels, 2 sets of face/wash towels and an extra bath towels hanging at the back of the bathroom door, looked used.
It has a nice and almost 360 degree view of the bay and the hills from the 15th floor bar and balconies. I thought my only complaints were the hard mattress, pilows and very smoky breakfast area at M Floor where guests were eating breakfast and smoking at the same time and a guest pushing us to get to the food which were almost non edible anyway. Furthermore when we asked for a cup of warm milk for our daughter we were told rigidly that they did not have any. Upon checking out, we received our passports which they kept during the stay as part of their regulation; after payment, and getting ready to leave- we were told to wait for the room service report .To our surprise, we were told taht one bathrobe is missing and one hand towel and a small towel were not in the room. It took a while to explain taht we had 2 sets of towels, and that there was one used towel. My husband had to accompany the front desk lady to go back to our room. It was a very deameaning and frustrating experience. There were three of us and therefore they expected three sets of towels and robes ! I should have demanded three sets upon chec kin in. My husband also offered the front desk to check our bags which consisted of a sport back pack, my totebag, Coles Supermarket bag, and our daughter tiny backpack. Where could you store those towels and robes ?
If you really must stay at this hotel, please do count your towels and robes !

Stayed in the suite of this hotel (kids had a room which was also pretty good) which was magnificent.
Service was fabulous and room was spacious, clean and lovely - bedding was especially comfortable. Robes, slippers, all comforts provided and MOST reasonable price.
FABULOUS top floor bar area with terrific views and good cocktail list.
Seems to be off beaten track area. We walked to local markets next morning, and were stared at - like western folk were a rarity (but we thought this was kind of cool). Not much to see in this area except the markets though.
Ate at the local seafood restaurant - NOT IMPRESSED - seemed like we were ignored because we were westerners.
Breakfast was largely traditional vietnamese (rice etc), but they did have a good selection of fruit and an 'omelet cook'.