Booked for 5 days at the Saigon hotel in Halong Bay after spending 2 nights on a Junk in the Bay. What an anti-climax.... the hotel is situated along the bay side where all tourist attractions are supposed to be, pity that that side of Halong Bay gives you the impression of a ghost town... hotels are nearly empty, restaurants are empty etc. We decided to venture to the side where the local people stay and what a contrast.... nice vibe and a buzz. As 5 days in Halong Bay would have resulted me jumping from the 20th floor of the Saigon hotel to alleviate boredom we've decided to book 3 nights at Catba Island approx 2 hours boat drive from Halong Bay... an excellent choice and this was time well spent.

If you plan to visit Halong Bay you must do the 1 or 2 nights on a Junk, there are many options available, but if you have to stay over in Halong Bay try to limit that to one night as there is little to see or do...and if possible choose a different hotel as the breakfast, staff and location of the Hotel is best to try and forget... Rather book 2 days at Catba if you are looking for an island adventure and you will be really surprise with the location, style/elegance, beauty and more to offer if you book at the Sunrise Resort in Catba.

We travelled to this hotel in January and it was cold and raining in Halong Bay at the time of the year. Within a day of arriving we were contacted by the concierge to meet with him personally so that he could ensure that we would get the most out of our visit - given the weather conditions, everything we did was organised by the concierge and he ensured we were given 5 star treatment the whole way. We also felt as though the concierge was frank with us - telling us which tours to do and which tours were just an unnecessary waste of money. The rooms were extremely large and I found the laundry service to be excellent too! We didn't eat at the hotel restaurant but as far as amusement goes the hotel is just a few doors down from the 'casino royale'. Given the terrible weather we had during our stay, I would go as far as to say that if we hadn't stayed at this particular hotel we probably wouldn't have enjoyed Halong Bay.

Our tour package with Saigon Tourist claimed this is a four star hotel, it was nothing close to even 2 star. It's a very old hotel with outdated carpet and windows. It smell horribly and it was dark and dingy with old carpets in hallway and rooms. Would not recommend anyone to stay here. We had a party of 18 and not one of us like this place.

The moment we stepped into the hotel, cigarette smoke filled our nose. The shouting and loud chatters of Vietnamese filled our ears. Apparently, they are having a function of some sort at their ballroom. They laughed and shouted across the room like school boys on their night outs.

We have to lug our own luggage to our rooms because I don't see any bell boys around.

Don't expect much from the room. The centralize AC is not cold enough so they provided a 2nd one. The only up to date electronics there is the flat screen TV. The bed is huge but is on the hard side.

There's hardly any night life because by 11pm, nearly all shops will be closed.

The scenery in the morning is breathtaking and like you are transported to some place in China. We took a lot of pictures from the balcony.

The breakfast is nothing to shout about but after that, you can go out onto the balcony and continue your picture taking.

We only stayed one night so we did not have the chance to try out other facilities like the pool or tennis court.