I stayed here for about a week in June of 2010. I was traveling with family (in-laws) who are Vietnamese. I can't speak to a previous review of being "hassled" by a receptionist, but I can speak to my experience there.

I'm a bald white guy, so I stuck out like a sore thumb, I'm sure.

Anyway, the hotel wasn't terrible. It's no Hampton Inn, but you're in Viet Nam for cryin' out loud. The manager lived in the US for a while and speaks English very well. The staff was friendly to me. I tried to speak as much Vietnamese as I could and they were very appreciative of it.

I was able to get WiFi throughout the building. I wouldn't say the signal was strong, but it was obtainable if you need to check your email or Skype. They had computers in the lobby, but there was always kids on it playing games or something.

The World Cup was going on at the time, so the noise was a little... loud... but it seemed to be off at 10PM and not a bother.

The bed was simple, the rooms were simple. Bed was moderately comfortable. Air conditioning worked. Occasionally the power went out (due to city wide planned brownouts)... but that wasn't the hotels fault. If I remember, they had a generator anyway. Oh, the lights in the bathroom were sort of dim.

The breakfast was good. Do me a favor - if you speak something other than English, learn a little Vietnamese and be gracious. I saw a couple being rude to the lady serving coffee (which was awesome, by the way). She may not have known - I don't know if she spoke English - but they were being condescending.

Location. It's right next to the train station, though you'd never know. I don't think I heard any trains go by, to be honest. I think it was about 10 minutes from the airport, and pretty close to the ocean. I hitched a ride with a scooter driver every morning and swam at China Beach.

There's a mall not too far away.. maybe three blocks, though you have to cross a busy street to get there. If you haven't partaken in Vietnam traffic, you're in for a treat.

Plenty of little stores near by. Coffee, general store, food, etc.

So yeah. It was good. Not bad, not the best. Solid.

I guess this hotel has 3 stars because its bedrooms and bathrooms are big. Otherwise it's a shabby hotel occupied mostly by Vietnamese businessmen and karaoke wannabes.

Positives - big rooms, clean bathrooms, clean foyer, quite nice bedlinen. Also right next to the train station.

Negatives - dated furniture, aging curtains, lampshades with paint splodges made all the more mysterious because nothing has been recently painted

Also a big WARNING about being alert and assertive when it comes to paying the bill. The receptionist at Faifo Hotel quoted me 20USD for the room. When I said I would pay in dong she used an extremely high rate of 20 000 dong/dollar to tell me I should pay her 400 000 dong. I said no and offered to pay in dollars. When I held out 100USD the receptionist said she could not make change in USD and would make change in VND at a rate of 18 000 dong/dollar (very low). At that point I called the manager who correctly calculated the bill at the going rate of 19 000 dong/dollar ie 380 000 dong. (Most hotels at the moment are using 19 000 dong as the official rate and 18 500 as the rate when converting currency. This hotel was using the same rates as everyone else, but the receptionist was being "creative".)

As the guidebooks say, some receptionists try to improve meagre wages by skimming extra money where they can. Faifo hotel has one of them, so be careful.