Dong Van B&B

Location great, but nothing else particularly good about this place.

When I checked in, there was no-one around and no obvious check in desk to go to ask. Eventually I asked someone, who turned out to be the owner. The room was basic, with bad lighting; the shower didn't drain properly so you end up with a pool of water where you use the toilet. Both nights we were disturbed by events going on. Breakfast was unacceptable – a fried egg on cheap white bread slices, with instant coffee. They offered a lump of condensed milk from a carton, because it had gone solid in the fridge. When I checked out, I told them 3 times that I didn't want breakfast, and just wanted to pay and leave, but they still got busy with the frying pan. Pool water was brown.

The bungalow room was large. The family tried to cooperate.

Normally I don’t like to leave a bad review, but I would like to warn you before you will become disappointed. After the first day of the Ha Giang Loop we stopped in Dong Van (like most travellers) and we wanted an accommodation with swimming pool. The price was €30/$30 for one night excl breakfast but was not worth it. The swimming pool was dirty with lots of bugs and the water was not clear at all. We mentioned it to the owners but they keep denying it was clean and told us they are currently filtering the water. That was not true at all. They offered a free tobacco bath (?) which was kind of them, but we refused it because those small baths also did not look clean. After some Google translate discussions we mentioned that they could make up for it by offering us some drinks. Apparently this was too much for them because we got only €4/$4 discount. The room itself was ok but there are loads of mosquitoes in the room. There were no windows because the window part was covered up with wood with holes where mosquitoes can fly through. On Booking it says you have a BBQ included with the bungalow, but that was also not true.

The scenery is simply extraordinary here! The comfort level was very high for this remote location and Wi-Fi excellent. Housekeeping and staff were always available and they sent a car to pick me up from the bus. It was a great place to take day hikes from using the Wikiloc app. The next door 1986 Glam Camp served the best fresh ginger tea in their outdoor tea and bar service.

My visit was in mid-December and it was cool in the large room. I would recommend earlier in the year to do this gorgeous place justice. It was advertised as coming with breakfast, but being off season, it was not available.