Mai Anh Homestay - Pac Bo Village

There is not much to be appreciated. On arrival we were shown to a mouldy room in a garage next to a parked car with an outside toilet and bathroom. We booked a four bed dorm with shared bathroom on suite, yet we were shown a mouldy, dirty windowless room. It was very disappointing and effortless. We were then charged an upgrade fee to have the room that we had actually booked. Maybe they treat Vietnamese people better, but as three westerners a married couple and a friend, we felt like they either didn't know what they were doing, or didn't care enough to treat the guests correctly by giving us the room we booked in the first place. The room we were offered was not suitable, not acceptable to be on any third party booking site!

Wow, dinner was an absolute joke. We were hurried into ordering dinner because they needed time to prepare it. We then got an incredibly over priced rice and pork dish. It was meant to be a large one, but it was just a very large plate of cold rice, which wasn't prepared, added to that was plain pork, and cabbage and tomatoes fried together. There were no onions not garlic or any other seasoning in sight. Having lived in Vietnam for 10 years it was the blandest meal we have ever been served here.

The place is run by a local family who are very kind and friendly! There was even an amazing synchronicity when I was hitchhiking from the intersection, the owner, lady, picked me up!:) Doorm was simple but clean and i had very good sleep. Food is good and price too. Beautiful spots on walking distance! Lovely stay!

Nothing.... don't stay here...foreigner not welvome

We booked this homestay on booking.com the day before.and they confirmed our booking. At 5:30pm on the day of our stay I received a message from the property stating that we were unable to stay there . Apparently a directive from the police. So, my question is...why did you wait till 5:37pm to send me a message on booking.com to inform me that we couldn't stay due to your 'special day' and why are these bookings on booking .com still staying confirmed as though I haven't honoured the booking when you refused us accommodation.? You stated...."No foreigner allowed" If it's a break down in communication then I expect an apology and a credit for the inconvenience and lack of information from you to be further prepared. Your refusal to let us stay meant that myself and my husband were left wandering around Pac Bo area looking for a bed till 9pm to which we finally decided that we needed to travel back to Cao Bang to get a place to sleep. Arrived at 9:45 having hadn't eaten since lunchtime and never saw anything to do with Pac Bo. We were on a motorbike and wasted our time from 4:30pm when we were ready to check in 26th Jan check in......check out 27th No foreigner stay here. My advice....if you're not Vietnamese don't stay here.....they may decide they don't want you and then you'll be stuck with nowhere to go. Not worth it. Book direct through a site that has their own website

I don't understand why this place has such good reviews. We arrived at night, completly wet from the rain, we explained to the owner that we took the difficult road and that we were a bit exhausted. They showed us the room, it was full of mosquito, spiders and insects on the sheets, it didn't have mosquito nets and the water was cold (even though there is a heater displayed on pictures, it didn't work). We were the only guest for the night, so we asked if we could have a better room since this one was absolutly shit, they showed us another room, a bit better but still full of insects. We negociated the price as it was full of insects, but the person was so stuborn. We ended up leaving, there are way better places arround for 1 or 2€ more with warm showers and good understanding people. We went to a place 6km from here, where the owners, after seeing us completly wet, offered us a tea, a warm meal and a private room for the price of the dorm, as it's the low season and the guesthouses are basically empty at this season. I suggest going somewhere else.

We had an absolutely lovely stay at Mai Anh - the hosts were so friendly and welcoming and made us feel right at home. The dinner was really delicious. Rooms were comfortable and clean - highly recommend staying here!