Benzen Boutique Stays-1 Min to HAN River

Good hotel

Worse hotel ever during our 11-day' trip. We booked a deluxe queen bed room, paid for the 3-day stay early upon the owner’s request to secure the room, and confirmed room availability before arriving (English communication with the manager, he was not available in the hotel when we checked in). We were transferred to the other hotel with the same name (an old building on Main Street, which they called Benzen 1). There are 2 buildings (new and old). The old lady in the new building can’t communicate in English, as well as the other receptionist who checked us in the old building. (We informed the manager through WhatsApp, but we are still getting the room and location that we did not book for.) Once we walked into the room, the whole wooden floor shook, is a family room with a small kitchen. No soundproofing; I can hear talking sounds from upstairs, downstairs, and next door. The worst is the stomping sound upstairs when people walk in the room. Final night during our stay, 3/4 female Vietnamese talked and laughed loudly for the whole night (room 302). Finally, at nearly 1 a.m., we could not stand it and informed the night watcher politely, requesting that they lower their noise. The young Vietnamese ladies then take revenge by stomping around the room, sneaking out of their room (heard them walking down the stairs), and then repeated until 4 am. It seems like they try to filter out the negative comments through 2, 3 different names under Benzen, with the pictures and only the most positive comments from the new hotel, which is misleading. We should be alerted when we read a few comments with the same experiences from other travelers. The high rate is misleading as well, as it was not all the same location and room they promoted. There are chances you will get a different room in the old building; even early confirmation and payment were made for the room and location you selected. Is the risk you have to take.

Excellent location, near the head of the dragon bridge and a few steps away from the night market. It is more a hostel than a hotel. The bathroom is not ensuite but is directly opposite the room. The hostel was very clean and we were happy there. Communication was a problem because we were staying in the property away from the main street and the lady only spoke Vietnamese. That said, once we used Google Translate, it was no longer a problem. Breakfast was fried eggs and bread and a piece of fruit afterwards. Perfectly adequate and very good value. We would happily stay there again.