Ivy Hotel - Ha Long

It's a great place to stay for a day at a reasonable price. Don't expect much from the facilities, but the staff are friendly. There's an elevator, so it was easy to carry my heavy luggage.

This hotel is located in the center of the tourist area. It seems to be a new hotel; the rooms aren't very large, but the facilities are new and the cleanliness is quite good. The beach is right outside, and there are many restaurants nearby. There are taxis and motorbike taxis soliciting passengers at the entrance. You can rent motorbikes and book Ha Long Bay cruise tickets for the next day; the cruise company will provide pick-up and drop-off service. The receptionist speaks English and is very friendly and attentive.

I'll start by saying I liked the hotel itself. It had a window, a small table with a chair, but... The ants. There were a lot of them. At first, I didn't think anything of it—well, it was raining, so maybe that's normal... But they kept coming. If you left a sweet on the table for five minutes, a horde would descend. And that's all tolerable, but even on the bed there were ants. I called the receptionist and told her about the problem. Luckily, she applied some kind of product—eucalyptus and mint. But three hours later, it all wore off, and they were back! :(