Guest Reviews
Reviews are only from people who have stayed there and booked through i-escape.
“We booked Mai Chau Lodge because it's one of the few high-end hotels in North Vietnam outside of Hanoi. Our overall our experience was good, but there were a number of prominent faults, and we felt the value was poor. I would recommend it to groups with young kids or older people.
Rooms are only OK, and half of them face the main regional highway. We requested and received a valley facing room which was better.
The desk staff were very friendly, but not particularly helpful with activities. When we said we wanted to bike around on our own they were unable to provide any sort of useful map and pushed us towards using one of their over priced guides. We eventually extracted a hand drawn map and struck out. The area is indeed great for biking, but it would have been far more satisfying to have a real map.
For the next day, we tried to set up a walking trek. We knew we would need a guide and were happy to pay their prices, but they again immediately steered us towards the softest of options, just a well trod stroll through flat, touristed villages. I eventually was able to communicate that we wanted to get out to distant villages and up into the high hills. They called the guide and were able to come up with something. The guide Zung took us on a great trek, across tea plantations and rice fields, into distant villages, up and down high mountain stream beds, and into the most stunning, tiny mountain pasture bowl I've ever seen. But again, it was all Zung, and we really had to push the desk staff.
The bikes available are in poor condition and need to be sized up. I'm 5'10" and they could only give me the same bike as they gave to my wife, who's 5'5".
The pool was nice, once they got it working.
The cave is great. Don't be put off by the paved first cavern.
Food was good. But our best meals were the picknic lunch Zung set up for our hike and our lunch the next day in the adjacent White Thai village (in the valley behind the hotel, not Mai Chau town along the road).”
Eric, United States (09.10.10)“We stayed at Mai Chau Lodge for 3 nights. We were initially given a room facing the main road. It was extremely noisy at night. We moved to a room on the other side of the building after two nights and it was like being in a different hotel - the room overlooked the pool and rice fields. I would only recommend this hotel if it can gurantee you a room on the poolside of the hotel. The point of going to Mai Chau is to experience rural Vietnam. A room with a balcony on a main road does not achieve this.
Service at the hotel was variable. Security staff who managed the bike rentals, kayaks and cave tour were very good despite limited English. Restaurant and front desk staff were generally less good even though their English was better. We felt that overall service lacked a personal touch. We felt that we were just another family of tourists forming part of a constant stream of tourists passing through the lodge. Nobody asked us if they could help us with planning tours or visits. Nobody asked if we were enjoying our stay. When by the pool, nobody asked if we wanted drinks. This was in contrast to our experience at other hotels in Vietnam.”
Helen, United Kingdom (21.08.10)
