Flamingo Cat Ba Resort – Managed by Flamingo Hotels & Resorts

The hotel's 'king-size' bed was actually two twin beds pushed together. The room itself was quite spacious and generally good. The mattress was a bit firm, but other than the bed, everything else was fine. Cheers from Cat Ba island!

The taxi dropped me off at Building 1, where the front desk staff was engrossed in their phone. After two minutes, they checked their system and told me they'd call a car to take me to Building 2. I was alone, pushing a 24-inch suitcase, a stroller, and carrying two backpacks, and no one offered to help. When I arrived at Building 2, the front desk informed me that my room was in Building 3, so I had to walk there again. Can you imagine me, alone, hauling all that luggage up and down, with not a single person lending a hand? Picture 1: The bath towels and hand towels after housekeeping cleaned the room the next day – they didn't even try to make it look decent. Picture 2: Dirty slippers and cotton swabs under the bed. Plus, the spout of the kettle was yellowed. I had to walk over a kilometer to a supermarket to buy a new kettle just to make formula for my child. The hotel's pool is free, but you need to rent a lifebuoy for 30,000 VND. Haha, as a foreigner, I came down in my swimming trunks, had no cash, and couldn't use QR code payments, so I couldn't rent one. I paid over 1300 RMB for the room, and I was stumped by something that costs less than 9 RMB. Breakfast at the hotel is a scramble. Building 3 doesn't have a restaurant, so we walked to Building 2. The staff there then shooed us to Building 1, where we had to wait for a table... The hotel's so-called special BBQ buffet costs 750,000 VND per person, and honestly, it's worse than being ripped off by the street food stalls outside the hotel. If you want to eat, walk a little further; you'll find much better value. The highest-rated place on Google Maps – what you eat there and what's in their fish tank are two different things. Two of us paid 1.2 million VND for half a catty of mantis shrimp, a plate of stir-fried squid, a plate of stir-fried beef, and a plate of fried rice. I had just come from the AIME'E cruises the day before, and the service at this hotel is exceptionally bad. It's not that Vietnamese people can't do well in the service industry; it's just that this hotel doesn't live up to its five-star rating. Pictures 3 and 4 show the lovely cruise staff playing with my child.

The best hotel in Cappadocia! The staff service was top-notch, and their responsiveness was excellent. The location itself was superb, and the breakfast was fantastic. The gym is okay if you're looking for bodyweight exercises or dumbbells (though there's a Chris Bumstead video playing on the wall... it's just not possible with the facilities provided). But it's fine for temporary use. The pool: PERFECT!!! Even in the cold January weather, the indoor pool was enjoyable enough (why there's a foot volleyball court or ping-pong table in the middle of the pool is a mystery...). The game room: Just skip this one... it has old games, and some are broken. The kids' room: Don't expect the kids to play there for a long time. However, the location and view are a solid 6/5, which makes it totally deserving of a 5-star rating overall.