GGuest UserThe Châu Trí Hotel Bến Thành Central is sometimes referred to as Happy House Hotel, so can be a bit confusing.
The entrance from street level is up a narrow set of steps not suitable for those with mobility issues or anyone not strong enough to carry their own luggage. There is a lift but it’s located up the stairs behind reception. You need to watch your footing both ascending and descending these steps often bypassing the staff sitting on these smoking.
The room was a good size with a balcony. The balcony however housed two air-conditioner extractor units which made even more noise than the actual air-con unit inside the room. This unit seemed barely capable of its function, to cool the room. The fan provided did not work.
The tap in the bathroom leaked; a steady trickle. The shower is in a mini-bathtub, (a shub). This does not fit to the walls leaving a gap, which must allow water to run down and onto the floor at each time of use. It’s tricky climbing in, is dangerous when wet and I’d say your chances of lipping or tripping getting out are moderate to high so be very careful. I could not get the shower hot enough in the morning or cool enough in the afternoon. It is constructed for a very short person, so fine if you’re about five-feet or so. The water pressure is not great.
There is a TV but it does not have any terrestrial channels. It has YouTube. I couldn’t get this to work initially and neither could reception who had to ask another staff member to do this, which they did. The controls for this are clumsy. The bed base is very noisy and the mattress uncomfortable. The pillows though are great.
The room was clean. The area is quiet, for Saigon. There are some nice cafes about.
There is a desk but if you want to plug in your laptop you have to first disconnect the fridge. Of the furniture in the room, there is a couch and an easy chair both of which seem to be for show rather than for any practical purpose, like sitting in or on.
I can’t say I found the staff, especially the two men, very friendly. I think they’re in the wrong occupation. The exception was the housekeeper who was nice enough. The room comes with a comprehensive list of pecuniary charges for any damages and certain behaviours which all seemed a bit over the top. This seemed in keeping with the demeanour of the staff who perhaps might be better suited to some correctional role. I have no objection to smokers indoors being fined though I have to say.
Though the area is quiet there was constant noise during the day from renovation of the building two doors down which involved someone with a sledgehammer; and at times a jackhammer, though this won’t last.
There were two bottles of water in the room on arrival as is standard. However, if you want more water you have to ask at reception and they state a charge for these of 10,000 VND per bottle though in the end I was not charged. When I checked out they did not inspect the room before I left. Some places do, some don't.
Could do better. 1.5-2.0/5.
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