Review of the Lang Chai Hotel, Cat Ba Island

The Lang Chai Hotel is a pleasant inexpensive hotel located in the main town on Cat Ba Island, which is in the Halong Bay region of Vietnam. The Lang Chai Hotel gets very busy during the high season from April to August, as do other hotels in the area, and is probably best avoided during those months but at other times of the year this is a great place to stay.

Good points about the Lang Chai Hotel

The Lang Chai hotel sits at the southern end of Cat Ba town within easy walking distance of the town’s restaurants, shops and bars, as well as the ferry terminal.

This medium sized hotel has a large restaurant on the ground floor and 6 floors above containing 30 rooms, with a rooftop cafe above. Most of the rooms have a sea view.

When we stayed we found the gentleman running the reception to be very helpful. He spoke very good English and did an excellent job of booking onward bus tickets and a boat trip around Halong Bay. The tickets and the boat trip he organised were considerably cheaper than the prices offered by the travel agents we asked in Cat Ba town.

Rooms at the Lang Chai Hotel

The room we stayed in was clean and well equipped. The room had a fridge, satellite TV, fan and air-conditioning.

The only thing that was a little unusual about the room was the glass panel and glass door separating the bathroom from the bedroom. There was, however. a curtain which can be pulled across for privacy.

The shower worked well and the water was hot. Towels and soap were provided, as well as disposable toothbrushes. All in all the room was great for the money we paid, and you could see the ocean from the window. If this hotel had been designed to feature balconies then the owner could probably have charged a lot more per night, but nonetheless you still get a lot for your money at the Lang Chai Hotel.

Facilities at the Lang Chai Hotel

The main facility of the hotel is the large restaurant downstairs. The restaurant has been designed to cater for large groups of Asian, mostly Vietnamese, tourists. The restaurant features a range of different types of food on the menu although what most people come here to eat is fish, and there are lots of live fish in tanks in front of the restaurant. During the high season this restaurant gets very busy and noisy until nearly midnight most nights, hence why even the hotel’s owner advises non-Asian travellers in small groups that this may not be a great place to stay during that period. From September through to March the restaurant barely sees any trade and the Lang Chai Hotel is a very peaceful place to stay.

Breakfast is served in the roof top cafe which has great views over the small bay upon which the Lang Chai Hotel is located. The breakfast options are basic, but good enough. The Oasis Bar, which is next door to the Lang Chai Hotel, opens early in the morning and serves a much better Western style breakfast if that is what you are after.

The hotel has good free WiFi, a lift and wide stairs and corridors. Because the hotel is fairly new everything is very modern and in good condition. It’s much better than you would expect given the low room prices.

Location of the Lang Chai Hotel