Lan Homestay

We had a wonderful stay at Lan Homestay in Viet Hai Village. Everything felt warm, authentic and beautifully organized. We went on a cruise in Lan Ha Bay, explored the area by bicycle, and enjoyed amazing home-cooked meals every day. The food was delicious and prepared with a lot of care. A special thank you to Hai and Chilly, who took care of everything for us — transfers, activities, organization, and anything we needed. They made our stay easy and relaxing from start to finish. Highly recommended for anyone visiting Viet Hai. We would happily come back!

My wife and I are from the USA (Brooklyn, NY) and are very experienced travelers. We came to Cat Ba and Lan Homestay via Ninh Binh, which was about a 5-6 hour total journey by private car, ferry, cab and speedboat. It was well worth it! While we would strongly recommend Ninh Binh (which has been described as "Halong on land"), Cat Ba's bay-view landscapes were utterly breathtaking and other-worldly. We wanted to avoid the over-touristed Halong Bay, and found Cat Ba and Viet Hai (in particular) to be relatively spartan and uncontaminated by too many foreign influences. Cat Ba town is under heavy construction and will likely soon become Halong-like crushed, but get out to Viet Hai and enjoy the untouched roads and jungles surrounding Lan Homestay. Chilly will take good care of you, as he took care of us. We read about his warmth, hospitality and attention to detail in assuring we got to wherever we need to go with little fuss. Lan Homestay's grounds are perfectly landscaped and lush with flowers and plant life. The surrounding area is designed for unforgettable, easy-going bike rides along relatively untrafficked roads. The day long boat ride and kayaking trip is a must; there is no better way to spend your day in this unforgettable bay of spectacular views and serene waters. We went on the nighttime plankton tour, as well. It was not the right time of year to see the plankton (we were there in September), but the karst limestone mountains are a sight to see on the water at night (as well as some of the tiny local fishing boats colorfully lit up on the water). Lan Homestay was altogether the right place to be. The food was okay (we love more spicy food offerings, which were available further down the road beyond Jade Garden in Viet Hai). Our room was good, though we did miss free coffee and water. But all of that pales in relation to the incredible care provided by Chilly, who arranged for all of our very complicated transportation requests from us. There are 3 or 4 "packages" that are pushed on visitors the moment you arrive, but Chilly can help you navigate your plans the way you want them. He's a special guy and this is a special place. We also met a number of fellow travelers on our excursions that made the experience even more memorable. We highly recommend Lan Homestay!

We went with mixed feelings due to the reviews - we do not recommend this place! Multiple reasons: - very scammy tactics to get money from you, they overcharge you for everything they can (speedboat transfer costs 700'000vnd, at other places the price is 300'000-400'000 vnd, the public ferry costs 100'000vnd p/P (schedule online). They told us the public ferry does not cater to foreigners, but it does and the captain of the boat was very friendly! - food is mediocre and overpriced, better to eat in any other restaurants in the village (there are not that many to choose from) - activities are overpriced and there are better options out there (check tripadvisor or similar) - location is good, but viet hai is VERY quiet and expensive to get to. If you want a very quiet stay and plan to stay for several daysit is worth it. People were very friendly and open-hearted. - it is not a homestay at all, it is just a hotel with bungalows. The owner was not there ever and it was not personal at all. - during dinner guests were forced to dine with each other (which is okay), but one did not have a choice. Food was little for the price (150'000vnd p/P) and the host/staff did not join (therefore not really a homestay). A few good points to note: - bungalow was good and value for the hotel itself was fair, but considering all the addons (ferry, national park tax, port tax, electric cart transfer) expensive - host and staff very helpful and friendly - organization of transfers and communication in general were great

Lan Homestay was peaceful and in a remote location but be warned, getting there was interesting! We were aware that once we were there, we needed a further boat (either local ferry or speedboat) to Viet Hai. The long and short of it is, that you will be charged a lot of money regardless of how you choose to get there. The local ferry isn’t an option for tourists ‘apparently’, and the owner and boat drivers seem to have it all sewn up with rates varying from £22-30 depending on the day. We personally felt ripped off. The manager *** was helpful and there are various activities on offer. The food is simple (very small portions), the beds are rock hard and the cleanliness of the very basic bathroom was much to be desired. We were planning on staying for 4-5 nights but left after 3.