Halise Sanctuary Ninh Binh

Very friendly staff. The room was very clean and perfect temperature. The environment provides a quiet ambiance for the perfect retreat. The facility is just outside the historic downtown with many great restaurants only 1-2 kilometers away.

The rain storm brought some water to the road just outside the reception desk. However, we found that entering from the back of the facility was fine.

Nature and the people. Both were excellent. Top. Stunning peaceful place. Add to that the people, they even found the phone I dropped on my cab. Owner and the staff are really nice.

The location was perfectly placed between Trang An and Tam.Coc. The bicycles provided for free were excellent, if a little bit tired and in need of some TLC. It was such a peaceful place with beautiful surroundings. The limestone karsks towering above the sanctuary were incredible and you really felt like you were in the Vietnamese countryside. However, it was also a short, pleasant cycle ride to Khe Ha Village which was filled with restaurants and cafes and bars. All providing lovely food, cheap drinks and friendly service. Bike ride to Trang An for the boat ride was easy and very accessible, you don't need a taxi. We also took the evening to ride into Tam Coc which had more of a nightlife, But maybe bring some head torches or a light as the ride home on the dark country roads was exciting but I can imagine some people find it scary. The staff were very lovely, it was a nice greeting upon arrival and the dogs are adorable. The receptionist did let us check in early and check out late, which was fantastic because it meant we got extra time in Ninh Binh to cycle down the road to lying dragon mountain, again, another lovely highlight of our visit. This is a lovely accommodation as long as you are not expecting all of the luxuries and fanciness of modern hotels. Great value for money and a real experience of the Vietnamese countryside.

We did have a problem sleeping, due to the remoteness and rural setting, this meant that wildlife was a bit closer than we'd liked. There was a lot of scratching and squeaking on the roof in the middle of the night that kept us up. The breakfast was lovely but left something to be desired, everything tasted fine but it felt a bit flat and the atmosphere was cold. It was nothing exciting. We actually opted to go into the local Village of Khe Ha for breakfast instead. There was no safe in the room so we had to hide and stash our passports and valuables in our bags.

Very peaceful hidden retreat. Besides the excellent location, the beautiful landscape and the tranquility of the nature the staff were so friendly. We were in very good hands with Kathrin, from the transportation organisation from Ha Noi up until our last day.

The bikes were a bit low maintenance mainly because the breaks on the bikes were bad and accident prone