Papilio Homestay Tay Ho

Location is nice, near west lake and nice cafes. Bed was really comfortable, good set up inside. Nice host.

The ceiling in the bathroom needs some renovation, cuz looks ugly. One of the towel had hairs 😓

The place was clean and tidy, host was very friendly and welcoming! I would highly recommend staying here!

Everything was excellent 😃

I had a wonderful 2-week stay at this Hanoi apartment. Located in a nice residential neighborhood near West Lake, it’s surrounded by all the conveniences you could need. The AC and heating worked flawlessly, and there was always plenty of hot water. I especially appreciated having access to the washing machine and the mini balcony, which was the perfect spot for morning coffee. The bed was incredibly comfy, and there was ample storage for clothes, making it easy to settle in. The owner was absolutely lovely—helpful, kind, and fluent in English, which made the experience even more enjoyable. Overall, despite a few minor inconveniences, I was very happy with my stay and would definitely book again.

There are a few areas for improvement: the plumbing could use an update due to a slight sewer smell, and the wet room-style shower has caused some rot. Additionally, the cleaning person hoses down the bathroom from floor to ceiling, which adds to the dampness and exacerbates the issue. The biggest downside, however, was the building's lobby below the apartment, which is used as a scooter parking area. The constant noise from scooters driving in and out, along with the petrol fumes and the gate slamming shut day and night, was quite disruptive.

1/ Easy to contact host on WhatsApp before/during stay. 2/ Good price. 3/ Clean. 4/ Host respected my wishes for no cleaning during stay. 5/ Had balcony, kettle, tea, toilet paper, hairdryer, Wardrobe and cabinet with lock. 6/ Bathroom modern.

1/ My studio was on 4th floor (ground floor = 0) with no lift. Host did tell me after booking. 2/ The room had constant strong smell of food from downstairs or upstairs even until midnight. I would recommend a scent diffuser or ask other tenants to ventilate when cooking. 3/ Didn't realize the place was by West Lake and takes 20min by taxi/moped taxi to Old Quarter (but taxi is cheap). EDIT (a day later): After leaving the above review, the host texted me on WhatsApp with reprimand messages telling me "if you didn't want to stay at my place, just leave" (even though it's booking.com that asked for positive/negative points). He said "I did tell you the studio was at 4th floor" (I also live on the fourth floor at home, but we don't have to take shoes off at the bottom of the apartment building). Also I only noticed the smells during the stay and it was too late to cancel without losing money. Host also reprimanded me for walking up the building's "public" stairs in my shoes one time. He sent a picture of the cleaner cleaning the stairs (which he took?). So note that there's a dirty pizza box on the stairs that said "no shoes". As I was in a hurry one morning to an appointment, and I forgot my face mask, I ran up to get it. At home, we take shoes off at home, but not in the apartment building. He complained cleaning the building stairs once, when I had to climb those stairs every day in my socks. If I could choose again, I would rather pay twice the price, as there are many un-written rules. The feedback was not that negative (see points 1-3 above), but he told me "I welcome all another guest to come back except you". Seem an over-reaction for just three points of feedback.