SECRET GARDEN Hostel - WANDERNEST Cat Ba

I liked how clean it was the it was close to many things.

The staff is very helpful and friendly

I stayed in a private room and had a really great experience at Secret Garden. The room was comfortable, the bed was very good, the location is central, and the value for money is excellent. The restaurant is also very convenient and the food was really tasty. The best part for me was the social atmosphere. There are always people sitting outside, chatting and getting to know each other, and they also organize evening activities like karaoke, quizzes and movie nights. It makes it very easy to meet people, especially if you’re traveling solo.

Not any, for the Value for money.

Staff absolutely lovely and the place has a really cool vibe to it. We loved the most that not all backpackers are 18-21 but also lots of mature travelers. The tours that you can book at reception are really cool, it's a great place to meet other people, and they have a fair price. On top of that the WiFi is very good and there's AC. The volunteers on site also to a fantastic job in making the stay memorable for everyone.

The in-house restaurant is not the best. It's not bad but also not great. However, that's no issue since there are 2 good restaurants just opposite the street. The bar is really good though. It's best to rent a scooter to get around (which we didn't), since waking to the beach is 30 mins and slightly highly. Also be sure to bring plenty of cash to Cat Ba or have VietQR. There's no non-scam ATMs on the island + card payments at the hostel come with 5% card fee. Best so search a VPBank ATM in a city before. The cleanliness is okay in general. Unfortunately, on two occassions, we had a cockroach in the room - presumably out of the shower drain. Management should definitely look into this! Also if it's unavoidable to some extent in this tropical climate..