Thao Nguyen Homestay

The Homestay was basic but clean. In the area you should not be expecting high-end accomodation along that stretch so I find Thao Nguyen good as it offers clean bathroom and room. Overall, it was a pleasant stay with big rooms.

We landed at Phong Nha with no prior booking at 6:00 pm. Thankfully it's a small town/village with just one main road having all homestays/hotels. While walking along it, we came across this property and struck up a conversation with the owner Linh. He was very honest and helpful in our interaction in-spite of us having no booking. This spurred me to book the night stay at his place. He gave us a very good upgraded room and also booked the next day limousine to Ninh Binh for us. The room was huge and good enough for 4 people. The smart tv had Netflix, Yahoo which was an icing on the cake. All in all this lovely Homestay with the superb host is a one stop shop for anyone coming to Phong Nha. We were going to explore the caves using Google maps but he gave us useful tips because of which trust me, we took motorcycle over water - a once in lifetime experience. His tip surpassed even Google. The discounts he got for us for next leg of trip (to Ninh Binh) were unbelievable. To put things in perspective, he got us limousine cheaper than bus. Nothing ever beats that. I would strongly recommend this place and if given a chance would surely revisit without blinking an eyelid.

The owner of the guesthouse was very helpful, friendly, and spoke good English. He knew a lot about the different cave tours and tour operators, and we booked a cave tour through him. I also rented a really good mountainbike for a bicycle ride on my own around the area. We did not stay at the homestay, as we had already booked something else, but the place looked really clean, has a nice pool, and a friendly atmosphere! The owner also gave some good advice on other nice places to go further down south.

The Staff were really helpful and stayed up for us when we arrived. Hotel was nice and clean, nice pool at the back with a good view! Rooms were nice and comfortable and had good facilities. Lots to do in the area too.

I stayed at Thao Nguyen Homestay for 3 nights in February 2023. This homestay is in the center of town near many restaurants and shops. There are numerous homestays in town to choose from. But what is special about this homestay is the host, very hospitable towards his guest. Any questions I had about the area regarding caves or sites the host explained in detail. The host helped me get a local SIM card, motorbike and arranged the bus to Hue. The host treats his guest like a family member. I had a room overlooking the swimming pool, although I didn’t use it. The room was decent size, shower had hot water, however the bed was a little firm to my liking (minor complaint). I would not hesitate to stay here again.

I really liked my corner room, overlooking the pool and hill. It was large, sunny, peaceful, and a nice place to hang out when not doing other things. The people who run the hotel are very nice and helpful, and also very knowledgeable about local tours and buses to other cities, both of which they can arrange for better prices than online. Their knowledge about both is quite detailed, so the can give you good advice.

The staff we so lovely and helpful, assisted in arranging some great tours for us and we there for anything we needed. The pool/mountain view room is definitely recommended! We will be back every time we are in Phong Nha.