Hanoi Central Backpackers Hostel

This was the perfect spot for us to stay and make ourselves at home for our first time in Hanoi. Staff are extremely helpful, the rooms we had were always fresh and clean. You can book all the things you want to do in Northern Vietnam through their front desk. We loved how close it was to everything we wanted to do and see. We would definitely love to come back again in the future. I also lost my film camera on the Ha Giang loop and after notifying the staff at the front desk they had it back in my hands the next morning. I will always appreciate this place for the memories and experiences. Thank you!

All in all great value for money given the free breakfast, location and comfortable beds. Unfortunately the door wouldn’t lock properly so anyone could’ve walked in and every morning, the room would pungently smell like cooking fat just before 7am as if someone was deep frying food right in the room which made it impossible to sleep. The staff were generally very friendly and helpful other than the person serving breakfast that kept working while being very ill, coughing all over the food. The free breakfast is absolutely okay even tho the selection being small. Personal highlight was the walking tour!

This review regards the hostel itself and the guided tours they facilitate. Lets start with the hostel: Pros: - staff is very welcoming, helpful, attentive and friendly - rooms are very clean, probably the nicest you’ll find for this price anywhere in the world - beds and pillows are super comfortable - breakfast is super nice - they are in a remote side alley and they close the rooftop bar at 11 pm and take everyone to a pub crawl so it’s super quiet at night, I didn’t even need earplugs - the crowds are very lovely and pleasant, fun to have a drinks with at the bar, perfect for solo travellers - they offer almost any tour you can think of directly from the hostel Cons: - the beds in the dorm rooms have pieces of wood at the front and back of them and are only 1.9 m long, so if you’re 1.8 m tall or higher you’ll not be able to stretch out at night - there appears to be quite some moisture in the rooms for unclear reasons and they’re hard to ventilate - the showers only have one temperature and it’s painfully hot - some lockers are not in the best condition and may be a struggle to open or close if you’re unlucky (or their alarm goes off randomly, yes they have an alarm) - the rooms are not easy to close properly, so most guests and also cleaners will leave it unlocked. Definitely don’t leave any valuables open in the room! So all in all well worth the price. I would definitely come back here. Since this review is mainly regarding the hostel I therefore give 5 stars. Regarding the tours — I did the Ha Long Bay cruise, the street food tour and the free walking tour. The street food tour was amazing! Very entertaining and educational and totally worth the price. The free walking tour was super informative and entertaining as well. Both lasted about 5 hours, so much longer than advertised. The Ha Long Bay cruise however was a bit of a disappointment, for two reasons: 1. The food was terrible, not just for Vietnamese but for human standards. The meat was hard like a shoe and everything fried smelled like old fat. I looked in the pantry of the ship out of curiosity and it wasn’t clean. I got food poisoning afterwards, but this could’ve also been from something else. I’ve heard from other people that the food was good, so it seems like you may get more or less lucky with the chef. But still at this price it’s unacceptable. 2. The tour is designed in such a way that every day a group depart and arrives to the ship. Therefore, even if you book the 3 day cruise, you don’t actually spend the whole second day hiking, but you’re back at the boat at 2 pm and the afternoon is exactly the same as the first (which isn’t communicated very transparently on the website or in person). So to conclude: The views are magnificent and it’s a fun experience, so I would still recommend it. But under all circumstances definitely book a 2 day cruise!! Because if you like it you can easily extend to 3 days, but if you don’t you waste less time and money. Attached are some pictures of the breakfast, the street food tour and the cruise.

I loved my almost 3 week stay here waiting for my girlfriend to get to Hanoi. It’s an amazing place and you really can’t beat this place price wise. The breakfast is amazing and id be willing to pay the nightly price just to eat it. The staff is great and nostalgic of the people who work here speak English as if it’s their native tongue. They also offer very fast and reliable laundry services for 30k per kg and the clothes often got done before the set out time to pick em up. I only got positives except for one thing. I would have liked a window in my room but besides this there’s no negatives. The room was clean and fresh and the bathroom was great. You got your own locker with a keycard so you can feel secure about leaving stuff in the room. Location is also perfect with the hostel being dead center in the old quarters. The top floor is also wonderful acting as a social space throughout the morning and midday turning in to a nice party place towards the night before their daily pub crawls (which are free btw)

We stayed in a private room, it was very nice. The rooftop bar has a great view and good drinks. The drinking games they played was a little bit to much for us, but they stopped at 11. Breakfast was also more than enough and the free walking tour was really good.

Had everything I wanted! Had a great time staying here in Hanoi. The staff were really helpful at the desk with a good level of English. Comfy beds and a lovely free breakfast. The hostel also had a good social vibe, was easy to chat to people during the evening activities. Special thanks to Hazza, Ben and Miu who made my stay unforgettable!

I think the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure to deal with while traveling. No matter the issue they will split in 4 to help you, the staff is not just accommodating but extremely friendly as well. The rooftop is the nicest place to meet people and have fun. If you have any issues or questions they’ll take care of it, really look it up it’s worthwhile 🙏

We had a wonderful stay at Central Backpackers Hostel. The staff was very helpful, and the services were excellent. We stayed in a 6-person dorm, which was clean and quiet. The complimentary breakfast offered a variety of options, including great coffee. They also organized a day trip to Ha Long Bay, which was an amazing experience.