Tourists face 'bitter consequences' when booking hotel rooms when coming to Ho Chi Minh City on the occasion of the 30-4 holiday

Mr. Ngo Ngoc Luyen's family (50 years old, Binh Chanh district, Ho Chi Minh City) deposited half of the hotel room fee on Truong Dinh street, district 1 in early April, but when they checked in... there were no rooms available - Photo: NL

Recently, many readers were upset when they reported to the Tuoi Tre hotline that they had booked a hotel room in Ho Chi Minh City nearly a month in advance to celebrate the 30-4 holiday. However, at noon on 29-4, when they checked in, they were told that "there were no rooms available" or that the hotel room rates had increased many times.

Booked online for nearly 11 million VND, arrived for nearly... 40 million VND

Reader Pham Mau Thu Huong (27 years old, Hanoi ) said that on April 6, she booked 2 rooms at Saigon Premium Hotel (260 Ly Tu Trong, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) via the Booking.com app. The price for 2 double and single rooms for a family (4 adults, 1 child) for 2 nights (April 30 and May 1) at the time of booking was nearly 11 million VND. Ms. Huong said that to book a room, she had to make sure to book the room with credit card information.

"At nearly 5 p.m. on April 29, a taxi took my whole family back to the hotel after we contacted the hotel to introduce the pick-up service. However, when we got to the correct address, the hotel name was KAS Premiun Hotel, not Saigon Premium Hotel. Furthermore, the staff said... there were no rooms available," said Ms. Huong.

Seeing that guests were coming in and checking in normally, Ms. Huong went online to check the room status at this hotel. There were still rooms but the price "jumped" for 2 rooms at nearly 40 million VND.

Ms. Huong added: "I wondered and told the staff, they said the room rate was 30-40 million VND. If you agree, you pay the extra and get the room. If you don't agree, you cancel yourself and lose money. They confirmed that they are just staff so they have no right to make other decisions."

According to Ms. Huong, when she saw two other families in the same situation... "no room" like her family, Ms. Huong realized the story was going in the wrong direction so she "made things worse" by asking to meet the owner; livestreaming on social networks; reporting to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism inspector...

On April 29, when checking in at the hotel on Ly Tu Trong Street (District 1), the staff reported that there were no rooms available even though the online booking cost nearly 11 million VND, but on the app there were still rooms available for nearly 40 million VND - Photo: TH

The hotel promised to notify booking.com for free cancellation, but not trusting Ms. Huong, she locked her bank card and sent a free cancellation request via the app.

"Wandering on the street, I was introduced by a group of young people to rent a small house on Hoang Dieu Street, District 4; the price is 1.2 million VND/day. I returned from Australia after 8 years away from home so I really wanted to attend the 30-4 celebration.

My parents have been to Ho Chi Minh City many times, but this is the first time they have had a bad experience, which is both frustrating and sad. I think the city needs to review cases of "ugly" businesses in the eyes of tourists," Ms. Huong shared.

Go to the place to make sure to book a room, check in knowing for sure... 'wrong'

Another "bitter fruit" of booking a hotel room when his wife's family flew from Nam Dinh to Ho Chi Minh City and his son flew from Singapore to attend the April 30th celebration was the story of Mr. Ngo Ngoc Luyen (50 years old, Binh Chanh district, Ho Chi Minh City).

Mr. Luyen said his extended family of 16 people, including two 75-year-old seniors who had served in the army and three children, chose Ho Chi Minh City to reunite and celebrate the 30-4 holiday, watch military parades, marches, etc.

On April 7, his family booked 3 rooms for one night on April 29 at Alpina Hotel Saigon (at 5 Truong Dinh, District 1) for 4.2 million VND; deposit 2.1 million VND. However, Mr. Luyen said the information on the invoice was Eliot Boutique!?

Mr. Luyen's son had anticipated the risks when booking a room during the holiday, went to the place to deposit the room fee but still... had no room - Photo: NL

"My son came back from Singapore, but was very careful not to book a hotel room online. He went to the hotel to book and got the bill to be sure. At noon on April 29, he checked in, the hotel said there were no rooms, said the faucet was broken... and returned the deposit.

Meanwhile, foreign guests checked in and out as usual. I took a photo of the payment confirmation of a group of 8 guests, staying for 1 night on April 29 for... 11 million VND," Mr. Luyen said indignantly.

Thinking that there was a lack of respect for customers and signs of price gouging and oppressing customers, Mr. Luyen called the police station.

However, according to Mr. Luyen, the resolution of the matter was not satisfactory for the family's reunion plan, because it left unfinished a grand ceremony that only happens once every 50 years.

Inspectors of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism have scheduled a meeting with the hotel owner on May 3.

On April 30, speaking with Tuoi Tre Online , the leader of the Department of Tourism Management of Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Department said that the accommodation facility has received the above feedback and will check whether the hotel has an operating license, how many stars it has, and whether it meets the standards for serving tourists. As for other issues such as the nature of the incident, whether there was fraud with guests, or how to handle it... it belongs to the Department's Inspectorate.

According to initial information, on April 29, Mr. Le Hoai Trung, Deputy Chief Inspector of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, was present at the Saigon Premium Hotel (260 Ly Tu Trong, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) to record the feedback, and made an appointment with the second business owner on May 3 to come to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism to work.

Recently, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism has sent many recommendations to tourists during the April 30 holiday and requested tourism service businesses to seriously implement public price posting, ensuring service quality...

The Department provides a contact point to receive feedback and support tourists via phone number: 0281022, press extension number 8; or for tourist accommodation services, please contact Ms. Vo Ngoc Diep, head of the tourist accommodation management department, phone: 0919.823.928; or Mr. Nguyen The Hang, specialist of the tourist accommodation management department, phone: 0933.383.385

For shopping and dining services, contact Ms. Vuong Dinh Nguyen Hang, Deputy Head of Tourism Accommodation Management Department; phone: 0932.195.380

Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism provides a list of licensed accommodation establishments and travel businesses on the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism's Electronic Information Portal at website: https://sodulich.hochiminhcity.gov.vn.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/khach-du-lich-gap-trai-dang-dat-phong-khach-san-khi-den-tp-hcm-dip-dai-le-30-4-20250430003803886.htm