The truth about room hoarding and price gouging at the world's best tourist village Lo Lo Chai

Buckwheat flower season and the "World's Best Tourist Village" award attract a large number of visitors to Lo Lo Chai. Homestays are fully booked, with suspicions of "hoarding rooms" and driving up prices.

Panoramic view of Lo Lo Chai village from above. Photo: Hieu Nguyen Tran .

Ha Giang is entering the peak tourist season with the buckwheat flower festival. Places such as Lo Lo Chai, Tham Ma slope, Ma Pi Leng, Pho Cao, Lung Cu have recorded a large number of tourists coming to visit and take photos, causing many areas to be crowded.

The sudden increase in visitors has caused a shortage of rooms in Lo Lo Chai. Information has spread on social media that some brokers are "holding rooms", pushing up the price of homestay rentals here by 3 times.

Tourists jostle at Lo Lo Chai, November 15. Photo: Ti Lau.

Pham Hang, owner of Lo Lo Ancient House in the center of Lo Lo Chai village (Lung Cu commune, Tuyen Quang province), said that up to now, there have been no complaints from guests about being overcharged when booking rooms at the facility.

According to her, most tourists contact directly via fanpage, phone number or book directly with homestay, so the risk of being overcharged by brokers is minimized.

Hang said the number of visitors to Lo Lo Chai increased sharply after the village was honored by the United Nations Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) as " The World's Best Tourist Village" in October, causing most weeks in November to be almost fully booked.

The homestay currently has 17 rooms, priced from 450,000 VND/room to 1.55 million VND/room for four people with a beautiful view. In the campus, early blooming peach blossoms and bright red hawthorn trees have become popular check-in spots in recent days.

Homestay in the center of Lo Lo Chai village. Photo: Provided by the character.

Mr. Sinh Di Gai, head of Lo Lo Chai village and homestay owner, expressed his sadness that the village's image was affected.

He said that recently, there has been a situation where some intermediaries have been "holding rooms" and then reselling them at prices many times higher than the listed price of homestays in the village.

Although the relevant parties have begun an investigation, handling the matter is difficult because customers book through intermediaries and do not report directly to the authorities or the facility owner.

According to Mr. Gai, room rates at Lo Lo Chai currently range from 500,000 VND to 1.6 million VND per night. If tourists have to pay 2 million VND or more for a normal room, it is likely that the price has been inflated.

"This greatly affects the image of Lo Lo Chai while the village has just been honored as 'The best tourist village in the world'," he said.

He said the village currently has 56 homestays and they are almost always full on weekends.

Tourists check-in in spring at Lo Lo Chai in March. Photo: Pham Tu.

Speaking to Tri Thuc - Znews , a representative of Lung Cu Commune People's Committee said that as soon as they received the information, the authorities coordinated with the Market Management Board to inspect all accommodation and business establishments in Lo Lo Chai. Up to now, the unit has not recorded any cases of holding rooms or increasing prices as reported on social networks.

"All establishments list their prices publicly and clearly. There are reports that people have complained but the information is unclear, making inspection difficult and affecting the image of Tuyen Quang tourism during peak season," said the representative.

Commune leaders said the number of visitors to Lung Cu increased sharply on weekends, with more than 4,700 arrivals per day. The authorities recommended that tourists should contact and book rooms directly with homestays or through village chiefs and commune officials when there are signs of being overcharged to receive timely support.

Lo Lo Chai village chief and homestay owners recommend that tourists book rooms through the establishment's official channel and avoid using unverified intermediary accounts on social networks.

Guests should also call to confirm room availability and prices to ensure transparency and avoid price gouging.

All roads in Ha Giang were congested on the afternoon of November 14. Photo: Rabbit Man, Giang Mi Xa.

In September, Lung Cu commune confirmed that the information "service prices in Lo Lo Chai are 3 times more expensive" spreading on social networks was false.

Lo Lo Chai is located at the foot of Dragon Mountain, north of Lung Cu flagpole (old Dong Van district), and is considered by tourists as a "fairy tale village" thanks to its landscape and the unique culture of the Lo Lo people. From Lo Lo Chai, tourists can easily continue their journey to Lung Cu flagpole or the northernmost landmark.

On the occasion of Lunar New Year, visitors can join the New Year's Eve atmosphere of the Lo Lo people, sitting by the fire watching the pot of banh chung, sipping a cup of corn wine and listening to the story of "stealing fortune" at the beginning of the year.

The crowded scene is 'suffocating' in Ha Giang. Ha Giang enters the buckwheat flower season, attracting many tourists.

Source: https://znews.vn/thuc-hu-om-phong-day-gia-tai-lang-du-lich-tot-nhat-the-gioi-lo-lo-chai-post1604713.html