A25 Hotel - 29 Bui Thi Xuan in Ho Chi Minh

The hotel has a new owner and is now known as LHarmonie Hotel rather than Hoang Ngan Hotel. When we arrived, I assumed we had gone to the wrong hotel. Because of the Agoda rating of more than 8, the hotel is likely to continue using the old name for bookings. The Agoda reviews are either fake or out of date. I make a mistake by not checking Google reviews and instead rely on Agoda reviews. Instead, I should have looked at Google reviews.

Pros
The only thing good is the "Bellboy service on arrival" but he is actually a hotel security guy. But he is nice.
Cons
1. Booked with credit card but the unfriendly receptionist insisted on paying with cash or extra 3% with credit card. Even though I prepaid with credit card with Agoda.
After we paid in cash, the hotel staff insisted on keeping our passports, which is unusual and legally questionable. The hotel's infraction should be reported.
2. Booked Deluxe View at a higher rate and was given a 2nd Floor room with a view of the opposite building rather than the advertised city view. When I asked for a higher floor, I was told that the hotel was fully booked. When I checked the Agoda rates again, they had rooms available and were actually lower with more discounts on same-day booking. Booking one or two days in advance actually costs more.
3. The rooms were noisy and unsoundproof. The street traffic is extremely loud. The next-door guest can be heard talking, showering, closing the door, and walking.
4. The air in our room is stale when we arrive. My wife and I are both disgusted by the dusty AC air, which appears to be neglected and in need of maintenance. It is not a central air conditioning unit.
5. The room claims to be 28 square meters (301 square feet), but it is far from that size. It's even smaller than the 261-square-foot hotel room from which we just moved, thinking we were getting a bigger room.
6. The bathroom is unsuitable for a three-star hotel. The bath tub is filthy and outdated. The tub and towel rack are rusted.
7. Towels are incredible. Not only is it under the old hotel name of Hoang Ngan, but the cotton towels are peeling with cotton fibers or dust on them.

There are more reviews, but these should suffice to keep the images from being condemned.

Two weeks in Vietnam and this was by far the worst experience we had.
We arrived late at night and the receptionist told us that we had no reservation (even though our agency had reserved it for us and we had the receipt) and the hotel was fully booked. After some negotiation, an available room magically appeared, but not so magically it was awful. Water was leaking from the ceiling at the bathroom, which btw was full of mold. The room was full in small insects, which we could feel them in our bed and in combination with the noise coming from outside, we were kept up all night.
After complaints and with the intervention of our agency they upgraded us to a suite, which was decent.
When proceeding to the checkout they charged us for 4 bottles of water (2 from each room), even though everywhere we have stayed before they were included in the price of the room.
Lastly, the woman at the reception was really rude. We asked if we could pay with euros and she agreed, but forgot to mention that she would keep a 10% commission !! When telling her this is unacceptable, she just threw the money on our face and told us to go change them elsewhere.
The only positive I can say about this hotel is that the young man working at the door was really kind and cheerful.
There are far superior places in HCMC. Don’t waste your time and your money there.

VERY OUTDATED ROOMS! A BIT SCARY BUT GREAT LOCATION. NEAR BEN THANH MARKET