Thao Nhi Hotel in Ho Chi Minh

I've been traveling for well over 3 decades and this is the single worst hotel I've experienced. It's not because of the dingy windowless room (the bed and bathroom were clean enough) or the pounding bass beat of Walking Street that defeated my earplugs as it thumped until 5am.
It was the ugly aggressive owners who ripped me off.
I came to stay at this place because I couldn't remember the name of the nearby hotel that I'd stayed at a year and a half earlier. I found a picture I'd taken off that hotel's balcony and the Thao Nhi could be seen. As I would be in HCMC in two separate stretches, I booked two nights at the Thao Nhi, knowing that I could walk up the alley and book my longer stretch at the now known Saigon Hotel in person.
Here's what happened: After being awake for a little over two days I arrived at the Nhi Thao in a taxi that drove off with my cellphone. It had been on the dash running google maps for the driver to follow to the hotel.
Despite the Agoda booking telling me I would pay 350k per night they wanted 400k. It honestly didn't bother me to pay the little extra. I was short on cash and needed to change some money so I gave the old woman (it's run by a multi-generational family) 500k--we both understood I owed 300 more. I went out to a nearby exchange. When I returned I gave the old woman a 500K note and she gave me 200K change. All paid up.
I was extremely anxious about my missing phone and given the vibe of the cab driver I didn't expect to see it again. But I needed to eat so I gave the old woman another 500k note and tried to explain to her that if the taxi driver was to show up with my phone, she was to give him the 500k note. Our communication was difficult. I tried as simply as I could to explain it to her.
To cut to the chase, the only money she recalled receiving was the first 500k, she hadn't a clue about the second 300k or the 500k reward for the taxi driver. According to her, none of that happened. Later there was a nasty scene with entire family, none of whom were present when I handed over the two second amounts of money, where they called me a liar and said I was trying to scam them.
The scene was so bad that I decided to bail on the second night, walking away from what I'd paid. That caused an even uglier scene where the screaming booze-breathed brother was hanging onto my luggage. Just when I convinced him to let go, his sister jumped into the fray demanding that I not be allowed to leave. In the end they ripped me off 900K, a 1000k if you consider they bumped up Agoda's price. But far worse than the money was the sheer ugliness of it.
I didn't know if the old woman's memory loss was malicious or if she was that senile. I suspected malice for a while because she followed me up the alley to the Saigon Hotel where I was booking my second stay. I looked up from the reception to the street and there she was, staring at me.
About a week later, I returned to the hood; it was evening and I was making my way through the small alley to the Saigon Hotel with my luggage. The old woman was sitting out on the street with another woman. When she saw me she waved and smiled. The warmth of her smile was bizarrely shocking--she seemed to have no recollection that a week earlier I was Satan himself.
So she has an excuse. The rest of the family don't.
Tip: if you are staying in that neighborhood, the rooms at the Saigon Hotel with a balcony don't suffer the noise of the nightclubs like the rooms at the rear or the Nhi Thao, which needless to say I don't recommend.