We stayed here for a night during our Halong Bay tour on the Santa Maria junk. Situated at the quieter end of the town, the hotel is just 5 mins' walk from the beach (infront of Sunrise Beach Resort which was alot pricier than Holiday View). The room was spacious and offered a bit of a view of the port and streets but that bathroom had no separate shower area so the floor and toilet seat will get wet after a shower. Hot water and minimal and the water tasted funny. We ended up brushing our teeth with bottled water. The bath towels were off-white and stained and the covers on the bed looked a bit old too. Buffet breakfast offered limited variety but the dinner at the same restaurant was rather good. Overall, it was OK for just 1 night. If you don't mind spending more, go for Sunrise Beach Resort. It looked newer.

I stayed in this hotel on Cat Ba island because this was arranged through the travel agency for our package tour around Halong Bay. I would never choose this place myself. It wasn't also worth paying more for the tour to stay in this hotel because it was not much different than guesthouses that I have stayed in in Vietnam.

All rooms are advertised as having a seaview. My seaview was really miserable. If I stood by the window with my nose stuck to the window I could see something. So I could describe the room as wallview -I had perfect view on the wall of another building -rather than seaview. Apart from that the room was really dark. Our electric kettle did not work. The towels were terrible as if they had used them for ages. I stayed in many guesthouses in Vietnam, where the room costs USD 15-20 per night not USD 40-60 as in Holiday View and the towels were much better.

There is no regular tub or shower place in the bathroom so when you are taking the shower the water spills around the whole bathroom. Again, in my opinion this is guesthouse standard not 3 star hotel as they are advertising it.

This hotel was a surprise gem. It seems to be one of the larger hotels(certainly in main part of town). It was fairly new (built in 2004, according to lift certificate) and at a guess about 10 floors. As weather was wet & things were quiet, we were upgraded to a massive room at the front of the hotel - main room over 50 square metres by my estimate plus a generous bathroom, and balcony overlooking the esplanade and harbour with great views. I suspect the deluxe double, which was listed at $50.

Reception helpful. Foyer is large and echoing. Really good restaurants not far away.

Claims to be a 3 star hotel, but this room in particular was at the top end of that.

In room safe, A/C, fridge, TV, hairdryer, tea & coffee making. Timber flooring.

Room was extremely comfortable but bed was very firm (seems to be standard for VN). Breakfast included & was good. (No cereals - again std for VN).

Free internet in lobby, but internet speed on the island is woeful everywhere.