According to an initial update from Lao Dong, Ms. Nguyen Y Quyen (Dong Nai) booked a room through an online tourism service platform for 4 days and 3 nights at Royal Hotel on Hang Chao Street, from November 7-10, 2025, and had paid in full according to regulations.
However, for personal reasons, the female tourist delayed her flight schedule and arrived to check in later than expected. At 2:00 a.m. on November 9, when she arrived at this hotel, the receptionist announced that there were no more rooms.
After the story spread on social networks, many accounts expressed their frustration on behalf of the female tourist. Many social media users have quickly rate this hotel as a positive one.
However, because many accounts did not fully understand the incident, they had poor reviews of hotels with similar names such as Royal Hotel, Royal Hotel Royal, Royal Hanoi Hotel... This caused difficulties for business owners when having to deal with the consequences of another unit's media crisis.
Continuously receiving 1-star reviews and hundreds of critical comments, the above-mentioned hotels had to speak out urgently on social networks and map applications.
Because the "one-star storm" greatly affected the reputation of the above-mentioned business units even though it was not related to the noisy incident.
A representative of a hotel of the same name in Long Bien ward, Hanoi announced: "Recently, we have received some negative feedback and reviews related to "collecting room reservations but not keeping rooms for guests" or "cuying rooms for others".
We would like to clarify that these reflections are not related to our hotel. This confusion occurred because there was another accommodation facility with the same name in Hang Chao, leading to some customers misunderstanding and leaving incorrect reviews on our page.
The manager of another hotel said that in recent days, she has continuously posted in groups to call on everyone to stay calm and avoid confusion. Although not related to the incident, this establishment was still "versadulated" with a series of negative comments and reviews from strangers.
"I hope everyone is wise in choosing and commenting on the right person so as not to cause misunderstanding, affect the reputation and image of other unrelated hotels," she shared.
With many years of experience working in the travel industry, Ms. Duong Tung, representative of Desert Harbour Tourism Dubai, acknowledged: Through this event, this could be a lesson for tourists who rarely travel because of the refund and cancellation provisions on each different travel application.
If we consider the policy, the hotel is not wrong. In this case, the service attitude of the hotel's reception staff was unprofessional, and when welcoming guests, they did not behave appropriately. In addition, when guests have not yet arrived, the hotel should also call the guests to inform them of the reason and arrange rooms appropriately.
Ms. Duong Tung pointed out that the bottleneck in the incident was the hotel's hospitality attitude and crisis handling, making the story more tense.
If the receptionist was gentle, apologized and responded professionally (assisting guests in finding accommodation, communicating slowly) or the hotel representative apologized and explained clearly the terms, the public would not react so strongly.
The police of O Cho Dua ward (Hanoi) verified the case of a hotel in Hanoi being accused of not allowing guests to receive rooms despite having paid the full amount for 3 nights.
Through inspection, the authorities discovered a number of violations.
Firstly, the establishment did not comply with the regulations on accommodation notices, violating Point b, Clause 1, Article 9 of Decree 144/2021/ND-CP.
Second, a business establishment with security and order conditions but not granted a certificate of eligibility, violates Point a, Clause 4, Article 12 of Decree 144/2021/ND-CP.
Third, facilities that do not preserve or maintain common fire fighting equipment as prescribed in Point a, Clause 1, Article 22 of Decree 106/2025/ND-CP.
O Cho Dua Ward Police are handling these violations according to the law.
