What should have been a cherished family reunion turned into a distressing ordeal for Anna Karikova and her family at Minh Trang Villa, BBQ Garden in April 2025. After booking a two-night stay via Booking.com, they were shocked by the misrepresentation of their accommodations and aggressive behavior from the hotel staff.

The family arrived to poorly maintained rooms with worn bedding, unemptied bins, and no fresh towels or bottled water. The “exceptional breakfast” they paid for turned out to be meager offerings, fried eggs, a bun, or a banh mi sandwich, with no coffee. While they didn’t complain, the situation escalated during checkout.

The family was unexpectedly charged for their children's breakfasts, despite having confirmation that these were included in the original booking. When Anna presented proof, the hotel owner erupted in anger, yelling and intimidating her in front of her frightened children. Her husband intervened, attempting to calm the situation, but the altercation persisted for over 20 minutes. Finally, the owner’s wife admitted their mistake, apologized, and requested that they not leave a negative review.
Their ordeal didn’t end there. Hours later, their booking disappeared from Booking.com, leaving them unable to share their experience. Adding insult to injury, the hotel falsely accused them of breaking house rules, further tarnishing their experience.

The family has since filed a formal complaint with Booking.com, urging them to investigate the property and advocate for honesty and accountability.

In April, we had a long-awaited family reunion in Da Nang, Vietnam. We made a booking via Booking.com for two nights at Minh Trang Villa – BBQ Garden for two adults and two children. The total price included “exceptional breakfast” for all four of us. We paid the full amount upon arrival.
Unfortunately, the reality of the stay was far from what had been advertised.
The room was poorly maintained — the bedding was worn out, there were no fresh towels or replacement bottled water, and even the rubbish bins hadn’t been emptied. As for the “exceptional breakfast,” we were offered a choice of either two fried eggs with a bun, or a banh mi sandwich — and no coffee was served either day. We didn’t complain, as we found a lovely coffee shop across the road and tried to make the best of it.
But sadly, things took a turn for the worse during checkout.
We were suddenly asked to pay an extra 180,000 VND (approx. $10 AUD) for the kids’ breakfasts — despite having clear proof in our Booking.com confirmation that breakfast for 2 adults and 2 children was included in the original price.
When I politely showed the confirmation to the hotel owner, rather than reviewing the information, he immediately became aggressive — yelling and making intimidating gestures at me. I had to call my husband over as our kids became scared by his loud and threatening behavior.
My husband asked the owner to calm down, especially in front of young children. But when the shouting didn’t stop, he firmly told the owner to stop or there would be consequences.
We tried to resolve the issue peacefully for over 20 minutes. We repeatedly showed them the booking confirmation, which clearly stated that breakfast was included for all guests. The owner refused to acknowledge it and claimed their policy only includes breakfast for adults. Yet, when asked to provide written proof or any hotel policy stating that, they had nothing to show us.
Eventually, after checking their system, the owner’s wife admitted their mistake and apologized. She confirmed that the booking did include breakfast for all four of us. They even asked us not to leave a negative review.
We left with an extremely bitter feeling. As a family that loves Vietnam and its wonderful people, we tried to forgive and move on, believing the owners would do the same.
But sadly… they didn’t.
Instead of showing accountability or empathy, they’ve chosen to take revenge — spreading lies about the incident and shifting blame.
Few hours after we checked out — we received an email from Booking.com saying we had to pay a fee for not showing up at the hotel.
We were confused… until we checked our account and realized that our booking had been completely deleted from the system. We could no longer see the reservation, and worse — we couldn’t leave a review.
The hotel owners lied.
They reported to Booking.com that we never stayed there at all.We were absolutely shocked.
After everything — the yelling, the false charges, the aggressive behavior in front of our children — they tried to silence us by removing our ability to speak up and warn others.
As if things couldn’t get worse, about 12 hours later, we received a second email from Booking.com. This time, the hotel falsely accused us of breaking their rules during our stay — without providing a single detail about what rule we supposedly broke.
It was clear what they were doing:
Once they realized we could prove we stayed there and had paid in full, they tried another way to profit — by fabricating new claims.
At this point, it was no longer about a $10 breakfast charge. It became about principle, honesty, and accountability.
That’s when we decided to file an official complaint with Booking.com, urging them to investigate this property and the owners’ behavior toward guests.
This wasn’t just a “bad checkout.”The aggression and yelling from the hotel owner deeply affected our entire family. Our kids were scared and shaken. My mother-in-law’s blood pressure spiked from the stress, and she wasn’t well for the rest of the day. No guest should ever have to go through something like this — especially over a breakfast that was already prepaid.
We’re sharing this not for drama, but because people deserve to know the full impact of what happened.