Probably our least favourite hotel of the 5 cities we stayed in whist holidaying in Vietnam. We were welcomed with an early check in and two bottles of water, which made up slightly for no driver appearing to collect us from the airport and leaving us surrounded by drivers begging for us to be their next prey/customers on the long, picturesque 40 minute commute.

Up to the room and it was very small, although perfectly adequate despite a real shortage of electrical sockets. The beds were comfortable and the shower was powerful enough. Our bathroom had an absolutely horrid smell of sewage that was only apparent after the first night but got progressively worse during our 3 nights stay. We were too comfortable in our room to ask to be moved and the smell only subsided by leaving our 9th floor window open on full tilt which, incidentally, is how we found it when we moved into the room.

First stop was for lunch and the staff all stopped in their tracks, seemingly amazed that we had popped in for food at 1pm in this otherwise empty restaurant. The staff were hesitant and timid with poor English, but they were friendly and we eventually got the food that we ordered- a delicious beef stir fry and a not-quite-adequate chicken sandwich for the other half. This was a slightly better food experience than when I phoned up to use the 24/7 food service at 9pm one evening and was firstly hung-up on by reception and then told the kitchen was closed and to “go look on the street for a restaurant”. Nice.

The pool on the roof with just 6 sun loungers was cosy (seriously, 21 stories high and just 6 sun beds?!) but it lacked any towels and did not have the comprehensive cocktail bar the brochure had promised- instead we were reduced to anything you could point at from the fridge, be it canned or bottled.

The cleaners during our stay were also a bit lax, cleaning the bathroom and arranging the towels but then only emptying half the bin, or leaving some towels untouched. Just strange behaviour- lucky the maid’s cupboard was unlocked so I would help myself to toilet paper, room spray and toiletries at will. Unfortunately it seems their waffle gowns only came in one size: AT (absolutely tiny).

I can’t say I’d recommend this hotel based on its small rooms with bad maids, poor poolside amenities, lack of capable dining facilities and uninterested staff. The location is great, however, and attracts many English and (mostly) Russians with the beach being 5 minutes’ walk and lots of great bars and restaurants even closer. For an international hotel the management really need to teach the staff better (or basic) English skills; it was the worst place I encountered in Vietnam and that included talking to farmers from rural-nowhere!

Let’s not get it twisted here though- I know this is a cheap hotel, we were not expecting luxury from this 3* high rise. It may be cheaper than its competitors, but its simply not great value. Even though Apus is soo competitively priced it was our most expensive accommodation in Vietnam but also, somehow, it also ended up being our worst.

Yes, the hotel is having a major extension added, so there is plenty of construction noise during the day, but it varies depending on the floor you're on and your room's distance from the north facing works. We initially had a room adjacent to the works, found it too noisy and spoke to the very helpful staff at Reception. We - and our friends - were moved to excellent and spacious rooms as far from the works as the hotel could manage. We stayed another three nights (our friends stayed for six) and enjoyed the hotel, it's facilities, the staff and a great location.
Our experience with the staff at the Apus was mainly very good - we assume that not everyone speaks good English - especially in a town where the vast majority of tourists are from Russia. The Apus is a 3-star hotel, and it's a good one. Once the works are finished it'll probably deserve another half star.
Much of Nha Trang is undergoing rapid development, so the Apus isn't alone in having extensions, or being adjacent to a construction site. As a result, you can negotiate excellent prices if you are prepared to put up with the noise or, as most people do, to go out (to the beach, perhaps) for most of the day. It was certainly quiet overnight.

Not a bad hotel except for one MAJOR fault... Nobody smiles.
You don't feel welcome here. Not going to waste too much of my time on this other than three examples of MANY that got up my nose.

1. The young guy cooking our eggs for our 3 mornings had the sourest face, virtually threw our omelette's on our plates each morning, no niceties, no eye contact and not a nice way to start each day.
2. When ringing reception with any needs or questions you need to speak slowly and precisely for them to understand English, the response frequently was Yes Yes Yes so you think they have heard what you want and then nothing happens so you continually have to ring back and reiterate, this was soooo frustrating.
3. Got an early reminder call when leaving. I answered "hello" the other end just hung up on me.

Whoever employs and trains these staff, you have a lot to learn.
'smiles' cost nothing but mean a lot.
Your poor staff training is costing you a lot of money in the loss of bookings.
(One female supervisor in the tiny restaurant was the only exception to this, she was too good for this place).

My husband and I travel frequently and I would not return to this establishment.

Adelaide Australia