I prebooked my stay at Fantasea before traveling to CatBa and having much of an idea of what to expect of accommodation there. This was a mistake, it was well and truly overpriced for the facilities provided and I'm quite sure we were even ripped off a little bit more with the transferring between exchange rates and being charged an extra 3% credit card surcharge. I can understand a little of what went wrong during our stay as there was a typhoon. However the staff refused to discount our stay at all after the majority of it was without power and without wifi. Even after it was clear that most of the businesses on the island had regained power Fantasea was still without. Even when the power was back on the wifi wouldn't work, which the staff refused to acknowledge and the air conditioning wouldn't work. The lift pretty much didn't work the whole time, which made walking 6 flights of stairs incredibly painful. At one stage we attempted to order room service and despite the vast menu we were told all that was available was instant noodles, which were disgusting. The mini fridge never worked, which was an issue as I needed to keep medication cold. There are plenty of better choices on Cat Ba island with much friendlier and more helpful staff, for less than half the price we paid to stay here.

We paid for a standard room in advance. Unfortunately standard rooms don't come with proper windows so it was too dark to read in the day. The only light was a fluorescent strip or a seedy red bulb. That said the service was friendly and decent, I wouldn't get breakfast there as there are plenty of nicer places around the Corner. The superior rooms don't have the light problem but are $10 more. In the end organizing our own trip was much much cheaper than taking a tour. Rent a kayak from Blue Swimmer at Ben Bao pier for only $15 and kayak your way around the deserted beaches at Lan Ha Bay. Avoid Nam Cat the service and food are nasty!