Phong Nha Farmstay: Our Experience
Phong Nha Farmstay: Our Experience
Phong Nha Farmstay, nestled in the rolling countryside in Central Vietnam, on the trail between Hue and Ninh Binh just 45 minutes away from Dong Hoi. Outside of the city bustle and in Phong Nha village, you’ll find this one of a kind magical farmstay. The farmstay can easily become a part of your Phong Nha itinerary as it has so many wonderful things to do even without leaving its grounds!
Table of Contents
What started as something everyone thought was going to fail 10 years ago has turned into a staple for the community out here in Phong Nha. Ben and Bich, the owners and operators of Phong Nha Farmstay, had a mission – to put this town on the map and make it so that tourists wanted to come. After 10 years of building the entire property up from scratch and going from 0 to 100, you’re left with a beautiful property that will never leave your mind once you’ve visited.
Getting to the Farmstay
You’ve plenty of options for getting here and all different sorts of budgets:
If you’re choosing to arrive via a sleeper bus, it’ll let you off in the center of town in Phong Nha in front of Capture Cafe. From there you’ll be picked up by the shuttle and brought back to the farmstay.
Arriving by train to Dong Hoi and then public bus to Phong Nha. If you choose to go this route be sure to let the bus driver know ahead of time and they’ll drop you off at the top of the hill so you can walk down to the farmstay. Otherwise, they’ll bring you to the center of town.
The most efficient way, however, can be with transport arranged by the hotel from Dong Hoi for a fair price. We did this on the way out of town sharing with another couple for 125k per person.
Private car transport is available as well from other cities if necessary.
Check-in Process
From the moment we arrived, we felt as though we were home – the hospitality here can be compared to Sanctuary Nam Ngum in Laos. We arranged private transportation into town and arrived at noon on a Sunday just before the holidays. They were extremely busy but had no problem getting us checked in with a welcome drink and smiles on their faces. They asked lots of questions trying their best to get to know what we like and don’t like so they’d be able to assist us with our itineraries for the few days we were going to be there.
The Rooms
Can’t say enough good things about the rooms at the Phong Nha Farmstay! The rooms were completely spotless with a fresh scent of lemongrass every time we’d open the door.
We had a comfortable queen-sized mattress with nicely fluffed pillows allowing for us to get a perfect night sleep...thankfully they don’t have demon sounding rooster outside the windows even though it is a Farmstay.
Aside from the sleeping arrangement, you’re offered a big bathroom with a rain shower with a large supply of hot water and toiletries.
Breakfast
One of the biggest perks to staying at the farmstay is it’s luxurious breakfast that you wake up to each and every morning! If a veggie omelette or scrambled eggs with toast isn’t your thing, we can almost guarantee that eggs benedict with and your choice of two beverages, for example freshly squeezed orange juice and coffee. We personally always chose for fresh ginger tea and iced Vietnamese coffee.
Lunch/Dinner
This had to be one of our favorite places for food during this 3 months trip around Vietnam. The consistency and quality of the food served at Phong Nha Farmstay are incredible. From simple dishes like freshly made spring rolls or beef Pho to orange duck or grilled fish La Vong style...they cook it all to perfection!
Our favorite thing, however, turned out to be the chef’s table which is offered every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday depending on the season.
For 200,000VND you get to sit at a table with everyone else who signed up for the night (usually about 15 others) and you’re served family-style a variety of items off the Farmstay menu. This is the perfect way to interact with other travelers you may otherwise not have spoken to and makes for a wonderful time
The Property
Phong Nha Farmstay is surrounded by lush rice fields and village houses where you can see locals growing ginger, peppercorn, sweet potatoes, papaya, and other crops most us don’t know much about. Don’t forget to join their free morning walking tour around the village to learn more about local life.
The property also features two full-size pools and one shallow pool for young kids which makes for a perfect chillout spot. The weather in Phong Nha is mostly hot, but even on the colder days, you can make the most out of it by enjoying their lemongrass-infused sauna and possibly jumping in a cold pool afterward.
It feels like the Farmstay has activities for every taste: a nice pool table, a gym to keep fit even while traveling, free bicycles to explore the surrounding rice paddies and even Phong Nha city if you are an avid biker.
On a cold day, you can sit by the fireplace in the common area or around the firepit outside near the pool area, sip your drinks and communicate with others.
Sustainability and Eco-footprint
Set in the middle of a village where everything is about the community. This community-based eco-tourism project has not only created jobs for the locals around here but also becomes more and more sustainable every year. The ingredients for the food are mostly locally sourced which supports farmers and eliminates food miles. They have completely eliminated plastic bottles and reuse glass bottles to refill them with filtered water and keep for the public use for guests.
Learn more about the history of Phong Nha and the sustainability of the Phong Nha Farmstay.
The Activities
Every morning at 6.30am you can wake up early and come out to watch the sunrise and sip on some coffee while taking in the breathtaking views of the Phong Nha Farmstay whilst listening to life and nature happen all around you. 7 am Ben or Tony will take you on a village walk for 30-40 minutes where you’ll be shown some history of the area as well as current and upcoming plans for the sustainability of the village. 9 am every day you can stick around for the history talk where you’ll learn about the cause and effect the Vietnam war had on this town.
Around midday until the sun is about to go down you can feel free to talk with the reception desk and organize a free sidecar ride through the village! This is the only area of town and only place to offer such a unique experience. Finally, at the end of the day everyone generally grabs a happy hour drink and sits by the pool to watch the sunset over the rice fields, making a perfect ending to the day.
Tip: Upon request, they’ll show movies outside on the big screen to give you that #realvietnam feel.
The Tours
This was one of the biggest selling points for us before arriving at the farmstay as we had checked the website ahead of time to get as much information as possible. As a top choice for the area by Lonely Planet, the farmstay does everything in its power to make sure you’re able to see all you want to see and as effortlessly as possible.
They’ve got a big binder located on all parts of the property (front desk, dining room, bedroom, pool) where it offers all sorts of excursions from mild to wild depending on what kind of traveler you are and what kind of physical shape you’re in. Phong Nha offers even more adventures that Northern Thailand so we ended up doing several of them as we stayed for more than a few days and wouldn’t have changed it for anything...worth every penny to say the least!
Overall experience
I don’t think we could have picked a better place to stay in all honesty. It blended the perfect amount of culture, relaxation, privacy, and east meets west style we could have asked for. The only thing that we could have done better would have been to stay longer than we did. People make Phong Nha a quick stopover when it really should be given a proper 3 days. Every person who’s ever been to Phong Nha will tell you the same answer, “we wish we stayed longer”.
Cost per night is well worth it. Depending on the season it will cost somewhere between $30-$50 and with the breakfast included and arranging of transportation and waitstaff to take care of all your needs, it really is a steal. Don’t miss the once in a lifetime opportunity to visit this slice of heaven!
If you’re looking for something more lavish and upscale they also own Victory Road Villas and are in the midst of building two luxury villas.
All opinions are our own. We were not compensated by the establishment to say any of the above! The only thing we do receive is a small commission if you click on our link to book accommodation.