Forest Floor Lodge

Where to begin... Previous reviews and articles of Forest Floor Lodge describe a lodge that was run by a British entomologist, nestled in the jungle, alongside rapids. Old photos show luxury rooms, clean linen, book rooms and a full restaurant. While the location is great (inside the National Park), the lodge has fallen into a state of disrepair. There is no clean linen, every surface is dusty or mouldy, and you will not see other guests (wiser than us I suppose). We booked a 'lodge' room. When we arrived, we were the only guests and were greeted by two chaps who couldn't speak any English. This was not a major issue, as they were hard workers. The problems arose once we saw the room. It was evident that people had not stayed in the room for weeks. Every surface was dusty, mosquito net had a thick layer of dead bugs, gecko poo and some mould. The bathroom lights did not work, and the doors did not seal. Offers of another room were made, but this was even worse. All communication with the owner (Mai) was via Whatsapp, as she was on holiday. We eventually moved to a tent room, which was marginally better. Such rooms would be acceptable if you were paying a rate that is lower than a hostel, but you are not. The rates are in line with premium accommodation and are certainly on the expensive side by Vietnamese standards. Clean, airconditioned rooms are available at the National Park headquarters for a fraction of the price. Cat Tien was a high priority site for us, so we stayed 4 nights. In this time, we saw numerous guests arrive, only to turn away when they saw the rooms. We should have done the same. In addition to overcharging for filthy rooms that are not fit to be described as accommodation, Mai will attempt to overcharge you for a long list of additional items. Here are some that we encountered: - tours. One of her tours is priced at ＞US$120 per couple to visit the national park museum. You can do this yourself and spend about US$10. Just go to the visitor centre. Presumably she will make the arrangement and pocket the difference. - bikes. The bikes provided are old and barely operate. Mai will charge twice what the national park charges for hire, and their bikes are new. - entrance fees. We were advised that we can pay Forest Floor Lodge for the walk to Crocodile Lake, but when we got to the trail head, we still had to pay. On the off chance that no-one is at the trail head, you could walk down for free, with Mai pocketing the fee. Fortunately, we did not pay for the tour, but did visit the museum ourselves. We also refused to pay for bike hire due to the quality. We also did not pay Mai for the trail fee. There was no resistance, which suggests Mai is well aware of what she is doing and will only take the money if no questions are asked. In short, this is among the worst accommodation we've stayed at in southeast Asia - even worse when you consider the premium price. Save yourself the trouble (and money!) and consider a new room near the Nati

This could be a lovely place to stay but like other reviews we found it needing more care and attention. Our bathroom was dirty - the toilet disgusting (no exaggeration!) and we changed tents. We have stayed in many tented camps in Asia and Africa and this has quite a lot of work to do to get to those sort of standards. On a plus side, the staff were lovely and hard working but need some training and supervision which was completely lacking when we stayed. The food is good and comes in large portions. Cat Tien park is worth seeing and the lodge is very well positioned for this - though be aware that the park gets very busy at the weekends with local tourists.

We stayed in one of the tent-style rooms with a nice view towards the river, the porch was perfect to enjoy sunrise/sunset or simply enjoy the view and sounds of the jungle. The owner was very nice and had great tips for exploring the national park. Food was also nice and they were very flexible when my friend had a stomach ache and didn’t feel like eating anything off the menu.