Saturday, July 18, 2026

Thung Ui in Ninh Binh - Stunning scenery, disappointing experience

Ninh Binh tours - February 2026 - Thung Ui is part of the historical Hoa Lu Ancient Capital - where Dinh Tien Hoang quelled the rebellion of the 12 warlords and established Dai Co Viet nation in 968.


And it is also where the altar to Heaven was erected. A place of spiritual significance and outstanding people!

This limestone valley contributed to creating a natural fortress for the first capital of the centralized feudal state of Vietnam.

However, the investor failed to reflect this... The investor invested heavily in creating very grand and impressive spaces... but it feels like they tried to put it into operation sooner than planned, resulting in too many half-hearted things and a messy appearance...

Some problems:

1. Too crowded: Long queues.

We were among the first guests staying at the resort, and we were the only ones there: in the middle of the valley... I was terrified...: The listed price before discount was over 3 million VND/night

+ Clean room (no TV)

+ Plenty of water, beautiful and modern bathroom.

+ Enthusiastic staff

But:

- There were no evening services, nothing to do except go down and look at the receptionist. The receptionist was also scared of ghosts so she couldn't talk naturally...

If you want to stay, you should only rent a house in the outer area where there are places to eat and play at night, and go in during the day according to the service package.

2. The food was terrible!

- The main dining area at the end of the entire resort was incredibly disappointing: you could only eat set meals - you couldn't order individual dishes: it was like cheap, packaged meals: "The food we have is like that in the middle of an island, eat or go hungry? Don't ask too many questions!"

Combo 2: 600.000 VND for 2 people

The cooking is similar to the cheap student meals at the University canteen.

- That's the restaurant in the area, but the entertainment area, spanning several hectares, offers only 4 or 5 mediocre dishes: grilled sausages, grilled rice paper, steamed buns, boiled eggs... The food is poor and boring, even worse than a corner of the night market at a village festivity - not befitting a high-class entertainment area like this...

3. The service areas are unfamiliar and disjointed.

- There's no proper guidance, so people get confused: getting kicked off the electric cart...

- The shuttle service takes a long time to arrive.

- The reception and security areas are not coordinated, so there's a lot of confusion when serving guests.

- The boatmen are unskilled (the boatman who rowed my family went the wrong way, to the left side of the road, so other boatmen kept crashing into us; when they complained to him, he cursed back...) >> My family must have just been unlucky, but the other boats were probably good. But I was still terrified, so halfway there I asked to be let off the boat... Terrible.

4. Some services are very half-hearted, such as electric carts > 50.000 VND/person (only saves about 200m of walking time) - only use them when you're very tired or elderly, otherwise you can walk a short distance.

- Don't take motorbike taxis (the motorbike taxi driver said it was 1km, but it's only 200m from the parking lot to the destination).

5. The security isn't very strict: locals still surround visitors at the entrance to encourage them to park their cars and motorbikes in their private homes (while cars can be parked in the spacious and cheaper inner lot), and other services are quite disorganized: for example, motorbike taxis often exaggerate the distance to make customers go a few hundred meters and then tell them it's kilometers to scare them.

In short: these are the initial stages of operation for such a large area, so they probably weren't well-prepared... or maybe they intentionally opened quickly to take advantage of the locals' New Year's money...

Hopefully, things will change and improve soon.

Rating:

+ Scenery: 10/10

+ Staff and Reception: 9/10 (enthusiastic)

+ Overall System Operation: 4/10 (chaotic, lacking coordination and planning)

+ Food: 3/10 (terrible)

+ Entertainment Support Services: 3/10 (just people watching each other)

+ Boating: 1/10

Source: https://ninhbinhtraveltour.com/blog/review-of-a-trip-to-thung-ui-in-ninh-binh.asp

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