River Ray Estates♡

Great for camping

6.0

This resort have a best beach in Hotram area, I love to come here just because of peacefull place and a lot of tree in the beach. There villa is old and the food is not so good, you can choose this for the family gathering and you should cook by yourself (they have kitchen and full of cookware). To me, they are the best place in Hotram for camping (safe, fresh water, price).

Only from the outside because we didn't stay!

4.0

We have booked this resort for Têt holidays as we have a dog and read good reviews about this pet friendly place ... Unfortunately, once we arrived there (not easy to find) we were surprised to see the path to the hotel was narrow and stony. It's in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nothing but wilderness, far from restaurants or shops or anything. We assumed guests should be stuck at the hotel for dinner because noboby would drive back there at night as there's almost no street light. There are some bungalows by the river and others by the sea. The beach is unattended, neglected, dirty and full of detritus. The bungalows on the beachfront are way more spooky like deserted, not a living soul, no securiry guard, nobody ... We really couln't stay there so we made a U-turn and fled!!!

Great weekend escape!

8.0

We loved our weekend at River Ray! I went with a couple friends and my dog, and we all had a lovely time. Very relaxing at the pool and the beach. We even got upgraded to a sweet villa! The staff we great and it was nice to see other people there with their dogs. But the resort area was still clean! The only downside was that the beach is covered in plastic (not the reaort’s fault!) and there was a loud camping group nearby playing extremely loud music. I never really understood if they were part of the resort or not. Overall, we had an excellent time and will definitely be back!! Oh!! I left something small at the villa and the owner had it shipped to me ASAP— such great service :)

Great with dogs but very local

8.0

We have been before at River Ray and enjoyed it again. As we always bring our dog we have to stay in the Wooden House, which we like. Only this time the mattresses haven't been very comfortable. Maybe some more offer for breakfast would be good. Even I do not mind to have only Omlet or Pho. But we had my cousin with us who was first time in VN and for her it wasn't so easy. And beach should be cleaned. We are aware that there has been some flooding and heavy rain, but the beach is just too dirty to use it. Good to walk the dog but not for bathing. Drove to the Vung Tau beach instead.

The doggies and us had the best day ever!

10.0

First time on the beach for our two little doggies, had a fantastic time on the wide flat deserted beach. nice and safe, only 2 hrs from HCM, we'll be back monthly! we took our own food and drink, awesome times

Ghostly Resort

4.0

We live in Vietnam and have seen a lot of crazy places so I can say this with confidence — our stay here was plain weird. We arrived early afternoon on a Saturday -- taking a 600K VND Grab car from the Greenlines Ferry terminal in Vung Tau. On the surface, the place looks great. The pool is beautiful, the beach is long and deserted, the buildings seem in good repair. But there was no one staying there. After a couple of hours it began to feel spooky. We had booked rooms in the wooden houses overlooking the river but got upgraded to beach front villas at no extra cost. There was no explanation for the move although other friends later told us that they were moved to the beach because the less expensive rooms near the river had a rat problem. We saw no rats during our stay but we did not see the wooden houses either. There was an extensive lunch menu although it became clear that only a few things were on offer. What we had was good value. Three of us ordered simple plates of stir fried beef, bean sauce pork etc and were stuffed at the end of the meal. The vegetables were crisp, fresh and delicious. Beer was available but there was no wine. We had the pool to ourselves, of course. It's quite beautiful but a bit too shallow for serious swimming. Being early May, the water was luke warm -- as was the sea which we tried a bit later. My wife and daughter thought the beach was littered in garbage but I think most of it had washed ashore. There were fishermen working the beach through the day but few other people around to actively litter the beach. Compared to similarly priced beach resorts in Mui Ne and Phu Quoc, River Ray Estates Resort had few beach facilities. There were no lounge chairs. In fact the path from our beach house to the beach led straight to a three foot drop instead of to the stairs that were several meters away. The staff was friendly but were there for laundry and house keeping -- no beach maintenance. The cook had to be called in from her home when we wanted dinner because we were the only diners. When we went for dinner, the outside dining room was swarming with mosquitoes so the staff offered to bring our food to our room -- we had a baby with us and were happy to shelter inside. Oddly though, there were no mosquito nets in the bedrooms which is quite rare in my experience. Our free breakfast was NOT the continental promised on the website. The young waitress told us Sunday morning that they only had eggs, bread and coffee. No apology or explanation offered -- that was just the way it was. The Medina villas were outdated as noted by other reviewers. The kitchens had no cutlery, cookware or dishes. But the fridges worked fine. The furniture was rudimentary but comfortable enough. There was a small dining table plus a sofa and coffee table in each suite. One bedroom had a Thai-style hard mattress while the other was soft and comfy. The AC worked great. The bathrooms were functional but 1960s ugly and stained. At one point an older German guest with a dog walked by us on his way to the river walk and explained that there were no other guests because the units were all rented out to staffers working at the new casino down the road. But in our 21 hours here, we saw no sign of anyone -- no scooters, no people, no voices. Maybe the new casino and other mega resorts in the area have killed off business at the River Ray and its neighbours. Too bad because it is a great setting. For now though, I recommend it for seasoned Viet travellers and I certainly wouldn't pay more than $50US a night. Expect to get upgraded to a much more expensive room near the beach. (If we had paid over $100 a night per room we would have been pretty unhappy.) I found the stay amusing and enjoyed the peace and quiet. We had heavy rain in the evening and in the morning so didn't get a chance to really explore the beach or the river walk. Great view of the lightning storm over the sea though. My daughter (mother with baby) was visiting Vietnam for the first time and found the whole experience unsettling. If you go, bring your own snacks and beverages and a sense of humour. I hope the owners find a way to get the business thriving again because it could be a beautiful place.