Canadian man Pierre, 65, who was visiting Vietnam for the first time, arrived on the island on Dec. 21 and stayed at Villa Lien Tho.
But since it was fully booked for New Year’s Eve, he searched for other accommodation and booked one night at the Your House PQ 2 homestay in An Thoi Ward for US$16. But when he arrived, he was told it was fully booked.
After about an hour a woman who identified herself as a neighbor told guests that she had contacted the owner and was informed the property was “overcrowded” and that the situation was “not the homestay’s fault.”
She reportedly suggested that guests should “sleep temporarily in the hallway.”
A French couple who had booked for three nights faced the same situation as Pierre, and all three refused.
The owner then offered the guests temporary accommodation at his private residence.
Pierre said the house was undergoing renovation, was in poor condition and lacked basic amenities, including proper beds, bed linen and an en-suite bathrooms.
He was barely able to sleep on the first night of the new year, left at around 6 a.m. on Jan. 1 and returned to Villa Lien Tho, he said.
Earlier, on Dec. 15, a German tourist said he had paid for a room at Your House PQ 2 but was made to sleep behind the reception desk upon arrival.
He had rented a room for the entire month of January at Hillside Sky Sea View Phu Quoc homestay, paying a deposit of more than VND5.5 million. But he was unexpectedly notified on Dec. 31 that the booking had been canceled due to a funeral at the owner’s home.
Though he received a refund, being canceled twice left him deeply disappointed.
“I am a responsible renter …. I don’t deserve to go through this,” he said, adding he would never return to Phu Quoc.
Everything had been wonderful during a recent trip to Thailand, he said.
Duc Sy, the owner of the Your House PQ 2 homestay, said the three tourists had booked rooms for Dec. 31.
Prior to that, the homestay had received booking requests from Pierre and two French guests but failed to “close the room” on the online travel agency (OTA) system in time.
As a result, room availability was not properly synchronized across booking aggregation platforms such as Agoda, Booking.com and Airbnb, he claimed.
But there was no question of telling the guests to “sleep in the hallway,” he said.
He had offered them a temporary bed in the shared room in his house, he claimed further.
Local authorities in Phu Quoc have been informed of the incident and have gotten in touch with both the homestay and the Canadian tourist.
Phu Quoc was a booming destination during this year’s New Year holiday, with 99% of hotel rooms sold out, and many hotel agents refusing last-minute bookings.
In 2025 the island receives an estimated 8.1 million tourists including 1.8 million foreigners.
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