Sapa CatCat Hills Resort & Spa in Sapa, Vietnam

I spent 7 days in Sa Pa, and in the end tried out 3 different hotels there.

The 1st one I stayed at was a typical hotel-style accommodation, Pao’s Sapa Leisure Hotel, which had some incredible views of Sa Pa’s infamous rice terraces. You can see my full review with pics of Pao’s Sapa here if you’re interested.

But this post is about the 2nd hotel I stayed at, Sapa CatCat Hills Resort & Spa, which offers semi-detached bungalow-style cabins spread across the hill it faces.

> If you prefer to skip my in-depth review, you can click here to jump straight to my final verdict. <

Sapa CatCat Hills Resort & Spa Info

• Address: 86 Fansipan, Sa Pa, Vietnam
• Room-style: Semi-detached cabins

Initial Impressions

When you first arrive at CatCat Hills Resort, there’s a bit of an exclusivity-vibe about the place, thanks to the front gate and the long curved driveway leading up to the main building, which you can’t really see from the main road.

The Main Building

Once you drive up, you’ll be greeted by the main building, which houses the reception area and restaurant. The restaurant is located on the top floor, and offers some fantastic views of the surrounding hills and rice terraces.

Now my first impression was that the outside of the main building looked a bit dated. The inside though was quite nice and a mix of modern and older style, and maybe even a bit elegant - if perhaps a bit empty.

The Infinity Pool

To the left of the reception area is a really gorgeous infinity pool, which overlooks the hills and rice terraces. The pool, and pool area, aren’t huge, but it looks like it could be a nice place to relax and take in the views.

That said, we unfortunately didn’t actually get a chance to try the pool out while we were there, before we were off to the next hotel. 😞

But ah well, such is life!

After checking in, we were taken by golf cart to our cabin, which was located up the hill from the main building. It’s actually quite a steep hill, and depending on where your room is, a pretty decent hike from the main building. Thankfully they take you to your room by golf cart, and you can call them to come pick you up if you don’t feel like walking back down.

Here’s a really quick vid to give you a brief idea of what the way up to the cabins looks like:

The longer golf carts need to do some decent manoeuvring to get up the hill and around the tight corners, but the staff that drive them are pretty good at it. Some make it up without issue going forwards, but some opt to go up in reverse for some sections, which is interesting to see! Generally the longer carts are the ones that need to go in reverse for some sections, whereas the shorter ones can make it up without issue.

Our Cabin

The cabins are semi-detached (although they might have fully detached as well … I don’t recall), with wood exteriors and tile roofs.

The Cabin Exteriors

The cabins are all pretty similar in design, with the main difference being the number of rooms, and the view from each one.

The following pic is of the exterior of the cabin attached to ours:

And this is the exterior of the cabin we were in:

The Cabin Room

The interior of the cabin seemed to be part updated/modern, part older/dated style. The modern decor was nice, but the older decor … not so much my style. The room itself was a decent size, although the balcony left a bit to be desired, as it was quite small, and the views were obstructed by the trees.

The Bathroom & Shower Area

The entrance to the bathroom area was one of the parts of the cabin I found super dated looking, with some type of useless gold-coloured string curtain hanging in the doorway. The bathroom area itself was quite nice though, with a sink and counter in the middle section with the usual amenities, and the shower and toilet in separate rooms on either side.

The shower especially was quite nice with a huge window sporting a giant heat lamp, pretty decent water pressure, and a nice wooden tub.

The Balcony & Views

As I noted, the views from the balcony were quite obstructed by the trees surrounding it. Now that could be a good thing, as it provided some fantastic privacy, and also helped to keep some of the heat out of the room. But it also meant that the views weren’t as good as they possibly could have been.

Restaurant & Breakfast Buffet

The restaurant here isn’t all that big, but the views of the infinity pool and hillside while you eat are pretty nice.

The actual breakfast buffet left a lot to be desired though. I’ve noticed that generally speaking, at breakfast buffets in hotels in Vietnam you will find either mostly only Vietnamese/Asian food, or a mix of Vietnamese and Western food.

CatCat Hills Resort somehow… didn’t have much of either cuisine. The selection was really limited, and the food was just meh.

There was a fried egg station with mostly cold fried eggs, next to which were two types of soup, and then along another wall a few different Asian options in the covered trays.

Then in a middle area, there were a few salad options, some sliced cold cuts, and a few sliced fruits. That’s it.

And as per usual in Vietnam, the black tea tasted like dirty water. 😑

So all in all, the breakfast buffet was super disappointing, especially when compared to what we had at Pao’s Sapa Leisure Hotel.

The Surrounding Area

As I noted earlier, the views from our room’s balcony were unfortunately mostly obstructed by the trees, but the views from the restaurant, infinity pool, and walkway to and from the cabins were pretty incredible.

My Verdict

CatCat Hills Resort & Spa is a nice place to stay if you’re looking for a more secluded and quiet place to stay in Sa Pa. The cabins are quite nice - albeit a little bit dated, and the views from the restaurant, infinity pool, and outside the cabins are really quite beautiful.

The breakfast buffet was a letdown, but with no restaurants within close walking distance, you don’t have much choice. The walk to and from the cabins is quite the workout, so if you have mobility issues, you’ll probably need to make use of the golf carts (driven by staff of course) to transit back and forth.

Overall, CatCat Hills Resort is a decent hotel, but we weren’t super impressed with it and felt it was a bit of a letdown, and in retrospect, wish we’d have stayed longer at Pao’s Sapa Hotel instead. But oh well, that’s how you discover what you like and don’t like, right? 😊

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In the next post, I’ll be reviewing the final place we stayed at in Sa Pa, which was a huge pick-me-up after CatCat Hills Resort. So stay tuned for that one! 🤗