stephbayne

Both sound amazing......which hotel should we book (couple in our 40s)

Elegance Diamond

or

Elegance Ruby

and why? What is the difference in location? Or proximity to the action in Old Town?

Soooo... excited, thanks for the info!

Stephanie

dgunbug

Not sure of the difference between the two since this chain changes the name of hotels. Can tell you though that you can't go wrong. The elegance hotels are outstanding!

sf7307

We stayed at the Diamond and thought it was fantastic (dgunbug - didn't you stay at the Ruby? Diamond used to be called the "5"). Both are in great old town locations, and they're only blocks from each other (you can see where they are on googlemaps). I think the Diamond might have more "modern" furnishings to the Ruby's more "Versailles" furnishings, but you can look on TripAdvisor to see which style appeals to you more. I remember someone mentioning a very small room at what I think was the Ruby, check into that. Otherwise, you simply can't go wrong between the two.

dgunbug

I believe it was the elegance 3 we stayed at, which is down a small alley. We loved the hotel and location, but moved to the elegance 4 on our last night, discovering that the rooms were even nicer and the staff equally wonderful. I believe the 5 was being built at the time and was closer to the lake in a superior location. I would think the 4 or 5 would both be excellent choices. Note that the rooms in the elegance 3 were very small. Other than that, it was excellent too.

internetwiz

We stayed at the Hanoi Elegance Diamond in November and absolutely loved it. The room was very nice, but what made it so special was the service. We left our bags for an overnight trip. When we returned, our bags were waiting for us in the same room we'd vacated, and the staff addressed us by name. As an FYI, we requested a room at the back of the hotel as we were told it was quieter.

wkwb42a

We stayed in the Diamond Elegance Hotel in Hanoi in January.
We highly recommend this hotel. Its location was very good, right in the Old Quarter; we could easily walk to good restaurants, etc. The staff was friendly and helpful, and we too went on an overnight trip to HaLong Bay, and upon our return our stored luggage was waiting for us in our room. The rooftop breakfast room was nice and offered a view of the city. (Breakfast was good too, great pineapple pancakes). We stayed in a suite which was quite comfortable and not very expensive. Each room has a desktop computer to use free of charge.

MissGreen

Elegance hotels are no 1 on trip advisor in Hanoi. I pondered staying with them but they didn't have a pool unfortunately. I just went by price and figured the higher one would be slightly better? Yeah I know.. easily could be wrong!

sf7307

MissGreen, I know you were looking for 5* hotels on another thread. Lest anyone get the wrong impression, The Elegance chain are more like 3* hotels with 5* service. As wonderful as it was, you can't compare the Elegance Diamond to, say, the Metropole, or the Majestic in Saigon - just not the same category.

MissGreen

That's right SF... I was indeed looking due to their rating on TripAdvisor and considered the highest room category. I wondered if the service would be worth staying there as well as them being a Vietnamese company. However, I decided not to go with them as I wasn't sure and thus asked my question about 5 star hotels and have booked Sofitel Legend.

haitranxuan

Hi Stephanie,

I have come across to your queries from other threads. I don't really want to mess up your decision but you might want to have a look at Golden Lotus or Golden Rice hotel on Hang Trong Str If you do not fix the hotel yet. These 02 hotels located in great location, it's on one of the most beautiful str in the old quarter and very close to the Silk & Cotton str, 3 minutes to Hoan Kiem lake. These hotels has lovely amenities, room size also bigger than most of other 3 star hotels in the old quarter. You may want to get the deluxe rooms which is at the back overlook to the old Cathedral or Executive one with the view to the street & lovely balcony.I found the staffs here are very friendly and helpful, you have computer in your deluxe room but they even give you a laptop if you need to access to internet in the lobby.
Again I don't really want you to make any changes with your decision but I'm just want to mention these great 02 hotels as I don't see any other comments about these hotels on the forum.

With my regards!

Hai Tran

mr_go

We stayed at the Ruby and loved it. I have heard that some of the rooms are smaller, but ours was a very spacious triple room (we were a party of three) that overlooked the little alleyway at the front of the hotel. Very central location, very much a local "neighborhood" feel to the place...but the real attraction was the service. My understanding is that all the Elegance locations pride themselves on such service, though, and I'm certain the Diamond is no exception.

In short, I don't think you can go wrong either way.