Good_Will

Thank you all for your suggestions for our September visit to Hanoi and Halong Bay.

For Halong Bay we probably will select the 2 day 1 night Indochina Junk Dragon Legend Cruise ( about USD 400 per couple including transfers and where the rooms appear of the same standard) . There are more luxurious offerings like the Paradise Elegance and Paradise Luxury, but there it is all about different room standards and a significantly higher price for an overnight room that we will see very little of, given the opportunity for adventure.

Now as for hotels I am somewhat confused - the Sofitel Metropole, after much consideration, I believe to be considerably overpriced for what is on offer. Yes, I have an Accor membership, but the price of a room with a King Bed of any description is high and the rooms in both sectors of the hotel are relatively small.
So when I research the various comments on the booking sites which, I will not use for bookings (given some poor experiences), I find that the La Siesta Hotels are massively supported. There again I become confused because one of the highest rated - the La Siesta Diamond Hotel and Spa offers their reasonably large Executive Suites with King Bed at a considerable discount to the others. So we shall go there for the first few nights and with return there after the cruise or consider the Apricot or the Sofitel Opera, where there appears to be better value and room size. We will of course go to the Sofitel Metropole for a drink. Next challenge will be to find a great cafe for espressos / cappuccinos with fresh milk

Thanks again.

crellston

"Next challenge will be to find a great cafe for espressos / cappuccinos with fresh milk" forget about espresso or cappuccinos, for a real taste of Hanoi try an egg coffee

https://accidentalnomads.com/2014/12...oi-egg-coffee/

Alternatively, Cong Cafe have a few outlets in the city and serve good coffee.

Good_Will

Crellston, thank you. We shall definitely try the egg coffee, but espresso shots are also necessary You are a wealth of information. What do you and other Fodorites think about the Hanoi based La Siesta hotels and particularly the La Siesta Diamond ? It's high visitor ratings seem to be matched by a very high room standard for the price and an excellent customer service culture. The email we received from them with our flexible booking was very impressive. As for the Dragon Legend of Indochina Junk Co, we like the value for money, the fact that it is not just another Halong Bay cruise in the procession and that there are not various standards of cabin, as with the Paradise Luxury and Elegance. We would welcome any further comments before we lock in the hotel and cruise bookings. Thank you all.

crellston

You are very welome GoodWiil.
We have stayed in many hotels in Hanoi at all levels but I don’t recall ever staying at a La Siesta. I know they do come very highly recommended on the TA forums as well as the reviews.

I tend to agree with you re The Metropole, it does seem way overpriced compared to the competition. We have stayed in both wings, albeit a few years ago and remember not being hugely impresssed with either the size of the rooms or the service. Others here like Calinurse have stayed more recently and will have a better take on the place than I.

As I mentioned in a previous post, we have stayed at a few Accor "McGallery" properties and have always been impressed with the service and style and for that reason would definitely consider L’Opera. It is a longer walk from the atmospheric Old Quarter but the area is more upmarket and certainly more laid back. The Apricot is in a better location and the rooms are nice, but it did have a bit of a "plastic" feel to it. Lots of chandeliers but I am pretty sure they were indeed, plastic. If choosing between the Apricot and La Siesta, from what I read, La Siesta probably offers better VFM.

We tend to walk all over Hanoi but many will get around by taxi. If you fall into the latter camp then location really won’t make much difference for getting around
sites like the Temple of Literature, HCM Mausoleum, Military and Women’s Museums.

Can’t really help with Halong Cruises and I certainly would not recommend the outfit we went with - we ended up getting a partial refund as they managed to bypass the promised trip into Bai Tu Long!

CounterClifton

Hi Good_Will, greetings from Melbourne.

To your question on La Siesta - we stayed for 5 nights and could not fault it. It's a small hotel but very comfortable, excellent service and the restaurant had some of the best food we found in Hanoi, but there are a number of decent eateries within view of the hotel's front door.

We intended to grab a bus to Halong during the stay. However we were enjoying Hanoi so much we never did.

Good_Will

Hi CounterClifton and All.

Greetings from Sydney.

So far the La Siesta staff have been very helpful. They have pointed us at the new Orchid Cruise deal and the benefit in a 2 hour rather than 4 hour transfer from Hanoi. There were some significant pricing benefits arranged by La Siesta that brought the price into alignment with the Dragon Legend and for more than the Legend offers - large 36 sqm more upmarket cabin and arguably better food.

We will stay with La Siesta Diamond for 4 nights, take the Orchid Cruise midway and have locked in a great price for an Executive King suite of around 35sqm. More than happy with location of La Siesta Diamond and happy to forgo the luxury of a smaller bed and smaller room at Sofitel Metropole and at a fraction of the price. Will report back.

CounterClifton

Looking forward to hearing how it went. Just wanted to say that it IS worth going by the Metropole - for desserts! The "young rice" ice cream is so good.

Good_Will

Young Rice Ice Cream at the Metropole is now on the Itinerary.

Earlier in the thread mention was made of the long commute times from Hanoi to Halong Bay for cruises departing there.

I would recommend those interested to take a look at the new schedule for the Orchid Overnight Cruises that commence their journey on the coast only 2 hours commute each way from Hanoi.

RM67

I'd be interested to know how anyone has got the time from Hanoi to the cruise departure point down to 2hrs. I don't think that's remotely possible on the existing roads. Has a new road opened? Or do you mean that the departure point for the Orchid cruise is somewhere else completely ?

Btw we liked Greyline cruises, which managed to find some quieter areas around the bay, had a good guide, and very decent food. We booked through our hotel, Essence D'Orient, which is located in the old quarter of Hanoi.

crellston

I think they go from Dinh Vu port in Haiphong rather than Ha Long. A shorter drive from Central Hanoi but a longer sail through less interesting waters to get to Ha Long and Bai Tu Long bays. I would imagine it is preferable to the tedious journey by bus to Ha Long. I am told that the roads have been improved in the last couple of years which probably helps redcuce times to both departure points.

Good_Will

At one point we had considered the Greyline Cruise which is fairly new to Halong Bay and backed up by a large organisation. Then we investigated Dragon Legend and related comments on this thread. YouTube videos directed our preference initially to Dragon Legend and it does look more rustic and a lot of fun compared with most offerings.

Then we started to sift through information on the hotels and their location - La Opera, Apricot etc etc. We thought that it would be good to visit the Sofitel Metropole for at least 2 of the 4 nights that we have on land, but even with the Accor membership, the rates were very high and both the beds and rooms on offer were very small. We looked at the Melia as we have a card for that group as well and found it a bit too distant in location and from the local culture - despite a nice pool.

I started reading comments made on a few booking sites and was drawn to La Siesta Group and particularly La Siesta Diamond where there had been much praise of the service quality and staff.

There I looked for a room with King Size bed and found that their 35 sq m Junior Suite with King Bed was about one third of what it would have cost for a smaller room with King Bed at The Metropole i.e. at La Siesta Diamond =USD 115 per night prepaid with breakfast, USD 125 per night with breakfast flexible.

Then I sought to make a booking for the first 2 nights on a flexible basis and was contacted by a representative of the La Siesta reservations team and tour organisers who offered an "Indulgence Package with Halong Bay 2 day one night cruise". That also included a free dinner, cycle tour etc etc.

Most importantly they ranked a few Halong Bay cruise options with great detail including the Paradise Luxury, Dragon Legend and Orchid. After communicating with them we took the Orchid because they went to quite an effort to demonstrate in an unbiased way why the commute, food, upper deck view, large modern cabin, balcony etc were all worthwhile for just a little more than the Legend

So in the end we chose 4 nights at La Siesta Diamond , the Orchid on Halong Bay and a few other benefits thrown in including commute to and from Dinh Vu Port Haiphong for departure 2 hours from Hanoi, as well as airport pickup and return.

Apparently we leave Hanoi after pickup commencing from the hotels around 9am then after the drop off at Dinh Vu Port scheduled for 1130 we are taken to the Orchid by tender which it is said will be anchored in the South of Halong Bay. We are then on our way and seem to be well into the journey by lunch.

And yes Julia 2244, the itinerary points to the "route via the Cat Ba Island - Thoi Quyt area - Coc Ngoi islet - through Cua Van to Ba Trai Dao area."

Best wishes to All

RM67

I'd agree that more time on the boat is probably preferable to more time on the road - though if it's a connecting small tender it might not be quite so much fun...

I looked up Orchid and the cabins look nice I hope you have a great time OP.

Julia2244

If you want to be more active when traveling Halong Bay, you can go to Cat Ba Island. A 3 day trip is suitable for Cat Ba exploring. Here, you can do some biking, kayaking, and trekking in forest. Cat Ba Island, excepts some quiet private beaches and Cat Ba resorts, also owns authentic homestay and rustic experience as a Vietnam's countryside.
To get to Cat Ba Island, you can go by cars, day cruises, or overnight cruises. Cat Ba Island is a part of Lan Ha Bay, which belongs to Halong Bay. You highly recommend that you should go there by cruise to admire the breath-taking beauty of Halong Bay.
Good luck to you!