I will be in Hanoi in November and need to make hotel reservations. I have read every post on this board and other places including guidebooks, personal accounts, other travel sites, etc. My requirement is to stay in a hotel that is under $100. It does not have to be fancy but nice. I want to be able to walk at night and be near restaurants and bars or at least very accessible. I would like to be able to walk at night. Also be able to walk to shopping areas/sites . I know about the Old quarter and the Lake area but still unsure as I have never been there.

I am thinking about the following hotels. De Syloia, Melia and Galaxy? Please comment or give me other suggestions that meet my requirements. Many Thanks !!

I can only comment on the deSyloia. It is a lovely little boutique hotel. If you like to walk, we walked to the lake and to a number of museums and a couple of restaurants (and there is an excellent restaurant in the hotel). Service was very good, the staff were enormously helpful. It's an easy (and cheap) taxi ride to many places. I liked the location, away from the madness of the old quarter, but close enough to walk to the lake when we wanted to. I booked on asiahotels.com, and got a suite with breakfast for just over $100 (including tax and service).

I stayed at the Hilton last October. We loved it. The hotel is beautiful and the buffet breakfast was fantastic. We booked online for $100 through asiarooms

the main part of hanoi is not all that big so it really does not matter where you stay if you are centrally located...old town would be fun, but honestly i did not see anything like a hotel in that immediate area...i'm sure there is but we did not see it...

I am working in Hanoi,If you spend under $100 you shoul stay near the Lake because in old quater only small hotel ( the Govement do not allow people to build new house or hotel)to keep it original so Hotel is small and not comfortable as near Lake.
Shouldnot choose Galaxy because it is far from Lake and shopping center.
Can stay in Melia, Dan Chu ( 2minutes walking to Lake and Opera House, 5 minute walking to Hang Gai, Hang Dao ( shopping center)Nex to many good restaurant: Diva, Press Club, Dinh Lang ( Vietnamese Food)...