Hanoi hotel recommendations please
 

We are hoping for a recommendation for a luxury hotel as close to Hanoi's airport as possible (which area of town would be considered closet to the airport?).

We will be visiting Hanoi, flying to Laos, flying back to Hanoi and then southward. We arrive back at night and need to fly out in the morning -- it would be most convenient to stay near the aiport if there is a lovely hotel, or at least in an area that would not be too long a drive to/from. Any recommendations would be great - thanks!

There are none. They are all about a 40 minute drive.

I don't think any of the hotels in Hanoi would really be classified as "luxury" hotels. However in my opinion, the most upmarket hotel in the city is the Metropole, operated by the Sofitel chain. It's a colonial style property, nicely restored and it has very good service. Make sure you ask for a renovated room in the Old Wing. They have lovely high ceilings, wood floors, French doors to the balcony. (The new wing has all the charm of a Holiday Inn.)
The Metropole is in the city, walking distance to the Old Quarter and many excellent art galleries and restaurants.

On my first visit to hanoi we stayed at the Hilton, and we loved it. it's in the french quarter area, very close to the metropole, and two of my favorite restaurants: cafe au lac and opera house. It's also very near a favorite house decor store; nyugen freres.
The hotel has a nice bar with live music, large rooms and an exceptional breakfast buffet.

yes, they are far from the airport. You can take a taxi to go to the centre of hanoi

I would agree that the Mertopole is the most luxurious hotel in Hanoi. The Hilton gets good reviews, but is a remarkably ugly building. We stayed at a small boutique place, the DeSyloia which we like very much. AS we have all said, nothing is close to the airport.

Thanks all. We are staying at the Metropole for our time in Hanoi. The overnight between flights we thought we'd try to find someplace closer to the aiport, but it sounds like that is not an option. Has anyone stayed at the other Sofitel in Hanoi, at the Sheraton or the Nikko -- these all have more reasonable prices and for our 1-night in/out might make sense. Can anyone recommend one over the other for a place to just sleep and get back to the airport in the morning?

I stayed in the WIN Hotel, recommended by LP, and booked through www.vietnamstay.com . It was centrally located to the lake and numerous restaurants and cost $35 a night for a room on the first floor inc small balcony. Comfortable, very clean, cheap and cheerful - and quiet. But you may want luxury. But I re-iterate, The first floor. Initially I was put on a higher floor (no elevator and 79 steps) but complained very grumpily. They were very good natured about it, and changed me immediately.

I went to the Sofitel Plaza to get the view from the top (very nice). Nice lobby but I didn't see any rooms. It would be a nice place to stay, I think. It's a bit closer to the airport than the other places mentioned.

We found a very good rate for one night at the Hilton. Any thoughts on that?

I agree with Lindsey that the Sofitel Metropole is quite lovely, but we had a good experience at the Opera Hilton last summer.

I just retrieved these comments from my notes.

While I may not have chosen to stay at the Hilton initially, our visit of 11 nights in July went very well by most standards.

Let's get some disadvantages out of the way.
1. The soaring lobby is charmless, and certainly pales by comparison with that of the beautiful Sofitel Metropole nearby.

2. The outdoor pool is just ok.

There are many advantages though.
1. The location is very good. You can walk to Hoan Kiem Lake and all manner of conveniences. For that matter, it is a very quick stroll over to the Sofitel where you can enjoy a meal, drink, afternoon tea/chocolate, or cooking class. My husband has stayed at both the Sofitel and the Hilton; he reports that while the Sofitel Metropole public areas are far lovelier, our room at the Hilton was apparently better than what he had at the Sofitel Metropole.

2. The breakfast at Hilton's Chez Manon is excellent.

3. The brand new restaurant Ba Mien is delightful. We had the $20 evening prix fixe meal -- I highly recommend it. Everything was served with great flair and excitement. This sense of drama will probably last for awhile.

4. The staff was very responsive and helpful.

5. The rooms were spacious and comfortable. They offered everything in terms of comfortable mattresses, lovely linens, well equipped bathrooms, plenty of storage space. Ask for a room with a view of the Opera. I could sit in bed and look out at lots of blue sky, open space, and a view of the pastel Opera House. Very restorative in such a busy city.

6. While the pool is fairly basic, the poolside service was excellent.

7. While the spa is basic, the personnel are lovely. We had delightful hour-long massages for $20 (plus a very generous tip, of course).

Kathie, what did you find "remarkably ugly" about the Hilton? The exterior harmonizes suitably with the fussy lemon-yellow Opera building. The lobby inside was completely devoid of charm, I agree, but I didn't find the building's exterior to be so dreadful and the restaurants were quite pleasant.

Mary, you are quite right that I was too hard on the Hilton. I don't like the exterior, but my impression was worsened by the "charmless" lobby. In addition, I looked at a room for a friend who was headed to Hanoi, and at the time the rooms were dingy, with worn furnishings.

I am aware that the Hilton has re-done the rooms, and I remember you had a good experience there and I believe someone else posted on a good experience recently.

The Hilton is about 20 minutes farther from the airport than the Sofitel Plaza. The Metropole is much closer on foot to H.K. lake than the Hilton.

I stayed at the Hilton last month. The rooms were very nicely furnished, very comfortable, and the service was excellent. My first room was on an executive club floor. Breakfast there was good and the staff was friendly and helpful. My second room was on a lower floor but I stil used the club. The room was basically the same as the first one (maybe slightly smaller). I had room service for dinner one night and they were quick and efficient about it and I really enjoyed the meal. Nice bathrooms in both rooms with tub and shower. Nice desk and armoire. A safe. Turn down service with some yummy chocolates.

Was the exterior of the hotel ugly? I didn't notice. I did notice that the doorman was always there to help and there was always a taxi ready.

The lobby was spacious, a few sofas and chairs. There was a string quartet (or trio) that played classical music in the afternoon. A bar in the back that looked pretty well attended. The staff at the front desk were helpful and seemed like there were always two of them free to help. It was a bonus to have Exotissimo in the lobby and I arranged a tour with them (car, driver, guide).

The rates for the Hilton are reasonable but I stayed there on HHonors points. Hilton recently lowered the number of points required for a stay at the Hilton Hanoi Opera to 20,000. I thought it was a great use of the points.

I didn't try the pool. The sauna was mediocre. I would definitely stay that the Hilton Hanoi Opera again.