Warning - Metropole Hanoi
 

Dogster has just escaped from the Metropole Hanoi. He is not a happy puppy.

The bottom line - if you have, or are thinking of booking there in the Opera Wing in the next four months - think again.

The rooms are very nice indeed - except for the pneumatic drills and hammering that will destroy your stay between 8.00 a.m. and 6.00 p.m.

The hotel will ignore any E mails in advance about this - or suggest that it will not cause any inconvenience - they lie.

When you check in they will tell you that they have a nice room away from the noise - they lie.

They will blithly mention that they have some noise - between 10.00 and 6.00 p.m. - they lie.

When you complain about being woken up at 8.00 a.m. by World War Three happening in the rooms above you, in front of you and on either side -they will look at you with thinly disguised contempt and suggest that you pay an extra $50 to move to a tiny classic room in the Old Wing.

You will, IF you stand your ground, get a free lunch and a room in the Old Wing, half the size, for $25.

If you, like a complete idiot, return to the hotel a couple of days later, compelled by their refusal to cancel the booking without you paying for ALL of it - they will promptly put you in another 'quiet' room in the Opera Wing - and the same thing will happen all over again.

And they don't give a damn.

This farce cost me about $1500 for 4 nights. Caveat Emptor.

Great. Well I guess this confirms my post from last week.

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=35084937

I did, indeed, get an email from the hotel assuring me that it wouldn't be a problem.

I didn't buy it either and tried moving to the other wing, but it's sold out. So basically...we're screwed.

This'll be fun.

We'll be there in about a month. Guess we'll have to wait till we get there to deal with it if neccessary.

A look at tripadvisor confirms that the noise will be a real issue, amongst other things:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...noi-Hanoi.html

Reviews of other hotels make it hard to determine what might be a better alternative.

If you haven't already paid for the Metropole, here are a couple of options off the top of my head: The Hilton, while rather institutional-looking, has gotten good reviews by a number of Fodorites including the esteemed MrWonderful. We liked the DeSyloyia. It's not as luxe as the Metropole, but it's a nice little boutique place with a great staff. I understand there is a new Sheraton, but it's rather out of the way. However, it supposed to be quite nice.

Good Luck!

Dogster,

Thanks for the information! Did the construction bothered you after you moved to the old wing?

See my latest post under "Metropole Under Construction."

Better still, stay at the WIN hotel *grins* about a 60 second walk from the lake, choice of at least a dozen restaurants with a minute's walk....and you'll get change out of $40!

$1500 for 4 nights?

Now in Siem Reap - at the Hotel De La Paix - which is everything the Metropole wasn't.

filmwill - yup, it was your post that tipped me off - and, basically, yes, if you've pre-paid -you're screwed.

One tip - as they lie about everything else, you might find that a room in Old Wing will miraculously appear. I think they keep a stock of rooms for the daily complaints - of which there are many. I watched as a tour group of Americans vented their spleen - to absolutely no effect.

Fronting the reception desk with murder in your heart will achieve little. You'll just be blocked with the most infuriating passive agression. This was even more irritating.

On my second stay I did the Asian thing and yielded... checked in to the Opera Wing with resignation, waited an hour THEN, sadly, softly, rang guest relations and with an [entirely manufactured] sob in my voice held the phone in the air so they could hear the carnage and said quietly 'What to do? I'm so tired and so sad. I'm very old. Is there a solution? Nobody cares... oh, well, never mind.. I'll just have to kill myself.'

Dogster used to work in the theatre - he's a BS Artiste par excellence - so when the duty manager rang [about one millisecond later] the dog was rewarded for his little performance with a smooth transition to the Old Wing.

Hanuman - no construction noise in the Old Wing - but if you want to use the pool you'll be treated to some fine bash and whallop. The Old Wing is noisy - but it's Hanoi streetlife - and that's kinda fun.

Mitch - hiya pal. I knew you'd find this funny. Dogster is travelling with an elderly friend with limited mobility - hence the lavish accomodation. If it was up to the dog he'd be in the $40 a night hotel.

One additional thing to note: CHECK your documents and the room rate. Carry your docs with you. On both occasions when we checked in they overcharged me $45 a night. That wasn't fun on check-out.

Bisbee: you were correct to question me - internet rates [hotel site direct] for Opera Wing room for first 3 nights including taxes were $345 + $280 + $280 + $25 for moving rooms. Return visit [one night] $345.

Elderly companion, deluxe room Old Wing, was $1500 all up. She was completely happy, I must report, but then, the more money I spend on her, the happier she gets.

These rates doesn't include breakfast, but all the hammering you can stomach.

Had a few interesting exchanges with one of the managers last night via email.

So far, so terrible. Their "solution" was moving us to twin rooms (even though we're two married couples) in the Classic Wing for $250 more a night than we're already paying for Queen Rooms in the Opera Wing!!!

When we booked our rooms originally, they quoted us only $55 more a night for Classic Wing vs. Opera Wing (and that was with Queen beds--not Twins.)

To say they're been EXTREMELY unhelpful is an undertstatemenet. This is shocking considering how "5 star" this property is supposed to be. I've never heard of a situation like this where a luxe property undergoes an extensive renovation (that closes access to shops, restaurants and the pool) without informing the guests that have already booked there.

Needless to say, we could try to move to the Hilton...although I don't know what's worse. That looks no different than staying in the Poughkeepsie Sheraton--not like you're staying in Hanoi.

Suddenly I've gone from really excited about Hanoi to really skeptical.

Well, I guess this is all part of the ups and downs of travel (yup, I'm prepaid). Hopefully we'll be able to look back and laugh, although that'll be harder with these prices.

Dogster: LOL!