Hanoi Lake View Hotel

The hotel is small, friendly, clean, comfortable and in the heart of the old town just steps away from coffee and eating places, bars, shopping. It certainly has the idiosyncrasies of old hotel but also the charm. I look for clean bathrooms and good Wi-Fi. The activity level of the old quarter can be exciting with the crush of people, street food, venders & visitors or a bit overwhelming for people are expecting a familiar franchise experience. I am not certain how the hotel was named Lake View though. The lake is two blocks away. I returned to hotel for short stay so I did experience two different rooms and was very happy with both. I was traveling with 2 friends who were also very equally satisfied with their rooms.. The breakfast room. Is on 9th floor and is bright with large windows filling two walls overlooking city. There buffet had very nice selection of fresh fruit and breakfast foods that were continuously monitored and refilled. I found staff to be friendly, helpful and quick to accommodate requests. The manager, Mr. Long, was very attentive to his oversight of staff and guests in lobby and breakfast room.

We were “upgraded” to this hotel from another sister hotel we had booked. The upgrade was a joke and from the beginning it was clear that this trick is done on a regular basis. Unfortunately this is not the only hotel doing something like this it seems, based on other hotel reviews. This is a common trick in Hanoi amongst many hotels. The impression of hotel staff was friendly but they could not often times read the room. When guests are tired and just want to go to their room to rest, last thing they want to do is chit chat about trip options to different places in Vietnam. Every time entering the hotel lobby they asked so many questions about our stay in Vietnam without actually being interested. They just wanted to sell trip packages as much as possible. Felt like visiting a sales fair at times. Also the car ride booked for the last leg of the journey was a joke and the quality of the car/service arranged by the hotel did not reflect the reality. The only thing good about this hotel is the prime location. Also the breakfast was truly a disappointment.

The whole building is very very old, except for the main lobby which looks bright and welcoming, other than that, everything is very run down. Hotel needs a complete overhaul. Don't be misled by what you see/read from the various websites and 'good' reviews about the rooms' types, sizes and prices. Even rooms with windows are not actual windows with views. Not ideal for people who do not like stairs. The hotel has 2 buildings with 7 stories each and about 2 to 3 guest rooms on each floor. However to access guest rooms on 2nd building, guests have to climb up a flight of stairs to reach 'lift lobby' which serves from 1st floor to 7th floor. Breakfast is served from 7am to 10am daily on 9th floor in the main building but the lift reaches 7th floor only and guests have to climb 2 floors of narrow steps to reach the 9th floor for the pathetic breakfast. Breakfast 'spread' is a joke! Although there are 2 silver food warmers on the table, each contains little food such as either fried rice or fried noodle, sausage & bacons, stir-fry vegetables & meat, some tiny pancakes on a separate plate, frozen loafs of white breads to toast. We have to change our rooms twice as the 1st was not what we have booked and with many things broken down, such as safe, TV, telephone and also kettle. The 2nd room is slightly better with huge windows but no lake view as advertised. Telephone is also broken and air conditioner is very loud. No proper blanket nor quilt, just a thin sheet/cover to use as 'blanket'. The hotel was also too far away from everything. We booked 4* Ha Long Bay day excursion from the hotel which we understood that it came with buffet lunch on board the boat. However, when we were on the VIP limousine, tour guide said that ours was a deluxe package with bento lunch only. Glad that the tour guide called back the tour company and gave us the buffet lunch package. The room rate is not cheap given the room condition and the standard of breakfast, no on-site swimming pool although the hotel claimed to be 4*. The in-house Spa & Wellness Centre is just a very open/small room with 2 beds. Not worth a penny staying in this hotel!