Hotels and Guesthouses in Hanoi: Good reviews and not so good ones

See the locations on Hanoi Google Map

Hotels in the old town

Backpackers Hostel: From 18 USD for double room, from 7.50 USD in dorms. 48 Ngo Huyen. Mostly dormitory accommodation, but also some private suites. "Cool hostel", according to the reviews on tripadvisor.com


Backpackers Hostel, picture © Katy


The rooftop bar, picture © Richard


Camellia 4 Hotel: From 28 USD. 44 Hang Giay. Good reviews on tripadvisor.com


Room


Cinnamon Hotel: From 55 USD. 26 Au Trieu. Mint Restaurant offers organic food and Northern kitchen. With foot massage service. See picture by nungmoo. Mixed reviews on tripadvisor.com, pointing to noise from the street and a construction site.


Room in Cinnamon Hotel, picture © cinnamonhotel


Classic Hotel 1: 22 A Ta Hien. From 30 USD. Quite good reviews on tripadvisor.com


Classic Hotel 1, picture © Sarah


Elegance Hotel 1: From 30 USD. 8 Hang Bac.


Deluxe room


Elegance Hotel 2: From 40 USD. 85 Ma May. 3rd hotel on tripadvisors popularity list for hanoi! Very good reviews. See picture by oregonlahar.


Elegance 2, picture © Kathryn



Deluxe Room


Especen Hotel: From 18 USD. 41 Ngo Huyen street. Small double room, big family room, clean, no lift, no breakfast. "Stay up top on the 5th floor in room 501, it has a great balcony with a ton of old school iron windows and gets light on three sides, big room good view", recommends TatnallK on tripadvisor.com, where there are other good reviews for this budget hotel.


Especen Hotel


Golden Lotus Hotel 1: From 52 USD. 32 Hang Trong. Standard rooms with 15sqm are small, Deluxe Twin rooms are large (45 sqm). See picture by museilyvm. Mixed reviews on tripadvisor.com (bath too basic, noise from the street).


Golden Lotus Hotel, picture © Dave


Golden Sun Hotel 1: From 42 USD. 23 Hang Hanh. Number 6 of tripadvisor popularity Index in Hanoi! See the video by aloneinvietnam


Behind the tree: Golden Sun Hotel 1, picture © marhas


Hoan Kiem Lake, seen from the breakfast room in the 7th floor. Picture © marhas


Golden Sun Hotel 2: From 32 USD. 18 Hang Hom. Large rooms. Very good service according to the reviews on tripadvisor.com


Deluxe twin room.


Hong Ngoc 1 Hotel: From 59 USD. 34 Hang Manh. Very good reviews on tripadvisor.com. Very highly recommended by frommers.com.


Bedroom of the suite, picture © David


Hong Ngoc 3 Hotel: From 42 USD. 39 Hang Bac. Good reviews on tripadvisor.com


Hong Ngoc 4 Hotel: From 42 USD. 99 Ma May.


Picture © Peter



Imperial Hotel: From 85 USD. 44 Hang Hanh. Close to Hoan Kiem Lake, in walking distance from shops and restaurants in the old town, in the upper rooms views of the lake and the old town, spacious rooms - a "terrific hotel", as ozzie10 comments on tripadvisor.com.


Superior Room


Kim Tuc Hotel 3: From 45 USD. 32 Dao Duy Tu.


Room of Kim Tuc Hotel


Maison d'Hanoi Hanova Hotel: From 100 USD. 35 -37 Hang Trong. Very good reviews on tripadvisor.com, some guests note, that the rooms are a bit small, others note, that the windwos give good portection from Hanois street noise.


Deluxe room


Majestic Salute Hotel: From 75 US-Dollars. 54-56 Hang Duong. Double-glazed windwos keep the street noise out. Mixed reviews on tripadvisor.com.


Majestic Salute Hotel


Prince Hotel I: From 18 USD. 51 Luong Ngoc Quyen. Mixed reviews on tripadvisor.com


Prince Hotel II: From 15 USD. 42 Hang Giay Street. No elevator, but quite good reviews for this budget hotel on tripadvisor.com. See also this photo set about Hang Giay street.


Picture © Alfred Wilhelm


Prince II room, picture © Bosch vertrekt


Queen Hotel: From 65 USD. 65 Hang Bac. "It's a good bit over-priced, but a fine choice if you can afford it", notes travelfish.org. Good reviews on tripadvisor.com, that point out, that rooms on the street side are noisy.



Entrance to Queen Hotel

Quoc Hoa Hotel: From 55 USD. 10 Bat Dan. Has Fitness Center with Jacuzzi and Sauna. See picture by Mardi Odeve


Quoc Hoa Hotel



Thien Tan Hotel: 12 Cha Ca. Mixed reviews on tripadvisor.com for this budget hotel.


Zephyr Hotel:


Picture © Mimi


Hotels in the French Quarter

Hilton Hanoi Opera: From 128 USD. 1 Le Thanh Tong. "Hotel not amazing, but nothing wrong with it", is the tone of some comments on tripadvisor.com.


Picture © geert_de_jong88


The pool. Picture © terry


Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel: From 173 USD. 15 Ngo Quyen. "an oasis", "superp": a lot of good commenzs on tripadvisor.com. You find a French and a Vietnamese restaurant and an Italien steak house as well as Le Spa du Metropole. For over a century, the Metropole has welcomed ambassadors, heads of state, celebrities and legendary writers.


Picture © megan


Luxury room. Picture © Nathan & Vanessa


The pool. Picture © Nathan & Vanessa


The suite. Picture © Christine


Hotels around West Lake

Dragon Hotel: 48 Xuan Dieu. Quite good reviews on tripadvisor.com


InterContinental Hanoi Westlake: From 140 USD. 1A Nghi Tam. Mixed reviews on tripadvisor.com.


Villas and the Sunset Bar. Picture © Krista


Picture © missbossy


Sedona Suites: 96 To Ngoc Van. Serviced Apartments. One review on tripadvisor.com


Picture © Rajiv


Sheraton Hanoi Hotel: From 103 USD. 11 Xuan Dieu. Good reviews on tripadvisor.com. Very highly recommended by frommers.com


Picture © usbirgit


View of West Lake from Sheraton. Picture © Mel


Sofitel Plaza: From 105 USD. Thanh Nien. Very good reviews on tripadvisor.com


Picture © Stanislav


View from Panorama Bar at Sofitel Plaza. Picture © martywindle



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Temples around West Lake in Hanoi

See the location on West Lake Google Map

Chua Phu Tay Ho: Located on a peninsula into Tay Ho Lake. It's popular among unmarried people, who pray here for good fortune during the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month. Phu Tay Ho is also known for Bun Oc (escargot vermicelli soup) and Banh Tom (shrimp cakes), sold in stalls along the way.


Picture
© marhas1


Above the door. Picture © marhas 1


On the roof. Picture © marhas1


Picture © macloo


Picture © marhas 1


Picture © marhas 1


Picture © macloo


Picture © marhas 1

See also a video by designerchau on youtube.com.

Listen to Music; Chieu Phu Tay Ho


Den Quan Thanh: It is one of the “Thang Long tu tran”, the four famous sacred temples (the other three are Bach Ma (White Horse), Voi Phuc (Kneeling Elephant) and Kim Lien). It is also known als Tran Vu Temple. It was built under the Ly Dynasty (1010-1225) and later reconstructed.


Th entrance with three doors and bell tower and four pillars in front, decorated with bas-reliefs. Picture © DucLoi


Picture © rosie.mowat


During Tet, picture © AlienCC


Inside the building: a giant black bronze statue of Huyen Thien Tran Vu, 3.72 metres high, weighing four tonnes. The statue from 1677 documents a refined bronze casting technique of Vietnamese people in the 17th century. Tran Vu was the God of the North. His attributes are a tortoise and a snake. Picture © Annie

See a video of Quan Thanh Temple


Chua Kim Lien: The Golden Lotos Pagoda, a Buddhist temple. From the lake the pagoda looks like a golden lotus, floating on the water’s surface. Unlike other pagodas Kim Lien has a wooden entrance gate of three arches. The gate, also known as cong tam quan, has two stories with eight roofs with ngoi mui hai (tiles with curved tops) and sword shapes on the edges. In the 13th century Dong Long Pagoda was built here. In 1771 it was renovated and the name was changed to Kim Lien. Kim Lien is composed of three pavilions, each has 2 roof layers and the appearance of being slightly curved and supple. They are called Ha (lower), Trung (middle) and Thuong (upper). Read more about the pagoda on vietnamnet.vn


Picture by © Thanh Tam


Picture © Thanh Tam


Picture © Maciej



Chua Tran Quoc: One of the oldest pagodas in Vietnam. The legend says it was built during the Nam De Dynasty (544-548) at the Cai River. When the river bank crumbled in the reign of King Le Kinh Tong (1600-18) the pagoda was rebuilt on Ca Vang island in the middle of West Lake. Later it became the name Tran Quoc ("Protecting the nation"). Inside the pagoda you discover the gilden statue of Sakyamouni Buddha's Parinirvana, a masterpiece of Vietnamese sculptural art.


Picture © Sean Munson


Picture © Rolfmueller


Picture © Sean Munson


Picture © Hanoi Mark


Picture © Hanoi Mark



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Phong Nha-Ke Bang Nationalpark

See the locations (caves and nearby hotels) on Phong Nha-Ké Bang Google Map


On the river from Son Trach to Phong Nha Cave, picture by © Dust Mason


Beautiful landscape along the river, picture by © 123Lphvuong

Animals and plants, that have not be known to the world, have recently been discovered in the jungle of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, that counts two dozens of limestone mountains with over 1,000 m in height. Since 2003 it's a Unesco World Heritage Site. Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is situated in the oldest limestone zone in Asia, the Annamite Range, that crosses the boarder from Vietnam to Laos. In Vietnam it's part of the districts Bo Trach und Minh Hoa in Quảng Bình Province. The park is the centre of the last big tropical fortest in Vietnam and it counts 300 caves and grottoes with a length of 70 km and underground rivers.


Phong Nha Cave entrance, picture by © Dust Mason


The entrance from inside, picture by © Dust Mason






Huge cave, picture by © Dust Mason

Phong Nha Cave, nearly 8 km long, is famous for its rock formations. It has 14 grottos and a nearly 14 km long underground river. Tourists can get in to a distance of 1500 m. The Son River flows into the mouth of the Phong Nha cave and keeps on underground, where it is called Nam Aki River. It emerges 20 km to the south near Pu-Pha-Dam Mountain. The caves and grottos of Phong Nha are Phong Nha Cave (Hang Phong Nha), Dark Grotto (Hang Tối), E Grotto (Hang E), Cha An Grotto (Hang Chà An), Thung Grotto (Hang Thung), En Grotto (Hang Én), Khe Tien Grotto (Hang Khe Tiên), Khe Ry Grotto (Hang Khe Ry), and Khe Thi Grotto (Hang Khe Thi).

Tien Son Cave: Near the mouth of Phong Nha Cave you have to walk 350 steps up to a height of 135 metres above sea. it's nearly one kilometer long. Visitors can go inside for 400 metres. You see hundreds of stalagmites and stalactites of different sizes and shape.

Overview of all the caves: Document with map of the Caves of Quang Binh

Son Doong Cave (Hang Sơn Đoòng) is the largest cave of the world. It has been discovered by a British team in 2009. The biggest chamber is more than five kilometers long, 200 meters high and 150 meters wide. It contains the most beautiful and spectacular stalactites and stalagmites in the park. See a photo-gallery. And read the story of Ho Khanh, a local man, who discovered the cave first, and an article on nationalgeographic.com.

There are more attractions in the park as Gió waterfall, Madame Loan waterfall, Mọc stream erupting from a limestone mount range, and Trạ Ang stream.

In 2005, a new species of gecko (Lygosoma boehmeiwas) was discovered here by a group of Vietnamese biologists together with biologists working for the park, Cologne Zoo in Germany and the Saint Petersburg Wild Zoology Institute in Russia. In the park you find rare animals as Geckos, Macaques, White-cheeked Crested Gibbons, Black Lagurs, Giant Muntjacs, baars and more.

Tourists can enter the park in Son Trach (Quang Trach-District). The train from Hanoi to Hue stops in Dong Hoi, where there is an airport with flights from Hanoi.
From Dong Hoi you can arrive by taxi or motorbike. With dragon boats you drive for 15minutes up the river, before you enter the Phong Nha cave. Then it takes around 20 minutes, before you leave the boat and walk into the cave. Around 400 metres from the entrance of Phong Nha you find Thien Son Cave. You can also reach it by boat.

Instead of tours to the caves you can discover the flora and fauna in this national park in the Ke Bang Forest or go mountain climbing and trekking.

One of the adventure tours is boating upward on the Chay River into the forest to waterfalls and whirlpools until you arrive at Tro Mong.

Spectacular is Nước Trồi (Surfacing Stream), a stream surfacing from the ground.

The provincial Centre for Phong Nha-Ke Bang’s Ecotourism and Culture currently has 248 boats, creating jobs for 500 locals. Former loggers are also trained as photographers taking pictures for tourists.

How to go
In Dong Hoi some hotels offer tours. Or you rent a motorbike. Also from Hue you can book a tour.

Hotels in Dong Hoi
Sun Spa Resort: From 100 USD. Set amidst 29 hectares of landscaped garden along white sand Bao Ninh Beach and on the banks of the Nhat Le river. Very good reviews on tripadvisor.com


Pool at Sun Spa Resort, picture by © ePi.Longo

Saigon Quang Binh Hotel: From 60 USD.


Hotel in Son Trach:

Saigon Phongnha Hotel: Take mosquito repellent with you, Tipsytea warns on tripadvisor.com.


Dong Hoi and beaches
http://www.bumblehood.com/article/_5IZkjKUTLOVtNEDjbsaPA/revision?revision=61869


Read more background on vietnam-beauty.com. Read about the discovery of the worlds longest underground river. See movie by Arte.tv (text in German). And read review on tripadvisor.com. Read Tim Tompsoms blog about Dong Hoi and the caves.



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