Hanoi Hotels:
There is a shortage of rooms in Hanoi nowadays & the days of cheap lodging is diminishing. Try looking on the big booking sites and the discounts are neglible.
Hanoi Elegance 3 @ 106 Hang Bong WEBSITE
Part of the Elegance Hotel group (the Elegance 2 has been getting great reviews for a long time) the hotel recently opened a few months ago. It is a very nice place, well located near the Old Quarter and has EXCELLENT staff. The room was a 'junior suite' with an enclosed balcony (with skylight) on the 3rd floor. Tastefully decorated in a modern Vietnamese style with nice furniture & very comfortable bed. Also in-room was an Internet pc, desk, adequate storage, mini-bar and wall-mounted LCD cable tv. The bathroom was clean with good water pressure. The weird shower (with sauna / side-top-pressure jets / seat /radio ) was matched by the overly ornate toilet.
The outfit of the hotel has touches of SE Asia garishness (one mans taste is anothers etc) but, as new, is fresh & clean. There is an elevator for the lazy. The groundfloor has a breakfast restaurant only & while the breakfast is freshly prepared it is a spartan menu. There is NO bar or other restaurant. The hotel offers a travel service and 2 users reported fair prices and well organised tours. The hotel also parks your moto or bike at night. The airport pickup is slightly overpriced tho it was a nice new people-mover owned by the hotel group.
Where this hotel excelled is the quality of the staff in all areas. Also all communication via email elicited prompt replies. The Front Office staff proved local knowledge in advising and mapping our particular requests for something or somewhere. Terry got a case of gastro here (ended up on a drip at the SOS clinic) and the kind staff bought in plain rice and soup during the day for her & refused to charge !!! Particular mention for their exemplary customer relations goes to Mr Do Van (Director) and Mr Phong (Customer Service Manager). HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Reviews HERE
The Golden Lotus - WEBSITE Really nice place, well located and great staff. Forgiving of our unexpected travel changes - room was excellent, breakfast yummy and the front balcony rooms are great. Highly recommended for those ready to pay 50$US per night. Reviews HERE
NEW - We tried to book here again but got no replies for our several emails. Mookie kindly dropped in to try and make a booking but they were booked out
Hanoi Restaurants:
City View Cafe 5th Flr, 1357 Dinh Tien Hoang
At the Old 1/4 end of Hoan Kiem by the roundabout has the most excellent cafe with real milk and excellent views
Quan An Ngon @ 18 Phan Boi Chau
Also found in Saigon this is a very interesting restaurant specializing in 'street food' of Vietnam. We enjoyed what we had but were not hungry enuf to do it justice. The place is full of various 'stalls' cooking their speciality and you can order any stalls produce of the menu. There is a cental courtyard area that we preferred, as well as 2 floors interior space. Though often full of locals it also seems popular with tour groups- pays to be here early or late. Noodlepie has some reviews here
Bao Khanh Hotel @ 22 Bao Khanh
Is a large Chinese style hotel entrance - goto the lift, top floor and climb 2 flights of stairs. Here you will find a rooftop restaurant with amazing uninterrupted views over Hanoi (great view of lake and cathedral & to get your bearings). Food seems expensive so just have drinks and get some good photos.
Hoa Vien Brauhaus @ 1A Tang Bat Ho WEBSITE
This is a Czech style beer place that is supposedly Vietnams first microbrewery though some Bia Hoi purveyors may disagree. We had lunch here with some local friends & the beer was great and the food an interesting range of Euro & Vietnamese.
Bihn Mihn on Din Liet
Upstairs where the market begins. Good Westernised and Viet food with the benefits of an open-air respite from the bustle below. Cold beer and good cheap draft beer - excellent fruit shakes. Perfect for breakfast. Lovely owners and very helpful - Highly recommended
Cafe Le Malraux @ 2 Hang Bong
Excellent Steak with Green Peppercorn sauce for 90K VND with frites. It was so good I went back and had a repeat the next day. Also tried the 'citronella crispy salty tofu' which was tasty. Coffee was so-so but overall the menu and quality of the food was excellent. Mix of Viet & Euro dishes and what I saw of other dishes it looked good. Nice place.
Green Mango @ 18 Hàng Quạt
Had dinner here with Mookie - slightly expensive but tasty food and an OK wine list. Replica of a famous Cat Ba place that was virtually empty on a Thursday night.
Pane & Vino @ 3 Nguyen Khac Can - 98 Hang Trong
Excellent slightly expensive but yummy Italian food and a great wine list.
Vi Lan Cafe @ 24 Hang Giay
Is a great place to take home some VN coffee. Bought 500gms of Weasel coffee for 64k VND and it is yummo
Amazon Bar @ 10 Ngo Bao Khanh
Centrally located small friendly bar making excellent margaritas. Nice place to hangout for a drink and favoured by a few expats. The Ozzie owner (when drunk) can be a bit overbearing. No salted peanuts :-<
Wine Warehouse on Hang Trong
A discount wine warehouse has some good value wines from round the world for those missing the grape
Hanoi Shopping:
Having little need to shop excessively this visit
Bags
First we needed bags to put stuff in so we headed to the bag shops just past the Water Puppet theatre. There is a whole strip of them for about 100 metres. Like Russian dolls some big bags contain the smaller ones inside - the shops are quite small - so if you like the look of a bag and it is too big - ask for a smaller one as they often have it. Check the stitching inside and give it a tug. If it is a wheely bag check the quality of the wheels (hollow thin plastic) and the towing handle (thin alloy). We got a *cough* Samsonite mid-large case with solid wheels and steel handle & a plane carryon sized backpack with wheels and handle for 800000VND. They lasted the trip unscathed and seem excellent quality.
Shoes
Can be problematic if you are a bigfoot and/or female. Dong Xuan market is good for cheapy domestic shoes. The best runners/trainers are found in the street behind the bag shops.
Watch Shop @ 34 Hang Bong
Has a very extensive range of "copy watches" ranging from $30 to $300 USD - depeneding on the quality of the watch. Factors to consider, and these affect the price, are : sapphire or glass; quality of leather or steel strap; movements - swiss / japanese / chinese / russian; accuracy etc. I looked at several shops and the price and quality supercedes the Chinese / HK / Bangkok & KL alternatives. Recommended.
Hien Silk @ 100 Hang Gai
Has lovely clothes also great quality - items bought 2 years ago still going strong --- recommended.
Khai Silk @ 96 Hang Gai
Is most expensive and has sister shops in Hanoi, Hoi An & Saigon. Interesting cloth and patterns, excellent workmanship & good staff. A silk and a silk/cotton mans shirts cost $45. Expensive by Viet standards but compared to OZ a great buy for the quality Interestingly the stick range is still the same almost 2 years since last visit.
Viet Silk @ 63 Hang Gai
will make you a silk padded bedspread in the colors you choose in a day. A large queen size cost $42 and is one of the best buys in Vietnam we think. This is the 2nd one we bought and you need plenty of space as, though light, is a bulky item, Buy a new bag or one of those stripey chinese plastic bag. You could consider posting it home. Great service in the shop and our 2 yr old one is still perfect !!!
Minh Ngoc @ 26 Hang Bong
had really nice embroidery.
Vu Trieu Shop @ 47 Hang Gai
satisfied my lacquer Tintin cover collection on the kitchen wall at home - 15 of them brighten it nicely. Bought 3 @ slightly less than $6 each. Check them carefully for marks and make sure they wrap them well.
Motobike / Bike Hire
Vu Ha is the director of a Moto & bike rental place @ 5 Dinh Liet close to where the food market starts in the Old Quarter. A moto (automatic) cost me $10 a day for a newish bike. Same bike exactly cost $5 in Hoi An so it is added proof to the price rises in Hanoi. Ph 0912 265 334 is his mobile and he will deliver to your hotel.
BARGAIN BARGAIN BARGAIN
Kinh Thuoc Thu Ha @ 134 and 1/38 Pho Ba Trieu
Do you wear glasses or need reading glasses ? A friend got 4 pairs of photo-chromatic prescription made 2 years ago and claimed the saving on Australian prices paid for his whole trip - airfares and all. We stumbled upon Kinh Thuoc Thu Ha @ 134 and 1/38 Pho Ba Trieu (not far from Hoan Kiem lake) and got our eyes tested on this slick machine. The place is crawling with a lot of locals & the boss speaks good english. We got 3 pair of reading glasses & 1 long-sighted pair. Two of which were photo-chromatic, plus a friends script for another pair. The price will vary depending on the frames chosen - many styles and types upto titanium - but specs wearers here think we got a major bargain. You can take your own prescription with you (or a friends) and it is all done in less than 40 minutes.
