Hanoi Charm Hotel, Hanoi, Vietnam

Discovered by merely clicking about the TripAdvisor website, I never thought I would have (so luckily) stumbled on an amazing boutique hotel that made our stay in Hanoi, Vietnam, every bit as wonderful as it can realistically be. Kind of hurried to write this post as soon as I arrived back in Singapore, simply because this is possibly one of the best hotels I have ever stayed in (even though I have not travelled to that many countries before). 

I've never dedicated a whole post to a hotel review, simply because none of the hotels I have stayed in have deserved high praise, or major criticism (I believe we should always close an eye to minor human error that may have minimally negatively impacted one's trip). So yeah, this is some hotel worth sharing.

Our home for 3 full days in Hanoi - the Hanoi Charm Hotel. 

Here's the lobby which looks like a living room, with a large sofa and a few other armchairs about for visitors and hotel guests to sit about as they plan their routes out of the hotel. Here's where most of your discussions with the receptionists (which changes on a shift-basis, you would observe) occurs.

We were welcomed with welcome drinks & a plate of tropical fruit, as well as warm towels for us to freshen up. At this point, we met one or two english-speaking Vietnamese who asked us administrative questions as well as enquired where we were planning to visit (i.e. spas, massage parlours, museums, cruise). 

Prior to our trip, we mentioned that we wanted to visit Halong Bay, and asked a mountain of questions how we can go about booking a cruise. After much back-and-forth arrangements, we had a cruise to Halong Bay planned on Day 2 and 3, arranged via email by our hotel with their affiliated cruise service provider (Galaxy Premium Cruises). 

The hotel asked us whether we were celebrating any special occasion - and yeah we were! On our 2nd day in Hanoi, we would be celebrating our fifth anniversary together. 

So lo and behold, check out Day 1's free (surprise) upgrade to the Suite! 

Suites Balcony with Lake View

Look at all that effort with the heart-shaped balloons, hand-rolled towels and paper craft! By the way, the yellow paper spells out "Happy Anniversary!" and there are two-hearts formed by flower petals and er, two swans (not sure what bird they're going for, but let's go with swans haha). To many people, I guess this would feel pretty tacky, but it's a really nice touch to note another's special occasion in their own Vietnamese style. We really appreciated the effort!

By the way, fresh fruit/snacks (banana, grapes & waffle biscuits) are delivered daily to the room in the morning. At night, you'll return to your room to see jellies on the table.

Bathroom beats all the bathrooms I have pissed in before. Hahaha. Period.

The suite also came with a balcony with a view of Old Quarter and a bit of Hoàn Kiếm Lake!

This room is located on the 9th storey, and the lift serves up to the 8th storey, so you'd need to climb some stairs to get up to your room. The view and cooling wind is definitely worth it though. The night view is pretty awesome and it's perfect for buying some drinks and snacks from downstairs and bringing it out here to chill, away from the hustle and bustle of pi-pi-Hanoi ("Pi pi" being the consistent honking from morning to night). 

In the morning, we checked-out and headed to our 2D1N cruise in Halong Bay - everything was arranged without much hiccup, and we were reasonably pleased. Even though we were promised a premium room in the cruise (because it's our anniversary!), we ended up with an ordinary room due to the room being sold out. I was pretty okay with that, but the hotel went one step further and made it up to us by arranging two tickets to Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre. Another nice touch!

Upon our return to Hanoi from Halong Bay, we were checked in to a regular room (as per our initial reservation). 

Superior Room with Outside Window

Loved the modern concept along with the velvety midnight blue pillows! Again, we see some cute butterfly craft (in green) as well as flower petals. We were joking about and saying that the Hanoians sure love deflowering their flowers for decorations!

Bathroom is spacious with plenty of space for two (slim) people to use the sink at a time.

Coming to the daily breakfast (included in your hotel package), selection is decent with sufficient dishes to satisfy the Westerner's or Asian's palate. Here displayed are the items you can simply pick and eat. Hanoians love their tropical fruits, and the same fruits are EVERYWHERE. Hahaha. I'd say Vietnamese rock melons (the orange fruit at the bottom left) are always really sweet and yummy!

For those who prefer hot food in the morning, the cafeteria area provides a hot menu, where you can order anything off it (with no additional cost) such as phở (a popular street food - a Vietnamese noodle soup consisting of broth, linguine-shaped rice noodles called bánh phở, a few herbs, and meat, primarily served with either beef or chicken), bánh mì (the Vietnamese baguette containing pâté, jalapeño, and mayonnaise with native Vietnamese ingredients, such as cilantro, cucumber, and pickled carrots and daikon) as well as eggs done in your preferred way (scrambled, poached, boiled, etc.)

All in all, Hanoi Charm Hotel is a perfect choice for young couples. The boutique hotel is cosy, homely (from my understanding it is relatively new at about 6 months old) and worth every cent for you to stay at. The price is affordable and the service is excellent. All staff are very attentive and eager to ensure that you have nothing short of an awesome time. Their hospitality and helpfulness are also top-notch.

The hotel location is pretty prime, and you can explore all museums, tourist walking trails, and the Old Quarter on foot. If your feet are feeling sore from all that walking, a cab to Hoa Lo Prison will cost about VND28,000 which translates to about SGD1.78/USD1.24; a cab to the Army Museum will cost about VND42,000 which translates to about SGD2.66/USD1.87. On weekend nights, the hotel is also just two streets away from the night market (where tourists and locals alike visit)... and the night market connects to the famous beer street known as Ta Hien Beer Street, where USD1 can get you 4 bottles of beer!

Staff members know their way around the area extremely well, and are able to give you street directions off the top of their heads to the restaurants, cafes, and museums nearby. They also take note of your daily schedule (if you shared it with them) so they'll always ask you "how was the spa?", "how did you find Hoa Lo Prison?" when you return at the end of the day. You'll definitely feel cared for, and right at home here.

Hanoi Charm Hotel sure radiated its own brand of Hanoi Charm that was the cherry-on-top to our delightful trip to Hanoi & Halong Bay.

Hanoi Charm Hotel 
Address: No 1b To Tich Str, Old Quarter, Hoan Kiem Dist, Hanoi, Vietnam.
Website: www.hanoicharmhotel.com
Email: info@hanoicharmhotel.com / booking@hanoicharmhotel.com

Click HERE to see my B/W photo collection of my time in Hanoi, as well as HERE to check out my Ha Long Bay experience!