The first … and the best - Vietnamese hotel

Business Asia, August 17, 1998

Vietnam's first officially accredited five-star property, the Hotel Sofitel Metropole Hanoi is an award-winning French colonial-style hotel in the heart of Hanoi.

It's near Hoan Kiem Lake and the magnificent Opera House. Boasting a classical white facade, green shutters, original wrought-iron detail, wood panelling and a lush courtyard lawn, the hotel is one of the region's few remaining hotels of its era.

Built at the turn of the century by two private French investors, the hotel quickly became the rendezvous point for colonial society in the first half of the century.

Following Vietnamese independence in the 1950s, the new national government opted to maintain it as the official hotel for visiting VIPs, and during and after the war years it became a base for media and diplomats.

Ninety years after it had risen so gloriously from the swamps of ancient Hanoi, the Thong Nhat Hotel was closed for the facelift of the century.

Under the first phase, the existing hotel was refurbished over an 18-month period and reopened in March 1992, again called Hotel Metropole.

The second phase started in 1994 when work began on the 135-room Opera Wing, and the four-storey Metropole Centre office tower above it, both of which opened in late 1996.

The hotel guest list over the past years has included the Presidents of America, France, Switzerland and the Republic of Togo, the Prince of Monaco, the King of Malaysia, the Duke of Gloucester, the Duke and Duchess of Bedford, and the Prime Ministers from Australia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, France, Canada, Nigeria, Norway and Vietnam. Big business delegations such as the World Presidents Organisation, the Asia Leaders Forum as well as famous people such as Catherine Deneuve, Charlie Chaplin, Jane Fonda, Stephen Hawking and Oliver Stone have also stayed at the hotel.

To this day the hotel's bars remain a haunt for international and local journalists wanting to pick up the latest business news.

A 244-room hotel with the choice of two restaurants, three bars, a swimming pool and health club, Sofitel Metropole is really an oasis of charm in the heart of Hanoi, blending the legendary hospitality of the Vietnamese people with the finest facilities befitting its European heritage.

* For further information, phone (844) 8266 919 or fax (844) 8266 920.