PRICE:
Frommer's Highly Recommended

If you've come to Hanoi for real Sofitel charm, your best bet is the downtown Metropole. The big drawback of this hotel is location, which resembles a Florida suburb, but for familiar comfort and a bit of breathing room from downtown chaos, the Sofitel Plaza is a good bet. The hotel towers over the southern end of West Lake, which is about a 10-minute ride on Hanoi's ring road to the north of downtown, but this hulking plaza hosts such a high standard of rooms and services that you won't mind the slight inconvenience. Views from upper floors to the nearby lake and surrounding city (no buildings obstruct the views from here) are great. Rooms are large and decked out in sumptuous fabrics, rich rugs, and fine furnishings. The commute to the Old Quarter is about $2 (£1.10) in a taxi, and after wandering around there, you might be pleased to be whisked out of the chaos to air-conditioned comfort.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Vietnam, 2nd Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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