We stayed at the Sofitel Metropole for 3 days and loved our stay here. The hotel has a great location only 5 minutes walk from the lake. Our room (classic room in original building) was lovely and blended old and new perfectly. Plasma screen tv and the most comfortable bed of our whole trip. Whilst it's expensive compared to other hotels it's still very much value for money for what you get and food and drinks in the hotel were reasonably priced. A memorable experience was having a foot massage by the side of the pool whilst lying on my sun lounger. Really reasonablly priced at 9USD for 30 minutes.

We booked a trip to Halong Bay through the Hotel Concierge and the total for 2 of us was 100 USD - this was slightly more expensive than we'd seen this priced elsewhere but the experience was well above our expectations. We had a private car take us to Halong Bay with our own tourguide and when we got there realised we had a whole boat to ourselves with 3 staff. The lunch on the boat was incredible so all in all great value! Be warned that the drivers in Vietnam though have their own "unique" driving style so the drive up to Halong Bay was fairly hairy, but heh that's part of the experience.

We also used the Concierge to book us tickets for the Water Puppets show and they got us great seats - second row right in the middle - for a performance the same day.

I would thoroughly recommend the Sofitel, the hotel has a really nice colonial feel to it and the staff could not have been more helpful and pleasant. Breakfast has everything and more - we tried to think of something that wasn't available and we couldn't!

A truly wonderful hotel with a nice historic feel. We stayed in a standard room in the old wing which was beautiful. Room service was excellent and the maid service was perfect. There is a no tipping policy at the hotel but the service certainly does not suffer. The staff are always smiling and always helpful. The chocolate buffet is not to be missed (and for $10 how can you not).

The one negative about our stay - the spa was closed and the local recommendation was sub-par.

What a great hotel in a wonderful city. we booked this hotel for our children's first overseas trip and it didn't dissapoint.

the atmosphere is elegant, the rooms are large and well appointed, and the service is excellet.

being in the old French area of Hanoi is an advantage as it is easy walking distance to some wonderful sightseeing, food, and shopping.

a must stay

Please be aware: there are 2 Sofitel in Hanoi, and the Metropole (where I stayed) is definitely the better choice.
The Metropole is very well located in the city centre, close to the old town and other attractions as well as restaurants, opera etc.
The hotel has an old and a new wing. I highly recommend to stay in the old wing. The rooms there are classy in an elegant colonial style with all amenities. The rooms are small, but well furnished with high ceilings so you do not feel claustrophobic at all.
The breakfast is good and also afternoon tea is very good - they have a huge chocolate buffet!
Staff is very friendly (with some exceptions: concierge is not very friendly...but the rest of the staff is very friendly and helpful).
The pool area is nice, but very small - but OK for a city hotel.
Overall definitely one of the best hotels in Hanoi!