The hotel we stayed at during our 10 day vacation in Hanoi was San Grand Hotel, and would had been the longest stay yet for our family vacations… were it not for the fact that of the nine nights in our reservation, three weren’t spent in it. Two of the nine nights we reserved were onboard Mon Cherie 2 in Halong Bay, and one was at Ninh Binh Legend Hotel. Still, six nights is as long a stay as any would need to get a good sense of the property.
Our comments!
On arrival into Hanoi on Day 01, our driver in our transfer had difficulties finding the hotel. I guess this might be because the hotel is situated along a narrow and short street from one end to the next, and there is no street view available on Google Maps. The location noted on Maps is exactly correct though, and I ended up assisting our driver to get us to the correct spot on the map. Interestingly, none of the other drivers/hosts of our subsequent transfers or day trips seem to have difficulties finding the hotel.
At check-in, we were received by Audrey, the hotel manager on duty. The lovely lass not only checked us in, but took time to personally bring us to our rooms too and show us the amenities. She also brought up a map and marked out key locations and points of interest for us.
Our 9 night stay was in a Deluxe Connecting Room, which is actually two interconnected rooms on the third floor. To clarify: the ‘interconnection’ isn’t exactly between two rooms, but through a small foyer area that has two swing doors that unfortunately could not be locked. That meant that it’s possible for other guests to get into this shared foyer between the two rooms. Moreover, as we kept both our room doors opened when we were in, we had to be mindful of any noise we make reaching the other rooms on the floor too.
Both rooms themselves aren’t large, but it’s more than enough for two occupant guests in each. Each room has its own toilet and bath tub that comes equipped with a standard shower head, but there is no separate shower stall. The glass partition in the tub is also half-width, which meant that – if you care about these things – you’d need to angle the shower head when using it to minimize water spilling over to the floor.
We booked our stay four months before arrival, and got a pretty good rate for these interconnected rooms of an about SGD143/night.
The air-conditioning in both rooms worked very well: particularly important as June is among the warmest and most humid months in a year in Vietnam! However, on Day 08/16 June, for several hours in the evening, the hotel suffered a temporary power cut instituted city-wide. There was still electricity through power sockets like normal, but air-conditioning in our rooms was reduced. The rooms got a little warm over that time. Fortunately, normal electricity was restored by 9PM, so things were back to normal after that.
Perhaps it was the result of our room being low-floor: but one room faced the water tank and hotel plumbing apparatus, and the other room faced what looked like the back room of a flat. In short, there is no room view to speak of. This didn’t bother us. But the higher floor rooms might have a less impeded view of Hanoi’s old quarter.
Both rooms had what looked like 46″ flat screen TVs with a large range of cable channels, including Cartoon Network. The kids had that tuned into their TVs and were happy to watch hours of it whenever we were in our rooms.
A Buffet-styled breakfast was served each morning at the dining room on level 10. The spread was international, with a small range of western-styled pastries and bread items, and also local. The food was so-so and nothing fantastic. But it was still sufficient for the purpose of breakfast, so it isn’t something we’d complain about. Tables were cleared very quickly, and there is an additional small menu offering phos (Vietnamese soup noodles), omelettes and beverages that you can also select from.
In-room WIFI connects quickly and is reasonably quick. There were occasional disconnects now and then, but nothing too serious. Our rooms also had a mini-fridge but items in it were not complimentary, and also a safety deposit box that was large enough for my camera, iPad, and laptop.
The hotel is located in a busy part of the old quarter: i.e. there are plenty of small shops, cafes, restaurants, convenience stores within minutes’ walk in every direction. You’re spoiled for choice. Just keep in mind that many of these dining establishments are street-hawker-styled or family run restaurants. But if you also have no compunctions about eating as the locals do, you will be spoiled for choice. Though after a week of Vietnamese food, the missus was ready for McDonald’s haha.
The hotel also provides laundry services, and the rate was 3USD per kilogram. There are laundromats nearby that undoubtedly would have provided better rates. But we decided to just let the hotel handle it for convenience’s sake.
Our summary: there are many similarly styled small hotels in the old quarter offering similar rates and service levels, so I reckon you can just pick any that is suitably of the quality star levels you want, and at your desired per night rate. We liked San Grand Hotel, and would recommend it as an option if you’re considering.