I’ve long wanted to explore the historic Old Quarter of the Vietnam capital, Hanoi. When searching for the best Hanoi hotel, including options for seeing everything the Old Quarter has to offer, a friend told me about Melia Hanoi. It sounded ideal – especially with its location in the heart of downtown Hanoi, conveniently close to the sights on my list.
The 306-room property underwent an extensive makeover in 2023. Several key areas were revitalised, including F&B and entertainment outlets, meeting and function areas, fitness spaces and the executive suites, known as The Level.
Why Melia’s location makes it one of the best Hanoi hotels
Melia Hanoi’s central location makes it a great spot for starting your city exploring. Nearby are government ministries, embassies and shopping areas. This makes it convenient for business travellers on short trips, who can avoid long commutes across town. During our stay, we noticed at each breakfast that there were plenty of people dressed for meetings. No wonder it’s a top choice among hotels in Hanoi for business travellers.
For leisure travellers, the hotel is short walk to key tourist sights such as the Hanoi Opera House, Hoan Kiem Lake and a 10-minute walk to the Old Quarter. My partner and I enjoy walking as a means of exploring any destination. Melia Hanoi’s location made it easy for us to return several times during the day to deposit our shopping and to freshen up before heading out again.
Another bonus was the public bus stop across the road from the hotel. Buses ply the city from here, including to Dong Xuan Market, the biggest wholesale market in Hanoi, and even to Noi Bai international Airport.
About our room
Our suite at The Level was in a soothing colour palette and fitted with contemporary furnishings such as a desk with table lamp, comfortable sofa and armchairs, and full-length mirrors on the cupboard.
There were also large television screens with access to multiple cable channels in the lounge and bedroom. Other amenities include ironing facilities, a capsule coffee maker, premium tea bags and coffee capsules, bottled water replenished daily, umbrellas and shopping totes for use during our stay.
My partner particularly appreciated the door separating the lounge and bedroom. He could take a call in the lounge while I continued watching my movie in the bedroom, both of us not being distracted by the other. There was also a toilet in the lounge area for visitors to use.
Our favourite feature of the suite, though, were the floor-to-ceiling windows that provided unobstructed views of the city. They also let in plenty of natural light.
Coming in a close second was the ensuite bathroom with separate washbasins, and a shower and bathtub. There were ample luxury toiletries and a hairdryer. We especially like the aromatic bath salts – a lovely touch that refreshed our senses every evening.
Dining at Melia Hanoi
Guests of The Level have exclusive access to the lounge on the 20th level. They can have breakfast, tea and evening drinks here. Throughout the day, it’s available for casual meetings or for catching up on emails over coffee, tea or a variety of soft drinks.
Our check-in was also processed at The Level lounge. As it was tea time when we arrived, we were served our choice of premium tea and coffee as well as a variety of sweet and savoury bites.
In fact, we returned here often during our stay for tea. It was a quiet respite after exploring the city. Sometimes, we’d sip on a wine as dusk settled over the city before heading out again for dinner.
A daily buffet breakfast is also available at Mosaico, the Melia Hanoi’s all-day restaurant. The selection here is wider and we were spoilt for choice: eggs done in many ways, a variety of cold cuts including Spanish Iberico ham and cheeses, Vietnamese dishes, bread and pastries baked in-house, fresh juices and more. The live cooking stations allowed us to watch our food being prepared and served, as we waited.
Other restaurants at the hotel include Cham, which serves sophisticated Cantonese dim sum and Asian noodle dishes. It has a new chef de cuisine with 27 years of experience in crafting dim sum and Cantonese cooking, and who has worked alongside a number of Chinese and Singaporean dim sum masters to perfect her skills over the last three decades.
Melia Hanoi for work or play
For those who are in Hanoi for work, the hotel has various spaces catering to business and MICE needs. There are function rooms with various meeting and event capacities, for example, and two ballrooms with dedicated pre-function areas.
Besides the lounge, The Level guests also have exclusive access to The Level Meeting Room. It’s been refitted with new furnishings, artwork and more ergonomic chairs.
Although we spent plenty of time exploring the city, on one of our days we decided to enjoy the refurbished facilities of Melia Hanoi. For one thing, we made use of the 24-hour fitness centre. It was fully equipped for all our resistance training needs and also had new cardio equipment. Up a short flight of stairs next to it is the open-air swimming pool, refitted with a new deck. We enjoyed a quiet swim after our mid-morning workout and took in a wide view of the city.
That evening, we were drawn by the 50’s Hollywood vibe of Garbo Bar in the lobby. We had a classic cocktail there but also heard that the signature Spanish-inspired afternoon tea seemed popular with guests.
Another outlet we enjoyed was The Ministry of Men by Vietnam’s well-known House of Barbaard group. It’s a three-in-one concept giving off a 1920’s jazz vibe. We entered a tailor shop where gents could get a made-to-measure suit or simply get styling tips. Next was a luxury barbershop that also did beard maintenance. Then we enjoyed some signature cocktails and entertaining chats with the bartenders at the cocktail bar.
Getting to Hanoi’s Old Quarter and the hotel
Melia Hanoi is a 40-minute drive from Noi Bai International Airport. You can request an airport transfer when booking a stay.
44B Ly Thuong Kiet Street, Hanoi
rsvn@meliahanoi.com.vn | melia.com
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