One of our best decisions was to choose the Silk Queen Hotel in Hanoi to start our month-long trip in Vietnam. We stayed for a total of nine nights. The hotel was in the heart of the Old Quarter and a short walk to Hoan Kiem lake. We stayed in Room 406 which was huge and even had a separate bathroom. No bathtub but the shower was excellent.
We also booked a Halong Bay tour with Ms Rose from the hotel who recommended Viola Cruises. The hotel kindly looked after our luggage while we did the Halong Bay cruise. Ms Rose also booked our sleeper train for Hue. We had no problems or any nasty surprises with our cruise or train trip. All the staff at the hotel were lovely and friendly. My wife also enjoyed the use of the small gym on the top floor.
The reason we stayed so long at the hotel is that we inadvertently had arrived during a couple of public holidays. This means our application for an Indian Visa took a bit longer than the 3-5 days. However, there is so much to do in Hanoi that we were never bored and it was great to come back to the hotel after a hot day to relax and use as a base to explore Hanoi.
I know when you arrive in a strange country it can be a challenge. So it was nice to book a car with the hotel to pick us up at the airport. On arrival around 30-40 minutes later, we had a quick early check-in. We arrived around 9 am on an early morning flight from Bangkok. Then to find such a lovely comfortable room was a bonus. We paid US$45 a night which included a great breakfast.
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- 40 Year anniversary of the end of the war
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- Halong Bay on our Viola Cruise
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- Red Bridge on Hoan Kiem lake
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- Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
