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Best hotels in Hanoi 2023: Where to stay in the French Quarter, the Old Quarter and more
A chequered history has created a beautiful mess of contrasting neighbourhoods in Hanoi. There’s the labyrinthine Old Quarter; tree-studded French Quarter; lake-filled Tay Ho District; and the glistening modernity of the rapidly developing westside precincts. Meaning there is something for everyone. This fast-paced city (Vietnam’s capital) has everything from a fantastic food scene – in our Hanoi city guide, our writer recommends a banh mi sandwich as a great place to start – to plenty of green space for when the honking scooters get too much. But whether you’re here to take an eco-cruise along the Mekong River or want to visit Hanoi’s historic sites – such as the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the final resting place of the man referred to as “Uncle Ho” – you’ll want the perfect hotel to rest your head. Fortunately, accommodation options are spread throughout this southeast Asia city, so, you can pair your personality with the neighbourhood. From boutique charm squeezed into the Old City, to spacious modern creations from award-winning architects, there’s an option for all tastes. The best hotels in Hanoi are: Best hotel for culture vultures: Hotel de l’Opera Hanoi MGallery Best hotel for the Old Quarter experience: The Chi Boutique Hotel Best hotel for romantic getaways: Silk Path Boutique Hotel Hanoi Best hotel for art-lovers: Apricot Hotel Best hotel for sunset cocktails: Pan Pacific Hanoi Best hotel for lake views: InterContinental West Lake Hanoi Best hotel for family getaways: Elegant Suites Westlake Best hotel for mixing business and pleasure: Lotte Hotel Hanoi Best hotel for the celebrity guestbook: Sofitel Legend Metropole Best hotel for culture vultures: Hotel de l’Opera Hanoi MGallery Neighbourhood: French Quarter As the name suggests, Hotel de l’Opera Hanoi is a stone’s throw from the Hanoi Opera House, a wedding cake structure built during the French colonial period and modelled on Paris’s Palais Garnier. This lavish hotel, with colourful rooms and a courtyard cafe, rests on Trang Tien Street, which connects the opera house with Hoan Kiem Lake. The hotel is part of the MGallery Collection, managed by Accor. An eye-catching Art Deco building across the street houses L’Espace, a French cultural centre, while the Vietnamese Women Museum is just around the corner. Best hotel for the Old Quarter experience: The Chi Boutique Hotel Neighbourhood: Old Quarter The Chi Boutique Hotel couldn’t be better placed for absorbing the cluttered atmosphere of Hanoi’s fabled Old Quarter. But despite its sardine-tin location, most rooms are refreshingly spacious, with trendy (sometimes daring) design features and chic bathrooms with bathtubs. A hip rooftop bar offering fresh angles of Hanoi’s iconic St Joseph’s Cathedral is a highlight, but The Chi’s location, just steps from some of Hanoi’s trendiest shops and restaurants, including fashion boutique Chula Fashion and artisanal restaurant TUNG, is the cherry on the cake. Best hotel for romantic getaways: Silk Path Boutique Hotel Hanoi Neighbourhood: Hoan Kiem Lake Walk out from this boutique treasure and find Hoan Kiem Lake resting right on your doorstep. Located within one of Hanoi’s characteristic “tube houses” – narrow buildings designed to allow road access for as many families as possible – rooms are typically tight, but comfortable. The hotel comes into its own on Saturday and Sunday, when the temporarily pedestrianised lake road erupts into a frenzied playground of toddlers driving miniature Ferraris and teenage dance troupes filming their next big hit. Front-facing executive rooms offer views of the lake, while solid triple glazing keeps out any noise disturbance – a necessity during weekends. Best hotel for art-lovers: Apricot Hotel Neighbourhood: Hoan Kiem Lake From the outside, Apricot Hotel may look like any other luxury city property, but drift through the entrance, ignoring the gaudy chandelier, to gaze at magnificent pieces of art that adorn a dazzling lobby. The art-loving owners have adopted the hotel to display their sought-after collection of paintings and sculptures from well-known Vietnamese artists. Bright and airy rooms, also decorated with local art pieces, serve as a calm escape from the outside bustle, while the broad rooftop swimming pool and sky bar are additional perks. Best hotel for sunset cocktails: Pan Pacific Hanoi Neighbourhood: Truc Bach If you like your sunsets dramatic and your cocktails colourful, the Pan Pacific Hanoi never fails to impress (unless it’s cloudy). The Summit is the hotel’s pride and joy; a west-facing sky bar offering spellbinding views over the twin lakes of West Lake and Truc Bach, elegantly partitioned by tree-lined Thanh Nien Street and Tran Quoc Pagoda. This is Hanoi’s best view, so it’s worth making the trip to The Summit even if you’re not staying in the hotel. If you do decide to stay, you’ll encounter near-equivalent views from the tasteful rooms. The hotel is also situated in Truc Bach, one of Hanoi’s most charming lakeside neighbourhoods, and perfect for a morning stroll. Best hotel for lake views: InterContinental West Lake Hanoi Neighbourhood: West Lake Swap a cacophony of motorbike horns for the soothing sounds of lapping water at InterContinental West Lake Hanoi. The “over-water” rooms are particularly appealing, as they fan out on small man-made islets from the central sunset bar. After watching the sun sink over the water and enjoying one too many cocktails, you can stagger back to your room in just a couple of lurches. The hotel is within easy reach of Hanoi’s best international restaurants and cafes, such as Argentinian steakhouse El Gaucho and Australian-owned coffee specialists Maison de Tet Decor. Best hotel for family getaways: Elegant Suites Westlake Neighbourhood: West Lake In Hanoi for more than a few days? Consider a serviced apartment right in the middle of the city’s expat enclave, walking distance from international restaurants, cafes, bars and, more recently, a cinema. All rooms enjoy a living room space, small kitchen, dining area and balconies – most with views of West Lake. There’s a range of room types depending on the size of your party, from single-room studios to three-bedroom suites, and you’ll have access to a capacious pool and fitness room to boot. Best hotel for mixing business and pleasure: Lotte Hotel Hanoi Neighbourhood: New central business district Hoan Kiem Lake may be Hanoi’s heart and soul, but the Lotte Centre Hanoi building, at the crossroads of two of Hanoi’s main traffic arteries, is increasingly thought of as the city’s central point. Occupying the upper tier of this 65-floor skyscraper, all the Lotte Hotel Hanoi rooms offer spellbinding views whatever the direction: West Lake to the north, the old city to the east and the new business district to the southwest. The variation in viewpoints reflects the ideal location, especially if you’re mixing business with pleasure – everywhere you could possibly want to be is no more than 15 minutes by cab. Best hotel for architecture enthusiasts: JW Marriot Hotel Hanoi Neighbourhood: French Quarter On the lookout for something completely different? Journey to the west to uncover Hanoi’s newest precinct and the city’s most dazzling contribution to contemporary architecture: the JW Marriot Hotel Hanoi. Extravagance is served up in buckets, with crisply designed rooms and various private lounges spread throughout the hotel. Plus, there are no fewer than six fabulous restaurants, including French Grill, serving (you guessed it) fine French food, and John Anthony Cantonese Grill & Dim Sum, which specialises in Cantonese cuisine. JZ Best hotel for the celebrity guestbook: Sofitel Legend Metropole Neighbourhood: The French Quarter If you’re after luxury with a healthy injection of heritage, look no further than The Sofitel Legend Metropole in Hanoi’s French Quarter. It became the first five-star hotel in Asia when it was built in 1901 and has welcomed celebrities through its Belle Epoque doors ever since (it’s where Charlie Chaplin spent his honeymoon). With several bars and restaurants, a tranquil swimming pool and spa, and staff that cater to your every whim with a smile, you’ll be hard-pressed to leave the French colonial environs – though the central location means a street food tour is never too far away. Choose between the original Indochinese or modern wings – and be sure to tour the bunker built during the American War. HH Read more of our hotel reviews: Best Cape Town hotels Where to stay in Dubai The USA’s best hotels Read more about Asia travel: Thailand travel guide: Everything you need to know Asia’s most cycling-friendly cities The best Japanese destination swaps Read More The best countries to travel to in southeast Asia Vietnam travel guide: Everything you need to know before you go The 10 best UK city breaks for a weekend trip in 2023 Best UK hotels 2023: Where to stay for a luxury or affordable break Why this Moroccan mountain town should be your next short break The best wild swimming stays in the UK
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Nicole Kidman defends her controversial Vanity Fair mini skirt cover
Nicole Kidman has once again spoken out about her viral Vanity Fair cover that sparked controversy in February 2022. The 56-year-old actor wore a micro-mini skirt and matching bra top by Miu Miu in the magazine cover shoot. She completed her look with calf-high socks and pointed leather loafers. At the time, Kidman’s magazine cover became the center of debates around ageism and beauty standards. Some fans of the actor criticised Vanity Fair for allegedly using too much photoshop on her photo. In a new interview with Australia’s Stellar magazine, Kidman opened up about the viral cover and why she chose to wear the controversial outfit. “I make the most random, crazy choices,” the Northman star said. “I call them ‘teenage choices’ because I just don’t ever think of consequences. “Part of my brain just doesn’t think like that. I just go, ‘Oh, I’m going to wear that; it reminds me of my school uniform.’ Or, ‘Oh my God, yeah, I’d love to do that,’ She added: “I try to [stay] in that place because I think otherwise you get scared or worried.” Reflecting on the online criticism, Kidman said she avoids looking at it. “Don’t tell me, I don’t really want to know – it will stop me doing what I want to do,” she said. “There are times when you hear things and you go, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s really hurtful’. “Because you can’t be under a rock,” she said. “But at the same time, I really try to stay free in the choices because otherwise, before you know it, you’re just closed off and you can’t step anywhere.” “I want for myself just to keep going, ‘Oh, well, I’m trying something or I wanted to do it. It was fun. That was my choice. And yeah, I own it. I’m accountable. Whatever. I take responsibility. Nobody else chose it,’” the Boy Erased actor acknowledged. This isn’t the first time Kidman has spoken about the magazine cover. In a 2022 interview with Australian director Baz Luhrmann, who worked with Kidman on the 2001 film Moulin Rouge, the Kidman revealed that her stylist on the shoot, Katie Grand, had prepared a different outfit for the cover. “I showed up and they had another outfit for me and I was like, ‘No, no, I like this one! Am I allowed to wear that?’,” she said. “And Katie Grand, who’s just fantastic, was on Zoom, and Katie was like, ‘You’re willing to wear that?!’ And I said, ‘Wear it?! I’m begging you to wear it!’” Luhrmann, who sat down with Kidman over the phone for Australian Vogue, said that wearing the outfit on the magazine cover was a “personal achievement” of Kidman’s. Read More Kylie Jenner and Jordyn Woods reunite four years after Tristan Thompson cheating scandal Fans swoon over Stanley Tucci cooking dinner for Robert Downey Jr at ‘Casa Tucci’ Alan Titchmarsh warns against ‘ill-considered’ rewilding trend in domestic gardens Pharrell Williams makes his Louis Vuitton debut in star-studded Paris show Oscars 2023: Why was Morgan Freeman wearing a single glove? Kim Kardashian reveals why she didn’t speak out on Balenciaga backlash
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