Melia Hotel

(VOVworld) – Hanoi is one of Vietnam’s most popular destinations with overseas tourists. For them, hotels are not just a place to stay, but also a place to find out about the local culture. Many hotel operators are trying their best to improve the quality of services and satisfy travelers’ demands. In this week’s Discovery Vietnam, we explore international standard hotels in Hanoi, with a report by Lan Anh.

There are 1,750 hotels and home-stays in Hanoi providing 55,500 rooms. 240 of them internationally rated, according to Le Mai Khanh, Vice Director of the Department for Hotels at Vietnam’s Administration of Tourism. She says ‘There are 47 3-star hotels that are very popular with foreign tourists. The hotels are appraised on the quality of reception services and the standard of general services. They also make ideal venues for major national and international conferences’.

Four or five – star hotels are often located at the heart of the city, including the Deawoo, the Hilton Opera House, Horison, Metropole, and the Melia. To retain and attract more visitors, each hotel has outlined its own development strategy. Situated next to the West Lake, the 5-star Sofitel Plaza has been a favorite with demanding European visitors. The hotel has ceaselessly upgraded the quality of its rooms, and bars, and now provides training for its staff. Ove Sandstrom is the General Manager of the Sofitel Plaza Hanoi ‘So, we have expanded our facility like a new bar. We have done a renovation program to update the hotel. And Sofitel Plaza Hanoi today in Vietnam is led with landmark very famous in the Europe. What we are doing in terms of service quality is to adopt the product to the new popular trends like the summer bar that we have opened’.

Hotels in downtown Hanoi have an  advantage in that they are close to tourist spots which makes it easy for them to walk. Many are fascinating destinations for visitors to head for. Nguyen Thanh Thuy, head of the business section at the Silk Path says that her 4-star hotel’s design is a combination of Oriental interior decor and modern, stylist outer decor. Ms. Thuy says ‘We hold regular training programs for our staff so they can learn more about the country’s culture and improve their professional skills as well as their English. We want to make visitors feel that they are talking with the family back home and taken care of, instead of just being on a business trip’.

Realizing that cost is a major concern for travelers, most hotels in Hanoi have introduced various promotions to attract more guests. Nguyen Hai Ninh, Deputy Director General of the Trade Union Hotel says that 45% of its guests every year are from overseas. She notes ‘For the hotel’s regular customers, we have flexible prices for groups of clients and different markets. The charge is roughly about 65 USD for an international visitor, but this is reduced for parties of guests who stay for a long time. In the current economic difficulties, prices are a headache so we have to update our clients regularly, while improving and diversifying our products and services’.

In the first half of this year, Hanoi welcomed 8.3 million tourists, more than 1 million of them from overseas.   

Lan Anh