The Lapis Hotel

The Lapis Hotel offers friendly Vietnamese service, wrapped in French Colonial décor.

This is a solid four star hotel, only 15 minutes’ walk from Ho Hoan Kiem Lake (host to the Turtle Tower and the Instagrammable Welcome Morning Bridge / Ngoc Son Temple).

For the Hanoi list ticking destinations of the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum / Temple of Literature areas, this is about a 40 minute walk for brave, moped dodging explorers, or about ten minutes in a taxi.

The hotel itself is well air conditioned, (you’ll be thankful for that!), with a retro colonial décor (with a Vietnamese twist) and all the modern essentials that you would expect to find.

I stayed in a Deluxe Room on the 9th floor – I’d recommend requesting a high floor, both for the view and to ease the sounds of beeping scooters (you won’t be able to avoid this noise wherever you stay, it’s a Hanoi thing, but it does quieten later into the night!).

The staff were friendly, professional and super helpful and a good basic mix of breakfast options were available, (western, Asian, fruits and egg station). You’re also within the ‘pick up zone’ for any day tours, so no having to head off to meeting points very early in the morning.

The rooftop infinity pool was nice to dip into to cool down and offers good views of the crammed skyline. Even better is the hot tub Jacuzzi which is so relaxing after lots of walking!