Photo: Mark BowyerThe historic Metropole ranks number 9 on the list
Unfortunately, I have not yet had the pleasure of experiencing the Hanoi Elegance hotels but they will certainly be on my list of must sees when I return to Hanoi in a couple of weeks. The customer reviews on Tripadvisor are so rapturous that it's hard to imagine staying anywhere else. And while the traveller reviews of the hotels are at times over zealous, they are more credible than you'd expect from a simple scam. I'm not sure what's happening. The hotels look fine on the website - though perhaps less extraordinary than one would expect given the achievement of the top three places on tripadvisor. http://www.hanoielegancehotel.com/Default.asp
No matter how good these properties are, it's hard to imagine that three hotels from the same group in any city could attain the top three places out of more than three hundred. Hanoi is home to many excellent hotels - from the historic Sofitel Metropole in the deluxe category through to a good range of friendly budget hotels. Could all three Elegance Hotels really have enthralled Tripadvisor travellers this much? What do you think? I've asked Tripadvisor as well and will let you know their thoughts.
3 comments so far
I stayed at the Ruby Elegance in December 2011 and must say that I was blown away by the quality of the service and the friendlyness of the staff. Everthing was perfect including booking tours, tickets, visa and airport pickup. It can't be any better.
Did you ever get a chance to visit? Since you posted 3 years ago, I noticed that their tripadvisor rankings have slipped to something more believable. also, I notice that they are highly reviewed on agoda.com, which seems to have a bigger audience of Asian travelers.
We stayed at the Elegance Diamond last year and subsequently gave it a five "star" rating on Trip Advisor. Having had a most unhappy experience with Hanoi accommodation on a previous visit, the Elegance changed our view of this fascinating city. We also met staff at another of the chain's establishments who went out of their way to help us. Would really suggest there is no scamming going on here.