Hotel Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi

Hanoi

Vietnam, bordered by Cambodia, Laos and China, stretches its long S shaped silhouette along the eastern coast of the Indochinese peninsula. Two thirds of the country is covered with mountains and high plateaus and opens onto plains irrigated by two majestic rivers, the Song Koi and the Mekong. The Bac Bô, formerly the Tonkin, makes up the northern part of Vietnam. It includes the plain of the Red River, the Song Koi, and the mountains which run from the Chinese border to Annam at altitudes ranging from 2,000 to 3,000 meters. It was in these mountains that throughout history, different peoples fleeing China took refuge. The plain where the Red River flows, the birthplace of Vietnamese civilization, is filled with rice paddies. The river which is very rich in sediment, giving it a brownish red color, forms an imposing delta where its waters empty into the Gulf of Tonkin.

In the center of the delta, we find Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam for a thousand years. More than a thousand years ago, a dragon appeared to King Ly Thai To in a dream, indicating to him where the capital should be built. The symbol of the struggle against the French followed by the Americans, Hanoi remains the political, economic and cultural center of the country. In the old city quarter, the small and winding narrow streets are filled with craftsmen of all kinds. As an artistic and cultural city, Hanoi has a museum and a mausoleum dedicated to Ho Chi Minh, some colonial buildings, and a multitude of temples and pagodas dating back to the 11^th century. Both modern and traditional, the city has a great many inhabitants who came from the neighboring countryside. Lively and animated, its streets are filled with all sorts of vehicles like scooters with several passengers and bicycles loaded with baskets and pushed by Vietnamese women in their famous cone shaped hats. All along the sidewalks, there are numerous street vendors selling food and filling the air with the aromas of their Pho soups, while on the banks of the river, tai chi enthusiasts practice their art.

A return to French Indochina

The Sofitel Legend Metropole, in the heart of Hanoi, near Lake Hoan Kiem, is a veritable historical monument. Built in 1901 by the French, the hotel escaped the destruction initially planned by Ho Chi Minh who saw it as a symbol of colonization. It became the venue for numerous summit meetings with heads of state during the Cold War and continues to welcome personalities from all walks of life including writers, politicians, ambassadors and stars of show business. After being re-purchased and renovated in the 1990s, it once again recovered its past splendor. With its classic white façade, green shutters, windows decorated with wrought iron and its superb courtyard, its image is that of a typically colonial building and an integral part of the city’s history.

Today, it is one of the mythical addresses created by Sofitel, making it a Sofitel Legend. Its 364 rooms and suites are located in two distinct wings. With its natural wood parquet floors, its high ceilings, its suspended fans and its century old woodwork, the Metropole wing has preserved its past splendor. It’s here that we find the legendary suites whose guests included Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Godard on their honeymoon, Somerset Maugham, Graham Greene and many others. The Opera wing is more contemporary with neo-classical style rooms and the 200-square-meter Imperial Suite.

For more than a century, the Sofitel Legend Metropole has made and been part of history. The mythical Beaulieu restaurant still proposes an excellent French cuisine. A host of Hanoi residents flock here regularly to enjoy a candlelight dinner in this room with marble and wood floors. In the Spice Garden restaurant, the menu features modern Vietnamese cuisine in a vividly colored décor. Finally, the Club Bar is ideal for a drink in the friendly shadow of the legends who have been here including Joan Baez, Mick Jagger and Roger Moore.