Melia Hanoi - 河内

The location is good, close to the old quarter and a lake where you can walk around and eat at one of the many restaurants lakeside.

The hotel is in a good location - very close to the Hanoi Hilton (which is worth seeing) and within walking distance, or motorcycle taxi ride to the lake and other shopping areas.

However, once I arrived, my perceptions changed: I found the hotel to be smart, modern, efficient (other than the reservations department) and in a great location.

The Airport-to-Hanoi taxi fare is a 'fixed' $10.

If you need transport, get motos/cyclos AWAY from the hotel, otherwise taxis are preferable.

The bedroom consisted of a comfortable King bed, vanity, television, lots of closets for clothes and a spacious bathroom with separate glass enclosed marble shower and large Jacuzzi style bathtub.

The suite was large, (80sq meter +/-) appearing more like a fully appointed apartment than the usual small two room accommodation you find elsewhere.

Very large room, separate living room, 2 bathroom suite, equipped with all the amenities, at around US$ 200.

The rooms were very new, clean and extremely spacious, with a separate living room and bedroom.

The room is well maintained, the bed is nice to sleep in and the linens are plush.

Breakfast is great but lunch/dinner is overpriced & below average in comparison with food available at restaurants in Vietnam.

Breakfast is varied to suit western and eastern taste, we didn't eat any other meals in the hotel but there was an international style restaurant.

Breakfast lovely - gorgeous reception and dining areas - great Latin bar with music upstairs and all in all a real treat.

The food in all the restaurants was first class and the breakfast buffet was the best of any hotel we've stayed at.

Overall, the location is great ( u must try the Quan Ahn Ngon, Vietnamese Cuisine which is a 5 minutes stroll away) and don't bother the Thai Restaurant which is also a stroll away because the food is just mediocre.

Customer service was generally cordial, but there was one slightly disconcerting experience with an unhelpful front desk personnel in relation to a request for assistance in making a local phone call.

Service was impeccable and front desk went out of their way to assist with currency exchange, taxis etc.

While the hotel is rated as five stars and certainly has all the basic facilities one would expect such as a business centre, pool and gym; the hotel would benefit from a major renovation.

The pool area is small but nice but when I was there the outdoor whirllpool was out of action.

Make sure to bring googles if you are swimming the pool as the chlorine level are quite high (l learned the hard way).

However, in the executive lounge the connection is wireless and the signal is strong.

$12 US will get you 24 hours of high speed internet access.

Our room was clean and tidy with lots of room but a bit 'tired', but that is like the rest of Hanoi.

The rooms were spacious, clean and well presented.

The hotel: clean, spacious, well appointed rooms.

Our room was spotless and was very quiet.

I found the room to be clean and comfortable.