Golden Lotus Luxury Hotel Hanoi — Hotel in Hà Nội

We're pretty well travelled. I'd think I've stayed in over 100 hotels at this stage in my life. Golden Lotus was undeniably the worst one I've stayed in yet. We were booked for 6 nights in their only suite. We bailed after 1 night. Mercifully, we received a refund. We arrived at noon, and we were told our room wouldn't be ready until 1:30pm. As we sat there, two dozen travellers turned up, and they were all told their room would be ready in 20 minutes. The lobby looked like a godown after a bit, with alot of abandoned luggage. At 1:50, reception was still telling people their rooms weren't ready. At 2PM, on the dot, the reception started handing our keycards like she was distributing candy. And just like that, the reception was empty. Got to our room, turned on the AC, and went about unpacking. Quickly noticed the door between the bedroom and living room of our suite didn't close. And by the time we set out for lunch at 3PM, we noticed the room was still VERY VERY WARM. I left word with reception on the way out to look into it. Returned at 5PM, called in another request to send in maintenance. Another at 6PM. Another at 7PM. We ate dinner sat on the cabinet that housed the minibar, in our underwear, as it was directly under the air vent. My baby monitor has a sensor on it that read 28C. At 8PM, I contacted my third party booking platform, to see what my options were. They promptly called reception, and 5 minutes later, maintenance was in my room. Only took 5 hours and 5 reminders, and one International call from the middleman who has a bit more clout than me, the guest in your only suite. Anyways, maintenance did nothing. They turned the thermostat from 16C to 22C, claiming higher is better. We attempted to shower, but after my wife and daughter were done, the shower was flooded, so I passed on the shower. At 9PM, when nothing had changed, they visited again, and turned it to 20C. At 10PM, I stepped out of the building for a cigarette, and it was cooler outdoors. When I brought that to the attention of the receptionist, he offered me a table fan. And so, we went to bed, with this noisy table fan circulating warm air. I woke up at 5AM in a puddle of sweat. Opened up the balcony door as it was cooler outside, that allowed my wife and 2 year old to sleep just a little longer. I went for a long walk inquiring about availability at other hotels. When I returned, we went to breakfast, which was awful. The restaurant was aged and dirty. The sausages smelled rank. The cream rolls were store bought. It was after breakfast at 9AM, that I managed to find the Sales Manager. She reluctantly came to my room. She said the room felt cold to her, and that Hanoins don't like AC. This while my baby monitor reads 28C. And as for the shower flooding, she said I needn't worry, as there was another drain under the sink, all the way across the bathroom, and that the water would drain out of that one. Not inconvenient, or a safety hazard, I suppose, more a bonus activity for my 2 year old? And either she didn't notice I was in my boxers, sitting on top of her minibar, or she chose not to comment on it. Mercifully, she offered us a refund if we left before noon. And so we took...

Nice hotel in a fabulous location. I had moved from a different hotel to this one only because our tour started from this location (in truth I preferred my other hotel). Rooms are small, dark with dark furniture and all the rooms at the back (tour booked rooms) are dark as heck with windows that face straight out to a brick wall that is about 4 inches from your window! Note also - door sounds are so annoying - everything beeps and bangs and you can hear your neighbors through the walls in the rooms at the back of the house. My family were in a different room and said the guy next door was on his phone half the night, coming back at 3am and banging around the room. Drove them crazy.

Overall its a great location but truthfully I'd never have moved from my other hotel to this one given how cheap GRAB cabs are across the city (I was paying $1.20 to get from this hotel to my other hotel. Next time I'd like the location but not the rooms and would consider paying an upgrade for a room with real light and windows and not at the back of the hotel.

Staff were nice but in a more distant way to the staff in other hotels. They are courteous, helpful, etc. but there is some lack of engagement, warmth and personality here that I missed having experienced it for the 5 days earlier at the other location. I can't say they were not professional or doing their jobs, it just lacked the Vietnamese smiles and warmth - maybe they're new hires and nervous, I'll give the benefit of doubt but there was a lack of something I can't pin down!

Food options at breakfast were poor - very limited quantities and limited choices. I pretty much skipped breakfast after day one given my family had been there 4 days already and told me it was the same deal every day. Didn't suit my tastes or choices at all. The other location had so much more variety and options and much more engagement with staff offering you menus for options.

Rooms are very clean (despite the darkness) and overall its fine but not fun. I don't think I saw a single smile at the front desk the entire time I passed through it. Sadly not a hotel I'll be going back to even with the fab location it has. We attempted to eat at the restaurant several times (not by my choice) and there were no lights on and no-one there despite the front desk saying "oh its open" - when I went back and said "its dark down there" all I got was an "oh, really" but no follow up or check. Strange on so many levels.

Anyway - I'll give them a break for being clean, tidy and well managed rooms but it stops there for me. I'll blame our travel agent for not getting us rooms with windows that are normal and for selecting rooms without checking they were adequate. Clean, fab...

As someone who has travelled to Vietnam and specifically to Hanoi multiple times, I have had the opportunity to stay at this hotel with a group of young students. In preparation for our trip, I took the initiative to exchange several emails and phone calls with the hotel management to confirm that the accommodations, rooms, and facilities would meet our needs as a group. Our primary purpose for being there was a field trip associated with a course that I teach in the UK, so it was important for us to have a comfortable and suitable environment.

Upon arrival, I found the hotel staff at the restaurant to be exceptional. They were friendly, attentive, and always willing to assist, making our dining experience enjoyable. The breakfast offered was fairly satisfactory, providing a range of options to start our day, although it could have included more variety.

However, I did encounter several issues with the rooms. The accommodations were quite small, and some of the rooms had no windows, while others had what appeared to be faux windows that did not offer any real view. The so-called deluxe rooms facing the street were particularly problematic, as they were quite noisy due to traffic and other urban sounds, making it difficult for some guests to relax.

Another point of concern was the professionalism of the receptionists. Unfortunately, their level of service fell short of expectations. They appeared to lack the necessary training and experience in handling guest inquiries and requests, which led to difficulties in obtaining basic support and information. This was disappointing, especially considering the importance of having a reliable and helpful front desk staff for groups like ours.

Since we were a large group, I requested a late checkout. Given the issues we encountered during our stay, I was hoping to receive a few extra hours at no additional cost. However, we were asked to pay the full amount for the late checkout, which was very disappointing considering we had stayed at this hotel for several days.

Overall, there are significant areas that need improvement for future guests. Please keep in mind the rooms they offer, and don't be fooled by the names of the hotel, the location, and the fancy names...