I stayed here in early January, and thought this was a gorgeous hotel. I would say in terms of room quality, it much nicer than the Sheraton that is adjacent to it. The hotel is currently doing a soft opening (not all the facilities are ready yet) with the grand opening scheduled for ~ Feb 7 (Lunar New Year).

I booked the basic city view room ($230++ best flexible rate b/c I didn't want to deal with the hassle of the $10 cheaper prepaid rate when I wanted to use a BOGOF cert), and with RA status, was upgraded to a Lake View room with lounge access. No suites were available for sale for my dates (and plus I also needed 2 beds, and all the suites only have one bed) so I don't know if the hotel would upgrade to a suite. The rooms are lovely, very luxurious and spacious with Vietnamese design touches rather than a generic decor. The room has hardwood floors with area carpets, and sliding wooden doors with shutters that open onto a large balcony. The beds are very comfortable, with a soft feather mattress (eg NOT the hard beds found in some Asian hotels). In ambiance, I would rank it closer to a luxury hotel room vs a nice business hotel room. The bathroom is also very large, with 2 sinks, a huge tub and a separate shower. The only negative is that the the soundproofing seems to be very bad (I could hear hallway noise very clearly). Anyway, I took a lot of pictures of the hotel, and I can post them once I get the time if there is interest.

Check-in was handled in the room; the front desk had the club lounge attendant bring us to the room. All the employees I interacted with were extremely enthusiastic and helpful. According to one of the employees, the hotel took ten years to open (though there was a hiatus of 5 yrs in the construction) so the staff is probably happy the hotel is finally open!

The club rooms come with free in-room internet and 3 pieces of dry cleaning/pressing for the day of arrival. If you don't have a computer, the lounge also has computers for you to use. The lounge is lovely--very large (~20-25 tables) with views of the lake. For breakfast, you get to order a hot item from a limited menu list (all western selections, eg omelettes, french toast, etc.) and there is the regular continental breakfast spread as well. I didn't try the restaurant which I assume would have a much larger selection, but the lounge definitely has the much nicer view! There is also evening cocktails and a selection of hot items, a dessert, as well as the usual mini-bites. I think they change the selection each day, but I arrived too late the first day to use the lounge. Only western food items were available, nothing remotely Asian at all which was sort of disappointing but this might change as the hotel is only starting up. In the evening, I saw a bottle of red wine, white wine, and champagne (Roederer I think) out for self-serve but I'm not sure about the mixed drinks available since we only wanted tea. For those of you that are interested in the alcoholic content of the in-room minibar, there was a bunch of various beers and well as a small bottle of red and white wine. However, it is also supposed to include 375 ml bottles of Chivas Regal, Black Label, and Hennessey VSOP but it is "on request" only, eg you have to call room service to stock it.

Interestingly enough, the hotel quoted a flat rate of $14 by regular taxi to the airport, vs the $12 quoted rate for the Sheraton that is right next door to it. I think there is an additional "luxury" tax for this hotel. The hotel car (an extremely nice mercedes benz) costs $65 for the airport transfer. You can also hire it for $20/hr.

Currently, the formal restaurant isn't open yet though the casual restaurant & bars and lounges are open. The healthclub/spa is still under construction, but if you're desperate for a fitness center, there is a temporary set up in one of the guest rooms with 3 machines and some free weights. The pool looks completed but had a closed sign; anyway, the weather is chilly enough (highs in the mid-70s) that I wouldn't want to use the pool unless it was heated. The rooms in the main building are finished, but the smaller buildings further out over the water are still under construction.

The hotel is located on West Lake so it is far away (eg 2-3 km over a busy road, so not walking distance) from the Old quarter. Truthfully, I enjoyed the lovely lake view and prefer that vs staying in a hotel in the Old quarter (which IMO isn't all that attractive). Anyway, I would definitely stay here again if I were to revisit Hanoi.

Finally, as a funny aside, I was given a printed sheet describing RA status and benefits. The points included: "Should an Ambassador earn Platinum status in Priority Club and no less than 1 stay at 3 different IC hotels and Resorts within the current or previous calendar years, they will be invited to Royal Ambassador status by Priority Club." Of course, if you earn Platinum status via nights (vs points) this would probably be true! The privilege section also included, "Option to purchase an additional RA card at USD $150 for partner, colleague or spouse."