Hanoi

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southside852

Registered User
Where is the best place to stay in Hanoi - French Quarter, West Lake or the center of town? Which area is the best for young children?

If you've been - any great hotel recos would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
 
Sofitel metropole is very good right in the french quarter but we stayed at the Sheraton and it was great too. We got upgraded to the executive room where we would use the lounge.

U must take your child to the water puppet show it is great and it is every hour Also there is a circus which is held every sunday. But u must check the schedule.

We also took our 23 old month son to Hailong Bay for the cruise he loved it and we went in the caves.
 
We are going to Hanoi over Easter for about 10 days with a 3 and 4 yr old, would love to hear any tips/ suggestions of good places to visit with the kids, any places to avoid, restaurant recommendations, we'll be bringing along a stroller as well, and wondered if it was easy to get around with a stroller, or best to leave behind in hotel.

Neha - The Halong Bay cruise sounds great, did you book that through the hotel?

Thanks
 
yes we did book thru the travel desk at the hotel.

Our son doesnot sit in the stroller so we never took it and I also find thE streets were not very easy with the stroller so I would suggest to leave the sTroller back in the hotel or HK.

Restaurants u should ask your hotel and they were very nice and they give u the best suggestions we went to a very good Vietnames/French rest. It was like in an old house . Food was great and decor was also very good.

Check the weather as it might be raining so better take alot of mosquito repellants
 
I think i can help you out alot southside and Rosewood, as I used to live in Hanoi for 2 years and just moved to Hong Kong from their last July....Anyways the Sofitel Metrople is one of the best hotels (my husband works for the company, accor) but Rosewood if your going for 10 days its very expensive, accor has a hotel called Sofitel Plaza(by West lake) which isnt too far from the Sheraton and is more affordible, compared to the Metropole. Also the Sheraton is a nice one (by west lake), there is also a new Intercontinental (by west lake) that is by the Sheraton which is beautiful but budget wise is in the same price range as the Metropole might be a little bit cheaper. I would only suggest you stay in hotels either in the French Quarter, or the west lake, as the Old quarter is nice to go visit but can get noisy at times, and bad traffic at times.

As far a baby strollers go, the roads are not very good in Hanoi and some areas you walk on the street so you probably wont want to use it much. For Halong Bay its beautiful and if you go to Hanoi you must take a night cruise at Halong Bay, and its not too expensive, just book it with your hotel. You dont have to go on the cruise over night but I suggest you do, as the drive is a couple of hours away from Hanoi, (I cant remeber how long the drive is sorry.)

Restaurants in Hanoi, there are so many really good ones, you have to be careful where you eat in Hanoi because of food safety issues, my husband and I go sick many times living there trying new restaurants. there is one called the Vine which is by the Sheraton hotel, good western food (but I heard that new owners took it over and it is more expensive now)
Restaurants:

Some more food safe venues are Foodshop 45 (very very afforidible and GREAT INDIAN FOOD, a meal for 2 people with alcohol cost around 15-20USD) Its by the Sofitel Plaza Hanoi, Address: 59 Truc Bach Street, Right on Truc Bach lake.

Dim Sum: If you love Dim sum I highly recommend the Chinese restaurant in the Sofitel Plaza hanoi, the Dim Sum lunch is at good price all you can eat off the Dim Sum Menu (the best Dim Sum I have ever had) word of warning if you go on a Sunday afternoon lunch it can get busy with alot of families. It can be hit and miss sometimes very busy on a sunday and than sometimes dead but I found mostly busy on Sundays. (Dim Sum menu is only offered for lunch time)

Indochine is very good and good price its the venue that Im pretty sure Neha is talking about, its got Old french feel and Vietnamese food, GREAT!Address is 16 Nam Ngu, your hotel should know this restaurant.

Oh one last thing I forgot the kids will love the puppet show to watch in the Old Quarter in Hanoi.....Also if you want to go bargon shopping the old quarter and where to go, and deal with them as they will charge a lot of money for things, ,.....Bring a calculator as there english isnt so good, you just show them the amount you want to pay on the calculator...Pay by Dong not USD!

I hope this helps
 
Sorry guys one more word of advice when going to Hanoi, is the Taxis.....They will rip you off only trust the Hanoi Taxi and Taxi CP there are some other good ones but i cant remember the name sorry. Also the hotels mostly work with Hanoi Taxi and Taxi CP,and when your on your own looking for a taxi thoses 2 taxi companies are not hard to find driving or waiting around. when you eat at a restaURANT you can ask them o call you one of thoses taxis to pick you up also. (whatever taxi company your hotel works with is also going to be a trustworthy taxi company!
 
Thanks very much for the replies, this is great information to know, especially about the taxis and getting around as I'll be mostly on my own with the kids, as hubby will be working during the day.
 
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