Sofitel Metropole: Reliving history in Hanoi, Vietnam
updated the 7 October 2015 à 00:03
Join the list of residents that include Jane Fonda, Graham Greene, and Charlie Chaplin in the most prestigious address in Hanoi, Vietnam.
The history of this Old Lady of Hanoi started when French investors Gustave-Emile Dumoutier and Andre Ducamp built it in 1901 as Grand Hotel Metropole Palace. Legendary British author Graham Greene stayed at the Metropole Hotel, hung out in the hotel bar, built networking with Seymour Topping of Associated Press, Tillman Durdin of the New York Times, and the likes. Hanoi is also where he completed his masterpiece novel, “The Quiet American”, in 1951.
Upon staying there in 1920s, English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, Nöel Coward, got a curfew sign: “We were not allowed out of the hotel as there was a revolution in progress.” Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard were honeymooners there in 1936. In 1944, during the last days of war, the hotel was a temporary home of Japanese prisoners of wars.
Ho Chi Minh himself came to visit guests of the Vietnam Communist Party meeting in 1960. Twelve years later, Jane Fonda stayed in the hotel for two weeks, and made her famous broadcast to the US troops. Heavy bombing forced guests to hide in the bomb shelter built within the hotel.
In 1989, that particular hotel went under a three-years long renovation, and was reborn as Sofitel Metropole. Since 1997, there was no year without a prestigious award for Sofitel Metropole. Metropole Wing (110 rooms) and Opera Wing (254 rooms) share different personalities; the former reflects the historical grandeur, while the latter offers neoclassical elegance.
It comes to no surprise that Sofitel Metropole devotes itself to the magic of the author. The Graham Greene Suite is a spellbinding lodge, and Graham Greene cocktail at Le Club Bar is a highly regarded mix of gin, dry vermouth and cassis.
The façade of the hotel is a classic white French colonial with green wooden louvers. Liberal use of woods and marbles, combined with fine fabrics and beautiful ceramics, breathe an exotic ambience. Preserved French architecture with pretty details is harmoniously clashed with some heavy touch of Vietnamese flair. As far as the tradition goes, so does modern technology that equips the rooms.
A hundred years of training brings flawless service in an atmosphere that is as intimate as a Vietnamese lady’s smile, and as sophisticated as a madamoiselle’s grin.
Sofitel Metropole Hanoi is located in 15 Ngo Quyen, Hanoi, Vietnam, Tel: +84-4-8266919. For reservations and more info, check the hotel’s website here.
Ve Handojo
