If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (VND9,450,000.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
The ghosts of this art deco confection’s 1920s clientele still carouse in the corridors of Capella Hanoi, a place where high-society glamour is celebrated and ‘subtle’ is a dirty word. Understated it is not, yet, like Maria Callas, the interiors here hit all the right notes. We’re talking OTT crystal chandeliers, thick red-velvet drapes, a memorabilia-crammed restaurant and eye-popping suites that might have been modelled on Liberace’s dressing room. There’s even a ‘paparazzi corridor’ complete with flashing camera bulbs. Experience the full effect by cosplaying The Great Gatsby in the relatively refined surroundings of Diva’s Lounge, where cocktails are inspired by Coco Chanel, Greta Garbo and other legendary style icons of yore.
47 individually decorated rooms, of which 32 are suites.
Check–Out
Noon. Check-in, 3pm. Both times are flexible, subject to availability.
Prices
Double rooms from £337.95 (VND10,716,300), including tax at 13.4 per cent.
More details
Rates include à la carte breakfast in the Backstage restaurant. Facilities Spa, pool, free WiFi. In rooms: minibar with free drinks and snacks, Nespresso coffee machine, Marshall Bluetooth speaker, marble bathroom with huge tub and La Bottega toiletries.
At the hotel
Spa, pool, free WiFi. In rooms: minibar with free drinks and snacks, Nespresso coffee machine, Marshall Bluetooth speaker, marble bathroom with huge tub and La Bottega toiletries.
Our favourite rooms
No two rooms are the same at Capella Hanoi, where great pains have been taken to create an authentic look that harks back to this former opera house’s heyday. The result: theatrical flourishes that include bold, hand-painted murals, operatic ornaments and one-off portraits by artist Kate Spencer. The hotel’s standard rooms and suites are no mere curtain-raisers, but it’s the epic top-floor Opera Suites that really steal the show, with broad balconies, oodles of space and views of the leafy Hoàn Kiếm district below.
Poolside
Even the freshwater ‘La Grotta’ pool in Capella Hanoi’s basement spa feels decadent, with sparkling chandeliers and fully mirrored walls and ceilings. It’s open for quiet reflection (and swimming) between 7am and 10pm daily.
Spa
Treat yourself to a Vietnamese full-body massage or super-indulgent 24-karat gold facial in the Auriga spa’s two artfully decorated treatment rooms. There’s also a sauna, steam room, cold plunge pool and relaxation area, as well as the aforementioned mirrored pool.
Packing tips
Immerse yourself in the seductive world of the roaring Twenties with a copy of the era’s must-read short novel. Bonus: The Great Gatsby barely takes up any suitcase real-estate, meaning more space for the kind of glam vintage togs that will make your Capella Hanoi selfies really pop.
Also
Guests in the market for a quick run or cardio workout can hit up the state-of-the-art fitness centre in the basement. Personal trainers are available on request.
Children
Rooms can be configured to accommodate little Smiths, and there are make-your-own-mask children’s menus in the Backstage restaurant.
Sustainability efforts
Capella Hanoi has a number of initiatives aimed at conserving natural resources and reducing carbon emissions. The hotel also works with local charitable organisations to support and give back to the local community.
There are few better places to be in Capella Hanoi than propping up the sophisticated art deco bar in Diva’s Lounge, with a signature Lina Cavilieri cocktail – the hotel’s twist on a traditional negroni – in hand.
Dress Code
Cosplay yourselves all the way back to the Jazz Age with pleated dresses, outsize necklaces, and dainty headbands for the ladies, and vintage Twenties-style suits paired with well-polished shoes for the gents.
Hotel restaurant
Capella Hanoi’s signature restaurant Backstage pays tribute to the hotel’s operatic heritage with a bravura dining experience that hits all the high notes and is surely one of the finest in the aria. Red velvet banquettes and drapes, antique theatrical costumes and vintage tableware set the stage for a northern Vietnamese feast, starring zingy tofu salad, Hanoi bun cha and lotus and cashew chocolate cake, but – somewhat unexpectedly – no peach melba. Pro tip: don’t miss the life-enhancing pho and banh mi options at breakfast.
Exposed brick walls, wooden floors and skyline views make for an elegant ambiance in the Hudson Rooms, where oysters, classic fish dishes and a whiskey bar hark back to New York’s golden age. Downstairs in the basement, Koki is a sleek teppanyaki restaurant with intimate, minimalist decor and a modern Japanese menu that includes sashimi, teriyaki chicken and grilled black cod with sweet saikyo sauce.
Hotel bar
Designed to look like a stage set, with red-and-gold-velvet drapes that open to reveal the bar’s pillared art deco drinks cabinet, Diva’s Lounge effortlessly evokes the spirit of opera in the golden age. Work your way through a cocktail list that features boozy concoctions inspired by the likes of Josephine Baker, Anna Held and Cleopatra; and, as it’s your Smith Extra, you should really catch the show-stopping afternoon tea of savoury tarts, scones, pastries, cakes, macarons and – if you still have room after all that – a chocolate dome and coconut mousse.
Last orders
Diva’s Lounge and the Hudson Rooms stay open until midnight for late-night dining, drinking and dancing.
The opulent art nouveau façade of former opera house Capella Hanoi cuts a striking figure on the leafy boulevards of Hanoi’s atmospheric French Quarter, close to tranquil Hoàn Kiếm Lake and the current Hanoi Opera.
Planes
It’s around 30 to 45 minutes from Nội Bài International Airport to Capella Hanoi. Transfers can be booked through the hotel and start from around 2.75m Vietnamese dong (about £100) one-way. Express buses to the Old Quarter are considerably cheaper at £2 and take roughly an hour.
Trains
Hanoi Railway Station is about a 10-minute drive from the hotel and serves other major Vietnam hubs including Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City.
Automobiles
Hanoi’s roads are chaotic, congested and not recommended for the faint of heart or, indeed, anyone seeking a stress-free vacation. Happily, the city centre is easy enough to explore on foot, or you can make like a local and hire a scooter for a few days if you fancy venturing further afield. Masochists who still wish to hire a car can do so at the airport or at the hotel, where free secure parking is provided.
Worth getting out of bed for
Immerse yourself in northern Vietnam culture with a range of fun activities that don’t even require you to leave the hotel – classes hand-selected by the Capella Curates are hosted right here in the hotel’s lavish living room. Here’s your chance to get a mighty caffeine kick at a Vietnamese coffee-tasting session, to take that Sarah Bernhardt cookie-making class you’ve always promised yourself, or to master the noble art of Vietnamese bamboo fan-making.
Wake up early for a sunrise tai chi masterclass from resident expert Master Trang, who’ll put you (gently) through your paces by the Temple of the Jade Mountain on the banks of tranquil Hoàn Kiếm Lake. Discover the ancient art of Vietnamese lacquer painting on the Lacquer Your Life experience and create your own unique souvenir to take home. Gin aficionados – and let’s face it, who isn’t one these days? – can create their own infusions and, critically, sample the wares on a tour of the Sông Cái Distillery.
A stroll through the lively labyrinthine lanes of the Old Quarter should be considered absolutely essential as it’s here you’ll get a real flavour of Old Hanoi. Walk north from Hoàn Kiếm Lake and lose yourself in this bustling mini metropolis. Snap selfies in front of the neighbourhood’s narrow tube houses, snack on steaming bowls of bun cha from the street food vendors, and pause for reflection at Bach Ma Temple, with its antique wooden doors and opulent red-lacquered funeral palanquin. The Heritage House, a carefully restored merchant’s house delves further into Hanoi’s history, with fine examples of traditional local handicrafts, including silk paintings and ceramics.
Local restaurants
Tucked unassumingly away among travel agencies, cafés and hostels in Hanoi’s Old Quarter, Blue Butterfly promises one of the most authentic Vietnamese dining experiences in town. The restaurant is set inside a restored century-old tube house, complete with original exposed beams and carved wooden balconies that line the light-filled atrium. Gorge on grilled lemongrass pork, steamed seabass in ginger sauce, and stir-fried morning glory.
Should you find yourself hankering for something a little more European, Colette French Bistro & Wine Bar is a good choice thanks to its extensive menu of Gallic classics including raclette, lobster bisque, steak tartare and crème brûlée. Help yourself to wine by the glass from a selection of 32 labels in the self-service Enomatic dispenser system.
Local cafés
There’s a duo of great coffee houses just the other side of Hoàn Kiếm Lake. The very literally named Tranquil Books & Coffee promises – wait for it – books and coffee, served up in a peaceful café with a leafy courtyard. There are regular jazz and open-mic nights in front of the large brick fireplace.
Practically next door, Dream Beans Coffee Roastery roast their own beans and boast a long list of speciality drip and espresso coffees from Ethiopia, Costa Rica, Guatemala and beyond.
Local bars
Neon-lit fish and butterflies hang from the ceiling in the achingly cool Kumquat Tree, owned and run by Hanoi-born DJ Quốc Anh. Slip through the ruby-red door of this former shophouse, located on a leafy corner near the Hanoi Opera, and you’ll find yourself inside a modern take on the Twenties speakeasy, all exposed brick, plush seating, throbbing dance music and luridly coloured cocktails.
A neon sign points the way to nearby Nê Cocktail Bar where the signature Pho cocktail has to be seen (and tasted) to be believed. Spiked with spiced gin and boozy notes of pho and Vietnamese herbs, this theatrical tour de force sees the liquor set aflame before it even hits the glass. Hot stuff indeed.
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this converted 1920s opera house in Hanoi’s French Quarter and unpacked their flapper dresses and dancing shoes, a full account of their boutique city break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Capella Hanoi…
There’s nothing shy and retiring about the Capella Hanoi, a grande dame of the roaring twenties that pays serious homage to its former life as a Jazz Age opera house, from the winged golden statue that crowns the building’s art nouveau façade to flamboyant designer Bill Bensley’s full-throated red, black and gold colour scheme inside.
Luxurious suites bring the eye candy, with wrought-iron balconies, gleaming marble bathrooms furnished with freestanding tubs, and decor that marries traditional art deco with contemporary Vietnamese style. Think theatrical velvet upholstery and reclaimed memorabilia from the building’s operatic heyday juxtaposed with bold monochrome prints and colourful hand-painted wall murals that are unique to each room and suite. Fans of 1920s glamour that goes waaay over-the-top will love it.
