It took us a while to book the accommodation for our Hanoi trip as we had initially planned for overnight stays at places outside the capital like Halong Bay, Sapa, Ha Giang etc, but decided to make our inaugural visit slightly more relaxing by staying all six nights in the City of Lakes.
Checking in; the customer service was on point ;the staff members spoke exceptionally good English and were friendly! With just 24 rooms in this hotel that started operations from year 2017, you wouldn't take long to know almost all the staff members, especially if you stay almost a week like us.
Quite what zone? I am guessing it is Quiet Zone; a necessary message as soundproofing wasn't fantastic and I can clearly hear my "neighbors" when they are going out or coming back. Saving grace is that there were only two other rooms on the same level.
Room
Room 904 on level nine; at 25 square meters, it was a comfortable enough room. As mentioned to friends and likely on this blog, I just need a space to rest and require only three things, air-conditioning, windows and ensuite bathroom. 4th consideration; must have good review score.
Bed was comfortable and I was glad extra pillows were given as I am a user of bolster, which I seldom find in hotels although I could make do with an extra pillow.
Complimentary bottled water, tea and coffee sachets. Just for context, I love G7 3-in-1 coffee, which is like the common 3-in-1 coffee brand in Vietnam! Hence, I actually don't have to bring my usual 3-in-1 coffee from Singapore as these are replenished on a daily basis and I am happy drinking it daily.
Not everything would be free; snacks were chargeable as with the bottle of wine and drinks in the mini-fridge. My recommendation would be to stock up from a nearby supermarket (BRGMart) about 150 meters away.
As mentioned earlier, I need a window in the hotel room and the above was an window unexciting view. It's quite near to the other buildings, including a sky bar; therefore, we kept the day curtains permanently drawn.
It was only the next day that I realized there were blinds behind the bed that could be drawn too! All thanks to Alex, whose curiosity outstrips mine at times.
Overlooking the stretch of Ng Bao Khanh road; where there were a lot of hotels, some of which towered Bonsella Hotel. Oh well, I am more concerned with the review score rather than height of hotel. Nevertheless, it's an additional bonus if the hotel is tall.
Bathroom - there's a rainfall shower and the shampoo and shower gel were placed in ceramic bottles. Only issue I faced was that the shower gel wasn't topped up daily; a disappointment as I did tip the housekeeping crew every day.
Hairdryer and complimentary toiletries in the ceramic bowl. As with most hotels nowadays, sustainability is a key message and at Bonsella Hotel; towels would only be replaced if they are on the floor.
Buffet Breakfast
Our room came with free buffet breakfast on the 11th floor of the hotel. We were there every single morning as it's a great place to have coffee, even if I don't take the breakfast! But I do, as I could freely indulge in fruits!
It may not seem much as our first morning was pretty chilly, with a low-lying fog enveloping the capital city but in person; it was a rather mystical sight while we sipped our cup of Vietnamese coffee under such a nice, cool climate.
Despite the small premises, the spread was sufficient with local Vietnamese (porridge, rice rolls etc) and Western breakfast options, including salad, ham, pancakes, French toast etc. You do get some variety instead of the same dish everyday; sometimes, we have porridge, other times, rice rolls.
In addition, you could also request eggs from the kitchen like sunny side up, omelettes etc, and pho! For the latter, there were options for either chicken or beef even though they were just too heavy for me, especially when I prefer to have local food OUTSIDE the hotel.
Drinks counter; quite limited with just two fruit punches. Not a problem for me, honestly, since I am happy with my 3-in-1 Vietnamese coffee.
Bread, cereal, dessert and fruit section! I was most happy to see bananas as the taste would usually be acceptable, unlike fruits like oranges, watermelons, where it could be bland and / or sour.
I am old school; I enjoyed these sponge cakes with buttercream!
Some of the breakfast I had across the six mornings! The one thing I started taking almost every morning was the yogurt in glass bottles. It was delicious, and I would sometimes, pour it over the cup of diced fruits!
There's a spiral staircase leading up to the top floor.
Of course we had to check it out!
Sky Terrace
Open air, partially sheltered sky terrace! It's actually operated as a sky bar at night and despite telling myself to have a drink there, and maybe take some time-lapsed videos of the night view; I didn't manage to! :(
Panoramic view that encompassed the legendary Hoan Kiem Lake. As you can deduce from the photo, it was near Bonsella Hotel and a great place to jog every morning. You would be surprised that it's popular with locals and there would be many people like you exercising.
Given the popularity of the Old Quarter for accommodation and the lack of skyscrapers, you can actually see that many hotels had sky bars. The lighthouse sky bar on the right of the above photo seemed interesting!
You can also catch sight of the most iconic Shark Jaws building at the Old Quarter. We actually patronized the building on a few occasions; earliest of which was day one of my trip, where I had my first Vietnamese grilled fish, at Vua Chả Cá.
Ng Bao Khanh road under our feet. It's a charming tree lined street where I am amazed by how the trees survived from removal, as their canopies were large and I presume their roots would creep into the boundaries of the buildings.
The signage on top of the sky bar. Once lighted up, you can see it from around Hoan Kiem Lake and Shark Jaws building. In a way, if you are ever lost around the lake, you can follow this lighted sign on top of the hotel.
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Overall, it was a nice stay and I would seriously consider at this hotel again if I were to bring my parents over to Hanoi for a trip as, aside from the friendly customer service and pretty good breakfast; it's so near to almost everywhere.
Even the street directly outside was filled with activities in the morning, converting into a mini wet market with fresh vegetables, raw meat and even live fish for sale!
And I am puzzled about the placement of in-room safes along the emergency staircase. Do they need to be powered by the sun? By the way, the safes were digital-enabled but strangely, it doesn't work in my room and I was given a key instead.
Address
3 Ng. Báo Khánh, Hàng Trống,
Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam
Map
As above.
Location Map
As above.
Website
Pricing via Agoda.com
Premier City View Room - S$70.48 a night
Additional Information
You can arrange for airport transfer with Bonsella Hotel for ease of travelling back to the airport. In our case, we paid 350,000 dong for our journey the airport on our last day. Do arrange at least a day before.
hi. is there a gym in this hotel ?
ReplyDeleteHello! Nope, there isn't a gym!
Deletehmm not that cheap $70+
ReplyDeleteNot that expensive for me too, and I only have good words for the service rendered by the staff. And breakfast on the top floor was nice!
Delete