Private Limousine Transport from Sapa to Hanoi

There were a few options from / to Sapa to / from Hanoi, including sleeper bus, sleeper train (which we took from Hanoi to Sapa) etc. Given the essence of time, we decided to splurge on a private transport back to the capital city of Vietnam! 

Arranged with Hanoi Tirant Hotel for a limousine mini passenger van at a cost of S$321.00; averaging about S$54.00 a person. Best things about a private transport; it's a direct pickup from our hotel in Sapa, Aliana Boutique Sapa Hotel & Spa, and we had the whole vehicle for ourselves! 

Look at how comfortable the chairs were! One for each person, spacious, plushy and decked out with posh leather (I think) finish. Almost like a throne for each of us.

Plenty of space for shorties like me.

Came with Wi-Fi which seemed spotty, and even a USB charging port! While expensive, I personally think the pricing we paid for was worth it, for thee five hours long ride over 300 kilometers! 

Let's load up our luggage at the back of the vehicle! 

Started drizzling and we were on our way out of the mountainous terrain of Sapa! It was a 3-day trip and yet it felt extremely short; we didn't even manage to check out most of the attractions! Only checked Sun World Fansipan Legend and Cat Cat Village! Five days it shall be next time.

Views along the way. Problem started around halfway through journey, along CT.05 Expressway, also known as the Hanoi–Lao Cai Expressway; I needed to pee so badly, I almost had to tie my penis with a rubber band!! It got so bad; the driver was literally speeding towards the next rest station! 

Trust me, this was an agonizing three minutes! 

Trạm Dừng Nghỉ 117+ 500 Rest Station; not sure if this was the correct name. Picture was taken after I was done peeing! Immediately after the door opened, I sprinted to the toilet, ignored the request for payment to use the toilet, and took a long, relaxing piss! Of course I paid after that, although I thought it was funny to pay for toilet usage on an official rest station along an expressway! 

As with most rest stations, there were souvenirs to buy but many readers who follow me throughout the years would know I am a stickler for samplings; no samples, no buy. And I am also worried of being scammed. 

I did get drawn to these beautiful knives though! On second thought, I wonder if the Singapore immigration would allow. I just checked and it's okay so long the knife is in your checked in baggage!

On our way again.

And I made sure not to drink too much water.

Bypassed a cemetery! 

The Lô River, which originates from Yunnan province in China and said to be a major river in Vietnam that's 470 kilometres long! Location: within Phú Thọ province.

You know you are reaching Hanoi when the landscape changes from mainly agricultural to more and more buildings. Thank god I didn't feel the urge to pee, not yet.

Oh...  I didn't know Hanoi is the City of Peace,

Always thought it's the City of Lakes.

First Picture: Nhật Tân Bridge with its iconic five spans! 

Second Picture: Red River, famous waterway bordering Hanoi . 

Third Picture: officially in Hanoi !

Back to the bustle, the crowd, the pollution! 

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Click here for my summarized itinerary of my 3 days trip to Sapa

Hanoi Tirant Hotel @ Vietnam

I enjoyed my stay at Hanoi's Bonsella Hotel back in 2023 but given its lack of a gymnasium, a requirement for my younger sister, we opted for Hanoi Tirant Hotel, which had another advantage for its proximity to the happening area within the old quarter! 

Photograph taken after stepping in; typical of most hotels in Hanoi, there were also stairs at Tirant Hotel although they were just a short flight of stairs and the bellboy was more than willing to help you move your luggage.

Welcome drink at the lobby.

A sweet and nice lemongrass drink. 

Collected our key cards; a total of three rooms were booked at Hanoi Tirant Hotel, and just for one night as we would be proceeding to Sapa the very next day. 

Point no 5: free luggage storage which we shall be utilising the next day as I wouldn't want to haul up our 28-inch luggage up to the sleeper train from Hanoi to Sapa! 

Rooms

No 401 - as it was December when we visited, there was a christmas decoration hung at the door! According to tradition, mistletoe harvested by Druid priests with a golden sickle and placed over the door was said to ward off evil in the coming year.

While I am fine with such festive decorations, what's unacceptable was that it covered the peep hole! We didn't realize until one of our family members came over to ring the bell! 

Entering into our Deluxe Twin Room with Internal Window. A check on the web revealed that we were likely upgraded as our windows looked out to the street view.

For your reference; surprisingly, I thought the wooden furniture, flooring perfectly complemented the blue walls! And the blue had a soothing aura beneficial for those on vacations to get away from work. 

Even though the room was rectangular shaped, the design was a bit weird. Above pictures were two ends of a passage; one housed a dressing table with an electric kettle and a mini-fridge, whereas the other just had windows with curtains.

3-pin plugs at the bedside table, and in-room safe, hairdryer and bathrobes in the wardrobe. Is that a weighing machine in wardrobe? 

p.s. real flowers by the way! Aside from the bottled water, there were also complimentary boxes of snacks known as traditional young rice cake. Let's unbox them!

Turned out they were like a thinner piece of green-colored ang ku kueh, filled with the mung bean paste Singaporeans of Chinese ethnicity would find familiar! Honestly, I like it, especially when the portion was smaller than what we were accustomed to. 

Street view from the super small balcony; both day and night.

Within the spacious washroom; basic amenities like shaver, toothbrush, toothpaste and comb could only requested via a phone call for environmental sustainability reason. Shampoo, shower gel, conditioner, and body lotion were all housed in refillable bottles. 

Evacuation route for reference! 

Room 606 - the room assigned to us when we returned from Sapa. At least for this room, the decoration was hung further down, and not obstructing the peep-hole. 

This time, it's a yellow theme! I personally prefer the blue one. 

Gymnasium

Located on the ground floor, albeit not ground, ground in my opinion. It would be considered as lower ground for me as I still need to walk down the stairs from the main entrance. 

Cute, colorful towels were provided.

More like hand, rather than face towels.

Frankly, the gym was small although it didn't appear popular with guests from thee 122 rooms in the hotel. Usually, it's just my sister and I. What I dislike most was the short ceiling; there's a chin up bar (part of the multi-station machine) that couldn't function to its full potential! 

Swimming Pool and Rooftop Bar

I am always so impressed with the rooftop bars at Hanoi, which aren't limited to just five-star hotels! Many lower-starred hotels have them, even if the space was very limited. 

Space wasn't a problem at Hanoi Tirant Hotel; it even had a swimming pool in addition to the rooftop bar! Well, given that it was winter, we didn't even bother bringing any swimwear! Swimming is only for summer! 

View from the rooftop bar. Notice that bridge that appeared to be lighted by fire? It's the famous Long Biên Bridge; spanning, 2.29 km long across the Red River, it was completed more than 100 years ago.

Buffet Breakfast

Breakfast time and let's take a photograph; missing Alex and my dad as they woke up much earlier than us and were exploring Hoan Kiem lake! 

Pretty spacious restaurant that was on the 13th floor, just a floor below the rooftop bar. Customer service here was good, especially from a specific male manager who spoke great English. 

View surrounding us. 

This unique sky bar with a vermillion Japanese bridge and torii gate caught my attention! Opened in 2024, I spent a while trying to figure out which hotel it was under. Answer: KeCho Legacy Hotel Hanoi! 

Variety of food. Pretty good range.

I am known for not eating breakfast and while I would still eat when complimentary buffet breakfast is included, I would just take a bit of everything for sampling purpose, before taking more if my taste buds enjoyed what went into the mouth. In all, the breakfast was alright, and I indulged in more fruits than cooked foods.

Miscellaneous

Discounts for restaurant and happy hour! 

Shoe Polish / Shine Machine right after you stepped into the hotel. I am actually curious on its workings, and whether this was only used for leather shoes or applied to even sneakers too. 

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Overall, the stay at Hanoi Tirant Hotel was not bad. Bed was comfortable, water pressure at the show was good, breakfast was acceptable, and it's super near the now-demolished shark jaw building and Hanoi Old Quarter Weekend Night Market.

Address

38 P. Gia Ngư, Hàng Bạc, 

Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam

Map

As above.

Website

https://www.tiranthotel.com/

Pricing

Deluxe Twin Room with Internal Window - S$123.13 per night

(Twin sharing and via Booking.com)

Click here for my summarized itinerary of my 3 Days trip to Sapa