Note: I find it very difficult to allocate time between my real work and blogging as both involve writing and taking photographs. Sometimes my head might be too full of things to write, and some other times, none at all. I am sorry if this blog is suffering from content schedule inconsistency although there are so many material waiting to be shared to all of you. Hopefully, in the near future, I could share posts on a consistent interval. So here we go, a new review for a hotel I visited earlier this year. Enjoy!


Staying in a well-known chain hotel while traveling to Hanoi might be a joke to some people. Why would someone fly far away to Hanoi, popular for its intimate boutique hotel, yet choose to stay in a hotel with an experience easily found in any city in the world? But for us, the tagline "intimate" might be an issue as we quite dislike relaxing in a compact space of a hotel room. Yes, the "intimate" experience is literal in terms of room size for the local hotel rooms I stumbled upon while researching where to stay in Hanoi.

At first, I was actually quite skeptical to stay in Intercontinental Hanoi Westlake as their rank in TripAdvisor was quite mediocre compared to all other boutique hotels. Funny enough, most of all chain hotels in Hanoi seems to be very outdated. There are only a few new chain hotels opened in the recent year but also with a very bland interior design that I finally chose Intercontinental because they were having a huge discount during our stay. My decision also was affected by the hotel's location in the middle of Hanoi West Lake—must be pretty calm amidst a buzzing city like Hanoi.

The main atrium of Hanoi Intercontinental Westlake

The receptionist desk on the main lobby.

Our arrival at the hotel was in the afternoon, right before the sunset. Since I booked a club room, we were escorted to the club lounge at the end of the main building for check-in. One of the lounge staff, Ms. Hien, welcomed us and directly arranged us a table as it was already canapes hour, so no checking-in on the front desk, which was a very nice gesture. Our room access was ready while we were having our light dinner, which was pretty good—great choices of hors-d'oeuvre and their smoked salmon were yummy! (PS. I always try to find smoked salmon whenever I have the chance to access a club lounge.)

Checking-in while enjoying the club lounge is one of the benefits of staying in a club room

As we were ready to rest in our room, here happened an unforgettable moment—Ms. Hien did what she called a "magic trick" by snatching and swapping our room card. Turned out, when we arrived at our room via buggy car (yes, our room was on a separate building called Pavilion over Water), we were upgraded to a suite room, which I believe might be Westlake Suite (Thank you, Ms. Hien!). Extra spacious room, I think it is two combined deluxe room, one dedicated for living and dining area, while the other is the bedroom.

The Pavilion's corridor leading to our room

Here goes the room design: I must be honest to say that it felt outdated. Compared to the main lobby with marble floors and glazed walls surrounding its common area, the guest room was designed with old-school wooden floor, rugs, and dark-colored wooden furnish. The alcove ceiling and recessed walls didn't help either, it was somewhat irrelevant and brought the room to feel like it was not thoroughly designed. The Pavilion building itself looked like as if it was built on the colonial era with its baluster railing on the common area. Moreover, because we arrived at our room in the evening, it felt quite dark and gloomy.

The bathroom was OK, old, but quite spacious with separate shower and bath area. And the bathroom might be the brightest area within our suite as it is furnished with lighter-colored finishes. Thankfully, the toiletries were great. They were Agraria branded and packed pretty generously. If usually one bottle of shower/bath gel could only last for one shower, their bottle could last for a whole day for everyone!


When the morning came, it was when I get more appreciative of the room design, especially when I adjusted the louvered windows to let some lights in. And after several days, somehow the dark-colored rooms and the lake surrounding became very memorable. The warmth from the wooden furnish and the tranquility of the lake were the qualities I found redeeming. It might be what they called an acquired taste, but this is for a hotel room, that takes time to be enjoyed.


Breakfast in the Intercontinental Hanoi Westlake was an amazing experience. Guests were provided with a countless choice of fares from Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, etc. It might be because there was a large group of Korean visiting the hotel that we were provided with Korean fares. I almost immediately went straight to the Vietnamese booth. Here, they provided their specialty noodle, pho, which was pretty different from what I ate in the South and Center Vietnam. No condiments and accompanying herbs, the Northern pho was as simple as it could get: noodle, beef slices, broth, and sprinkles of spring onion. During our breakfast, some of the chefs would come to the guests' tables and offered freshly baked goods, which I thought was great as a hospitable gesture towards the hotel guests.


Strolling around the hotel's ground after a sumptuous meal was our daily activity here. With paths over water, dried frangipani trees surrounding the swimming pool area, and calming lake with a far view of Hanoi, being here might be as therapeutic as when we strolled around the Hoan Kiem Lake of Hanoi in the afternoon. And since it was still winter in Hanoi, there was no striking sun's heat that made our stroll much enjoyable.


Day or night, it seemed that my favorite spot within the hotel was the bridges that connected the pavilions over the water. stopping by and looking at the serene water ripples with no buzzing sounds from the busy Hanoi was what I loved the most while staying here. I appreciated that staying here provided me with a contrasting experience from Hanoi as we all know.


Another favorite spot for me was, of course, the club lounge. We were treated exceptionally by Ms. Hien and her colleagues. Lots of talks and question and they were more than happy to help. We received many recommendations on what to do, where to eat, when we were planning to explore the city. Even up to our departure, their hospitality truly left us longing to be back here in the future.


Our stay in Intercontinental Hanoi Westlake was a memorable one. Not because of the hotel's design, but more of its surrounding, and ultimately the people. I now believe Hanoi's authentic feel of "intimate" is not only about the space, but how we, as travelers, are treated in the best way possible. Intercontinental Hanoi Westlake is simply recommendable for everyone who wishes to visit the city and experience luxury and exceptional hospitality.