Flag of Vietnam.
In the capital of Vietnam, Hanoi, we reach our hotel, the Sunline Paon Hotel. Confusingly this company is called Sunlines, plural, but the hotels are each Sunline, singular. Worse still, I keep reading it as sunshine hotel.
Praise and Paon
Paon - what's that? A French word.
What should I praise first? The smiling welcoming people.
The breakfast buffet - they call hello as you enter the room. Bowls for fresh fruit. Different hot foods each day. Yogurts and cheese and tomatoes and cucumber and watermelon, and wonderful French toast.
What's not to like. Maybe the rubbery croissants and chocolatines.
London For Coissants
We can get perfect croissants without going to France, just from a Tesco Express in Harrow, NW London. So what is in a croissant? Flour, butter, thin pastry. What went wrong? We looked up best croissant in Hanoi and found ourselves next to a tiny shop and bought one. Not bad. Next time I am in Harrow I shall go for a croissant. Never mind the diet. I shall cut it into three in plastic bags, freeze them, and enjoy a bit of it for three days.
Bedrooms
To make up for not serving lunch or dinner, our bedroom has a fridge.
Avoid room 402 if you like to sit at a computer unless you are staying only one night. the desk is along a blank wall. The hotel was fully booked but I saw the people in the room next door. We switched to room 404 next door to enjoy being under a window with light and outside air and eyes can focus on a distance.
Bathrooms
Comfy beds. The hotel was only finished in the middle of 2018. Bathrooms - triple shower. The Japanese Toto brand toilets, with jets to clean you front and rear.
Slippers and bathrobes.
Kettle for making coffee. All the usual, table lamp, wide screen TV.
Pictures on level 4 corridor are London. (Actually I'd prefer to see Vietnam.)
Long desk big enough for two. And when we asked for a second upright chair, it appeared within a couple of minutes.
Hot and Cold
Hot water turned to lukewarm when December turned cold. We discovered the air con could be converted into heating.
When it turned cold, the outdoor swimming pool was no longer of interest to us.
All in all, a very good hotel. (More details in a later post.)
For hotels
booking.com
For airlines
travelok.com
vietJetair.com
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.
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