Reflecting on our holiday in Hanoi brought to mind the wonderful service, rooms, breakfast and genuine support of the staff at Hanoi Essence. Centrally located in the Old Quarter. Well priced and the best hotel we experienced during our month travelling Vietnam.
There was even a laptop in the room with broadband. !!

This hotel is great, offering very reasonable prices and over delivering when it comes to rooms but most of all with the willing to help from their staff. We had all our questions solved and tour arrangements done efficiently and with a smile.

Breakfast was included and was of high standards and once again served with a smile.

The only negative points are the lack of English skills of most of their staff, making communication quite complicated at times (nothing that some good will and extra patience can't sort out though), and the street where is located, that at night looks quite dodgy. Even if it's justa 3 minute walk to some nice shops and restaurants, the walk would be something I wouldn't recommend to do alone at night.

Overall an enjoyable stay, in a great room with friendly staff at an excellent price. Recommendable!

Thoroughly enjoyed our stay in the Essence - the staff where very well trained and went out of their way to provide every assistance. Example - I was sitting in the foyer and a backpacker entered and asked if they could make a reservation for him in another city at another hotel - this they did without a moment's hesitation. They were very kind to us and ensured that our flight booking was OK rang our tour operator to confirm times, etc. - oh! and of course our room was delightful, well appointed, clean and comfortable. Many thanks.

Situated midway between the northern tip of Hoan Kiem Lake and Dong Xuan Market in the Old Quarter, Essence is a new hotel opened in late-2011. It is on a narrow one-way street called Ta Hien (see photo), which gets muddy during rainy days, and this is typical of all the small streets in the Old Quarter. Essence is sandwiched between the Asian Ruby Hotel and the May De Ville Backpackers Hostel. Although the Essence lobby fronts Ta Hien Street, all the rooms are at the back and do not suffer from traffic noise like most other Vietnam city hotels. There are many shops and eating places within 50 meters of Essence, but the main dining/entertainment area is around Hoan Kiem Lake.

We booked 2 nights directly by e-mail to hotel, and paid USD50 + 10%VAT + 3% credit card surcharge, per night for Superior Double. Upon check-in, we were upgraded to an Interconnecting Room on the 7th Floor on the first night. We then went on a 2D1N Halong Bay cruise on the Dragon Pearl (booked through Essence). On our return, we were upgraded to a room on the 8th Floor.

The 7th Floor room had 2 small windows, one looking into an airwell and the other looking into the neighbor’s balcony. Bathroom had a shower stall. If you do not need interconnecting rooms, try not to stay in such a room – the interconnecting single door was poorly insulated and we could hear loud conversations from the adjoining room.

The 8th Floor room was superb. It had a large window with a view (see photo), and had a bath. The only disadvantage was having to take the elevator to the 7th Floor and walk up the stairs to the 8th Floor. Anyway, the bellboys promptly took our luggage on check-in and check-out, so walking the stairs was not a problem unless you had bad knees.

Both rooms had IBM laptop, free/strong/fast Wifi, LG flat TV, Daikin aircond, rain shower, mini fridge, kettle, hairdryer, weigh scale, magnifying mirror, safe, slippers. There was welcome drink and towel upon check-in, and a fruit basket (mango, banana) in room. The bed was firm (good for the spine) and there were large soft pillows. Door lock was operated by touch card.

Free breakfast was a small buffet with a-la-carte selection of eggs/omelette/pho (Vietnamese noodles). Although the buffet area was narrow, dishes were tastefully arranged. There were yoghurt, fruits, custard (in dainty cups), cereals, breads, salad, cheese and paté, hot food like sausage, bacon, ham, tomato, potato, noodles or fried rice, porridge.

Service was first-class, comparable to 5-star hotels. Check-in was done while the guests were seated in chairs around the lobby, and escorted by receptionist to the room, with good explanations. There were small personal touches like rose petals on bed, and carrot carvings on breakfast a-la-carte plates. The front desk staff were fluent in English and very helpful. One drew on a map to show us the way to the Fivimart at Ly Thai To, to pick up some Vietnamese foodstuff, and another taught us how to make a good spring roll with the rice paper that we bought.

Unfortunately, the Elegance Group hotels are all in Hanoi. We look forward to the day when all Vietnam cities will have hotels operated by the Elegance Group, to the same high standards as the Essence.