[review] 5-star hotel Capella Hanoi (Vietnam) – an unforgettable experience

We’re in April 2022. After two years of the covid crisis, tourists are just starting to be able to return to Vietnam. One day, my Vietnamese travel agency posts photos on their Zalo profile of a 5-star hotel that just opened in Hanoi with a very attractive offer (200 euros instead of 450 euros/night). Since our friend A. has to come back to Hanoi for a few days, I suggest he spend two nights there: it’s central and cheaper than the Sofitel Metropole Hanoi. He accepts and offers to come with us. We tell him we already have our Airbnb but we’ll spend one night there to see what it’s like.

So A. goes to Capella before us and the stories he posts on Instagram are so incoherent that we wonder what happened to him in that hotel. The next day, we arrive, check in, and make the same incoherent stories as him. This hotel is absolutely INCREDIBLE. The experience has nothing to do with the other top-notch hotels where we’ve been lucky enough to stay. Even my agency contacted me asking me to describe my experience, because they can’t understand where the enthusiasm for this hotel comes from either.

Capella is a chain of luxury hotels. Before opening in Vietnam, they already have a hotel in Ubud, Shanghai, etc., and the hotels don’t look alike at all. Capella Hanoi (Booking link) is right across from the Sofitel Metropole Hanoi and not far from the MGallery Opera. The three hotels are, in my opinion, the best 5-star hotels in Hanoi. There are other 5-stars, but they’re more geared towards business people because it’s far and there are plenty of conference rooms.

Each room at Capella has a different theme. Before our arrival, the staff try to do 2-3 searches on us to learn our tastes, and they gave us the “travelers” room, as fate would have it. I find the room small, but the bathroom very comfortable, very luxurious.

A. is eager to show us the hotel he knows well now. He tells us we eat all the time, everywhere. As soon as we settle somewhere, staff bring free snacks without us asking for anything. We have a free tea time around 4pm, an artisan comes to present their works during tea time (luxury artisans, because I know one, Quyn, the best leather craftsman in Vietnam, who was invited there!)

… and two bars (one in the basement and another on the top floor). We go to the bar on the top floor where A. tells us that at 9pm someone goes “choo choo”, the lights go off, and shots are distributed to everyone.

We’re a bit skeptical until we sit at the counter to enjoy oysters with whiskey, New York style. The general manager appears out of nowhere and offers us extra oysters. And at 9pm, as A. told us, he’s the one who goes “choo choo” to take us back to the 1920s, he explains that before, New York had plenty of oysters and Irish workers enjoyed them with whiskey, and at 9pm there was some train going somewhere… shots are distributed to everyone, the lighting is dimmed, the atmosphere changes! There’s a document that explains all this but I didn’t read it.

We go to the bar downstairs just to sit down and there too, snacks keep coming, we have to run away otherwise we won’t be hungry for dinner!

We ask to visit their Japanese teppanyaki restaurant. It’s incredible! Just like in Japan! They explain that the ingredients come from Japan daily, and a very famous chef will come soon. The prices are very high (over 300 euros) so we go dine elsewhere, but a few years later, we’ll learn that this restaurant became one of the first Michelin-starred restaurants in Vietnam.

We dine in a Japanese restaurant right next door, which is not part of the hotel. The atmosphere is typically Japanese, with small benches like in Japan.

Afterwards, we enjoy the pool and the hotel’s hammam. The only downside is the ceiling height of the pool; you feel a bit cramped. At the pool too, I was served a drink and a snack 😀

The next day, we meet for breakfast and I see that A. is worried, because as usual, we have too much to eat 😀 The menu is as long as your arm and we can order anything. JB clearly goes for a brunch (the pastries are top-notch!), while I only order sweet plates, but I end up super bloated. We tell A. that it’s impossible to put into words our experience at this extraordinary hotel, and that you really have to come here to understand the “let’s leave or they’ll feed us again” 😀

A few months later, we bring our friend F. to both bars and same thing, after an hour, we had to run away, because the snacks keep coming hahaha. F. is much more used to luxury hotels than us, and he confirms this one is top-notch.

In short, if you’re looking for a 5-star hotel in Hanoi with an incredible experience, I highly recommend coming here. Thank you A. for inviting us, it’s one of the top experiences of our world tours.