Chains First Eden***

Our brief comments:
The six-storey Chains First Eden is located on a corner at the northern end of Hanoi's Old Quarter, overlooking a small park. It's an unassuming small hotel with 44 rooms in three categories.

Built in 1994, opened in 1996 and renovated in 2002, the hotel's rooms are very small. Nevertheless, they are clean and tidy with good quality dark wood furniture. The bed is something of a surprise - it's scarcely 10cm off the floor. The mattress and bedlinen are OK, though.

Bathrooms are standard and on the small size as might be expected bearing in mind the lack of space overall. The highly visible water heater above the bath is something of an eyesore.

Corridors are narrow, but as they're quite short, not oppressive. However, the carpeting on the stairs and in the single lift has seen better days.

There's a small restaurant on the top floor with a decent city view that serves a limited set breakfast based on ticking boxes. The à la carte menu contains a variety of international and Vietnamese dishes, and there's a small wine list. Prices are above average at this level of hotel.

The reception area is small and basic, but the friendly smiles of the reception and door staff more than compensate.

The Chains First Eden lacks most modern hotel facilities, but has a welcoming feeling.

Last inspected February 2005

Room facilities:

Room Categories	Standard	Superior	Deluxe
Number of rooms	10	10	22
Air-conditioner
Satellite television
Shower or bath
Bath with shower
Bath + separate shower
Personal safety box
Coffee and tea facilities
Laptop connection
Free broadband access
Extra bed
Child's cot
Room size (m2)	18	18	20
View	city	city	city

Additional room facilities:

Hotel facilities:

Outdoor pool		Non-smoking floor(s)
Pool bar		Non-smoking rooms only
Fitness/health centre		Vietnamese/Asian restaurant
Sauna		International restaurant
Massage		Patisserie/coffee shop/cafe
Jacuzzi		Business centre

Additional hotel facilities: double glazing in all rooms