Thang Loi Hotel***

Our brief comments:
The three-storey Thang Loi Hotel is located beside Hanoi's West Lake, the largest lake in the capital, about a ten-minute drive from the city centre. The linked accommodation blocks extend into the lake on pillars. Lake-facing rooms have good balconies and excellent views.

The entrance lobby is one of the hotels weakest features, mainly due to a lack of maintenance. On the day of our unannounced inspection, the large glass windows providing views of an attractive outdoor tropical garden in the centre of the lobby and those in the entrance doors were grimy. That, and a pervasive unpleasant odour and inadequate lighting, spoilt what could be a spacious and welcoming foyer. We were assured that the smell was not a regular feature - we'll re-check later!

The restaurant shows its age. It's typical of hotel restaurants in the early days of tourism in Vietnam - rectangular with cheap furniture and soft hangings giving an institutional appearance. The menu mainly consists of Vietnamese dishes. Prices are low, but there is no wine list.

Lakeside rooms are a reasonable size and benefit from an outdoor patio area with open views across Hanoi's largest lake. Beds in most rooms are firm and comfortable, but bathrooms are on the small side. Furniture and fittings are satisfactory.

Suite rooms are spacious and have larger bathrooms with a spa bath and a bidet but, inexplicably, the bed in the room we inspected was very soft.

There's a good size swimming pool with a wide surround for sunbathing, the usual massage/beauty centre, and a pleasant bar overlooking the lake. A 'night club' cum karaoke room is available for those who like that sort of thing - mercifully, it's tucked well away from the rooms out of earshot.

The Thang Loi hotel has some drawbacks, notably the poorly-maintained public areas, an indifferent restaurant and the distance from the city, but offers comfortable accommodation, good views and affordable prices.

Inspected February 2005

Room facilities

Room Categories	Premium	Suite
Number of rooms	169	9
Air-conditioner
Satellite television
Shower or bath
Bath with shower
Bath + separate shower
Personal safety box
Coffee and tea facilities
In-room laptop connection
Free in-room broadband access
Extra bed
Child's cot
Room size (sq. m)	25	50
View	lake/garden	lake

Additional room facilities: bidets in Suite rooms

Hotel facilities

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

Additional hotel facilities: tennis courts