Smarana Hanoi Heritage - Hotel and Retreats

So much. Definitely not as advertised. They offered a 60-minute massage rather than the advertised 90-minute massage. The location is so far away from center. Shuttle only operates to certain hours. The team is not well informed on the tours and are extremely over priced for the market. It seems they want to make as much money from you as possible. The pillows are not of good quality, and was offered a room without natural light with a tiny window overlooking a shaft with cockroaches. The worst part is that every morning at 5:30am, you are woken up by a womens team screaming playing volley ball or something. It was a horrible stay and didn't sleep well at all. Definitely NOT a 5-star hotel. Definitely NOT.

It is said that the quality of a business, particularly a hotel business, is dependent upon the staff working there never was this truer than with the smarana hotel, hanoi. From the moment we arrived until the moment we left every member of staff was simply incredible - going above and beyond time and time again. Their kindness, politeness and eagerness to please was truly exceptional and something rarely experienced to this level. I am fortunate enough to visit many hotels worldwide - the Smarana is an excellent hotel which is only thanks to their staff. The hotel itself is beautiful, dark and moody rooms leave you wanting to just chill for hours on end. The free breakfast is very nice and the welcome you receive is warm and heartfelt every single time you are greeted with great staff, from the guy who drives the free shuttle to the ladies on reception to the barman on the rooftop bar (he enjoys making cocktails by the way and he makes a hell of a good cocktail!). Just the lot of you - brilliant. The beds are very comfortable - and the pillows are lovely, where do I get these?! At home I do not think about spending a lot of money on pillows - but these were probably better than the ones i purchased for hundreds of s! There is no doubt that next time I am in Hanoi that I will be back here - as a base whilst staying in Hanoi you will not find much better. If you are reading this review and are considering the hotel then just book it - dont mess about taking a chance somewhere else.. i promise, you rarely find a hidden gem like this. The hotel is situated about 25 minutes from all the loudness and brashness of the tourist area - it costs about 4 in a taxi, so not a consideration when looking for a peaceful sleep away from loud music and lots of traffic. In these parts of vietnam they use an app called grab for calling a taxi - a bit like uber. The system is efficient and cheap.

The stay at this hotel has been a huge gift for both of us. From the check-in process to check-out, every staff has sincerely took care of us. We have experienced every facility the hotel had. SPA The staff were very gentle and caring of the treatment. They comforted us with kindness and warmful energy. Singing Ball session was even more impressive. BAR This rooftop bar also impressed us in the atmosphere but the bartender was super gentle as well. Listening to consumer's needs and leading the conversation into the happy vibes are also thankful for us. Overall experience has been wonderful, all the staffs were not only responsible, but very sincerly engaged with customers. Very special thanks to Andy. We will miss you very much.