SOFITEL LEGEND METROPOLE HANOI, VIETNAM

To be immersed in Hanoi’s long and complex history and be treated like royalty, stay in the Sofitel Legend Hanoi Metropole Hotel. The French carved a colony out in Vietnam from 1887 until its defeat in the First Indochina War in 1954 when independence was claimed for the country. The French left many beautiful buildings especially in the north and the Queen is the Hanoi Metropole, gleaming white, brass polished as a shining ritual and all things here, tres bon. The staff still greet each guest throughout the hotel with a welcoming “bonjour”.

The hotel includes 364 rooms. The historic Metropole wing has 106 guestrooms and three Legendary Suites, named after famous residents and visitors to the hotel (Graham Greene, Charlie Chaplin, Somerset Maugham). From the Paris-inspired cafe La Terrasse, to the popular poolside Bamboo Bar or Vietnamese restaurant Spices Garden, the multi-award French restaurant Le Beaulieu or the stylish Italian-influenced restaurant and lounge Angelina – the hotel promises a gastronomic journey. The architectural style is neoclassical and is set on a tree-lined street just a five-minute walk from the Hanoi Opera House and 27 kilometres from Noi Bai International Airport. And if you can only visit one thing – make it afternoon tea. Every day, between

3pm and 5.30pm, the Chocolate Library opens in Le Club Bar. Praline, ganache, éclairs, mille-feuille pastries, chocolate fountain, a selection of every kind of French patisserie and chocolate in every shape and form appears and appeals seductively to the afternoon tea fanatic. Très, très, bon. And there’s always Le Spa du Metropole after an afternoon of high indulgence. Enter a calm sanctuary of refined style for rituals combining east and west – to massage way the High Tea guilt. For a little bit of fancy Français in Vietnam, this hotel offers every experience to please a world traveller. Bon chance! Prices start from VND6150082

(about A$370) per room, per night. sofitel-legend-metropole-hanoi.com