CAPELLA HANOI

With a performative teppanyaki restaurant, memento-filled lounge, and vivacious spa, the latest Vietnamese outing by architect/designer Bill Bensley is Hanoi’s swankiest stay. As with Bensley’s other hotel projects, immersive storytelling informs the fanciful design concept here. Capella Hanoi’s proximity to the city’s iconic opera house inspires a theatrical theme, with many of the 47 rooms named after composers, playwrights, librettists, singers, actors, divas, and major works. The top-floor premium suites, though jam-packed with furniture (Bensley is a self-described “maximalist”), come with private terraces and glorious views over the leafy neighborhood. The hotel staff, which includes “Capella Culturists” who know Hanoi intimately and can design exclusive experiences in the city, are determined to make each visit special. Guests are invited to join three daily complementary “rituals”: coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon, and cocktails in the evening. This final ritual—the “Diva’s Entrée”—is especially entertaining: the hotel’s resident prima donna, who sings, dances, and banters with the guests, presents a rotation of signature cocktails inspired by the lives of legendary divas like Coco Chanel and Anna Held. capellahotels.com; doubles from US$400