In an age where straight-lined and beige hotel designs predominate, Hanoi’s latest luxury dig waltzes to a refreshingly different beat. Hotel designer Bill Bensley drew inspiration from the neoclassical Hanoi Opera House down the street and ran with it. From the lobby lounge studded with stage props and murals of camera-flashing paparazzi to the 47 suites individually designed as tributes to actors, singers and play designers of yore – every element of Capella Hanoi nods to the golden age of opera. It’s an Art Deco jumble of mirrors and marble, a mishmash of ornate hand-painted wallpapers, jewel-hued textiles, and rooms – each unique – with golden trimmings that’d turn Jay Gatsby green with envy. Just as much care has been put into the restaurant menus. Breakfasts at the theatrical Backstage include table-side banh mi carts, artisanal bubble tea and pho by one of Anthony Bourdain’s favourite Vietnamese chefs, Anh Tuyet. Upstairs, rooftop restaurant Hudson Rooms nods to 1920s New York with caviar and oysters on ice, while Koki, a sleek, subterranean dining room one floor above the hotel’s crystal-chandeliered pool and spa, delivers chi-chi Japanese. The hotel sits between the buzz of Hoan Kiem lake, the Old Town and the French Quarter, but you’ll want to make sure to return to the lobby’s Diva Lounge at sunset, where every day, a songstress in a sparkly dress opens the bar with fitting pzazz.
Address: Capella Hanoi, 11 P. Lê Phụng Hiểu, French Quarter, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội 100000, Vietnam
