Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi

Hotel facade at night

1900s

In 1899, Gustave-Émile Dumoutier files a request to convert the buildings on his land at the corner of boulevard Henri-Rivière into a hotel. The extra capital of 500,000 francs is provided by businessman André Ducamp. The Grand Métropole Hôtel is opened in August 1901 by André Ducamp and Gustave-Émile Dumoutier,[1] operated by the Cie Française Immobilière. 
On 2 August in 1904 Gustave-Émile Dumoutier, partner of Andre Ducamp, dies.
The hotel is managed by the professional manager, Frenchman Edouard Lion. It is regarded by visitors as ‚a luxurious, though expensive abode‘.[2]

1910s

By 1916, the Metropole becomes the first venue in Indo-China to show motion pictures.

1930s

During 1930 and 1934 the global economic slump strikes the colony. By that time the Métropole company Française Immobilière has grown in to a hotel chain operating properties in Tam–Dao (Hôtel de la Cascade d’Argent), in Doson (Grand Hôtel de Doson), the ‘Wagons-restaurants des trains directs’ between Hanoi and Vinh – Hue –Tourane, the Grand Hôtel de Chapa (at 1,750m altitude, 325 km from Hanoi in the ‘Pyrénées Tonkinoises’) and the Hôtel des Trois Maréchaux at Langson (Tonkin).

1940s

In 1946 the French owners of the Métropole sell it to a Chinese businessman, Giu Sinh Hoi.

Ho Chi Minh used the Metropole at several occasions as a meeting place. In 1946 he entertained talks at the conference room with General Etienne Valuie and Vietnams politician Nguyễn Hải Thần, in the small wing where the lobby bar is located today. He occasionally used the hotel for meetings, officially again in 1960.[3]

1950s

Following Vietnamese independence in the 1950s, the Metropole is renamed the Thong Nhat Hotel (Reunification Hotel) by the Communist government in 1954. From now on it acts as the official Vietnamese government guest house.

1960s

In 1964, with American air raids imminent, the management decides to construct a bomb shelter in the courtyard of the hotel to protect guests.[4] It has a 1m thick concrete ceiling and could accommodate 30 – 40 people. During that time the hotel-staff receives a military training course. 

From 1969 to 1981 the Thong Nhat Hotel is home to several embassies and UN agencies, due to reconstruction of almost all public buildings all over Hanoi, the hotel accommodated different diplomatic representatives:

• Sweden (1970 – 1971)
• Australia (1973 – 1976)
• Switzerland (1973 – 1976)
• Japan (09/1973)
• Italy (1975 – 1981)
• Germany (04/1976 – 12/80)
• Israel (04/1994 – 08/1995)
• Norway (1996 – 2005)
• Luxembourg (01/2004 – 02/ 2007)
• Finland
• The Netherlands
• NHCR (03/1975 –07/1979)
• UNDP (1977 – 1980)
• FAO (1978 – 1980)

1980s

2 vintage Citroen cars are still operated by the hotel.

After the American war is over, several ideas are evaluated to restart tourism business and to operate the hotel. In 1987, the Pullman Hotels chain enters into a joint venture with the Vietnamese government to restore the hotel to international standards.

1990s

The hotel is completely rebuilt, regaining the name Metropole and reopening on 8 March 1992, as the Pullman Hotel Metropole. The hotel later is handed over to the Sofitel chain, and finally becomes the flagship of their exclusive Legend division as the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi.

The new 135-room Opera Wing is added from 1994 to 1996, along with the Metropole Center office tower. The offices are converted to additional hotel rooms in 2008.[5]

The Sofitel Metropole is accepted as a select member of The Most Famous Hotels in the World (1996). The same year it receives the first official 5-star rating of Vietnam.

2000s

The hotel receives various prestigious awards and listings, among them a TOP 100 hotels worldwide ranking by US magazine Travel&Leisure (2003).

During 2005, major renovations include guest rooms in the historical wing as well as the main entrance and the lobby.

As of 2007, the hotel was owned as an equal joint venture between the Hanoitourist Corporation and the Indotel Limited private equity firm.

Sofitel Metropole is chosen as the Best hotel in Vietnam, and is one of only two Vietnamese hotels entering 'Best hotels throughout the World' by Condé Nast Traveler magazine (2007).

In 2009, Le Spa du Metropole opens.

Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi attained a Forbes 5 star rating in 2019 and is listed as one of the Best hotel in Asia by Condé Nast Traveler magazine (2018), and features in its Gold list: The World's best places to stay in 2016, 2017, 2018.

In 2011, the ‘Bunker’, the hotel's air raid shelter, is rediscovered under the Bamboo Bar. Blind light bulbs and yellowish painted walls survived decades of flooding by ground water. It is restored to be visited by interested tourists.[6]

In 2012 the bunker becomes an integral part of the hotels guided history tour The Path of History.

In 2013 the project ‘Lost Bomb Shelter of The Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, Viet Nam’ is recognised with the “Honourable Mention” in the 2013 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation programme.

The hotel was also used as a venue for the second meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un on 27 and 28 February 2019. [7]

The hotel includes 364 rooms, which are divided into two wings. The historic Metropole Wing dating back to 1901 was inspired by classic French architecture blended with local Vietnamese style: parquet floors, louver windows, timeless ceiling fans, century-old wood fitting and porcelain lighting fixtures. The Metropole wing has 106 guest rooms and 3 Legendary Suites - named after famous residents and visitors to the hotel: Graham Greene, Charlie Chaplin, Somerset Maugham. Guests are invited to invariably enjoy their stay in these unique quarters which are steeped in history and full of character.

The neo-classical Opera Wing owes its name to its location, few steps away from the famous Hanoi Opera House. The wing creates a harmonious blend between the historic and modern elements of the hotel, and great care was taken to respect the rich heritage of the site while installing state-of-art technology. Each of the 236 rooms and 19 suites in the Opera Wing has been individually furnished in neo-classic style with exquisite fabrics, harmonious red, black and white décor. The Grand Prestige Suite, stretching over 170 square meters, includes a spacious sitting room, a bedroom plus adjoining guestroom, a private mini-spa, two bath rooms and a large dining table.

The fifth, sixth and seventh floors, the Club Metropole Floors, are home to the Grand Premium Rooms, six Prestige Suites, and the Grand Prestige Suite - with exclusive luxuries and services such as a personal butler, afternoon tea, and evening cocktails.

La Terrasse du Metropole café

The hotel has three restaurants and three bars.

• Le Beaulieu, opened in 1901, serves French cuisine
• angelina cocktail bar, whisky lounge and restaurant
• Spices Garden serves Vietnamese cuisine
• Le Club is a brasserie style bar and restaurant that hosts live jazz performances from at nights from Tuesday to Sunday
• The Bamboo Bar is a cocktail bar by the swimming pool
• La Terrasse du Metropole is a café and bar on the sidewalk of Ngo Quyen street that has settings of a typical Parisian café

The Path of History® is a permanent exhibition of the history of Hanoi and the Hotel Metropole. Guided tours take guests through the exhibition, including the Metropole's bomb shelter. After the American War the bunker was closed and sealed until a chance rediscovery by the hotel's engineering department during the renovation of the Bamboo Bar in 2011. It was reopened in May 2012 to honour the extraordinary efforts of employees during shared hardships of wartime. Today, this space serves as a memorial to their courage and perseverance and to remember what should never be forgotten. The words at its entrance were composed by writer Andreas Augustin: “REMEMBER - FORGIVE - FOREVER”

A team of ‘Ambassadors of History’ were trained by historian Carola and Andreas Augustin to guide guests through this permanent exhibition and to the bomb shelter to experience first hand the atmosphere of an air raid over Hanoi. By 2018, The Path of History passed the 25,000 visitors mark.

The 2019 North Korea–United States Hanoi Summit meeting at the hotel between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un

• Writers Somerset Maugham and Graham Greene[8][9]
• Politicians:
  • François Mitterrand, Jacques Chirac, François Hollande, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Vladimir Putin, Fidel Castro, John Kerry, John McCain, Michael D. Higgins, Ban Ki-Moon, Erna Solberg, Queen Máxima of the Netherlands during state visits[9][10][11][12][13][14]
  • Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un (not staying guests, the hotel was the meeting place for the 2019 Hanoi Summit)[7]
• Actors:
  • Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard on their honeymoon[8][9][13]
  • Robert De Niro, Catherine Deneuve, Michael Caine[14][13]
• Singers Joan Baez and Jane Fonda[8][9]

• 1901 Edouard Lion,
• 1905 Perrichel,
• 1933 Jean Boeuf,
• 1936 Brunelière,
• 1940 Louis Blouet,
• 1942–46 Jean Melandré,
• 1946 Giu Sinh Hoi,
• 1954 Cam,
• 1955 Luu Dinh Dien,
• 1969–1972 Luu Thien Ly,
• 1991 Ricardo Perran,
• 1996 Richard Kaldor,
• 2000 Franck Lafourcade,
• 2005 Philippe Bissig,
• 2005 Gilles Cretallaz,
• 2008 Kai Speth,
• 2013 Franck Lafourcade,
• 2017 William J. Haandrikman,

• Augustin, Andreas, Hotel Metropole Hanoi (1998), The history of; 160 pages, Classic Edition: The Most Famous Hotels in the World
• Augustin, Andreas, The Amazing Tale of the Fabulous Hotel Metropole – the Sofitel Legend of Hanoi (2019) ISBN 978-3-900692-21-6
• William Warren, Jill Gocher (2007). Asia's legendary hotels: the romance of travel. Singapore: Periplus Editions. ISBN 978-0-7946-0174-4.

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  Hotel Metropole in colonial Hanoi
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  Hotel facade at night
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  Entrance on Ngo Quyen street
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  Hotel facade on Ngo Quyen street
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  Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi from Ngo Quyen street (La Terrasse Cafe corner)

• Media related to Hotel Metropole Hanoi at Wikimedia Commons
• Sofitel Hotels and Resorts: 5 Star Luxury Accommodation Sofitel official website
• Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi Sofitel Legend official website