We’d like to thank the staff for a great experience. They’ll know exactly who this is, because my wife and I relied upon them heavily to get through a very horrible situation. We arrived in Vietnam and traveled up the coast by train and arrived in Hanoi late at night. We booked ahead at Rising Dragon and arrived late at night. When we came inside, we realized that we were missing our passports and my wallet. Both had been inside my security belt, which was missing from around my waist. I still don’t know if it fell off, was stolen, or I just plain forgot it somewhere. The staff took us in anyway and made arrangements to take us to the British embassy the following morning. While that experience is a whole other story, let me just tell you the manager himself took us and waited outside to make sure everything was ok. Afterwards he treated us to lunch and assured us that he would help us with anything we needed. Luckily my wife still had her credit cards, so we made it through the next week without much problem. Then, when we discovered there would be a problem with getting another visa for Vietnam, again the staff came through for us. One of the girls named Moon took care of the visa for us after calling around for over half and hour and talking with people to explain our situation. We can’t thank her and Hugh for all their support and kindness.
This in itself was enough. Yet I have to say that the hotel itself is also a home away from home. Families with small children enjoyed the play area downstairs and the adults could enjoy the art gallery there too. I can’t explain how good the feeling is at this hotel, except to say it’s more like a welcoming B&B rather than some cold hotel. Clean rooms and beds – bathroom was immaculate. The only drawback for me is that there’s no lift and I have a dodgy knee. We did use their travel services and feel that we received reasonable prices for the tours to Ha Long Bay the Ha Long Bay on land (don’t recall the exact name of the second place) . In all, the collection of people they have working there is truly an asset. All of them – even the cleaning staff – had a friendly demeanor and welcoming attitude. We are truly appreciative of your efforts and promise to book again with this hotel!

Rising Dragon is a really good hotel. I only found a few minor faults, but on the average they run a nice place.
Clean, light, airy and comfortable. They don't go overboard with loads of instructions and tour pressure -- things that might annoy you or make you end up spending a fortune. Staff friendly, smart and helpful (although the guy at the night desk didn't know when the post office closes!) Liked the environment and location, but would have liked a wider selection for breakfast. Still, my wife had a “pho” breakfast all three days –recommended it to everyone she met.

Don’t know if it’s just our experience, but the guests they have are really friendly too in addition to friendly staff. Felt like a bed and breakfast more than hotel. Motorcycle taxis, cabs, bus stop, and even bicycle rentals just a stone’s throw from the front door. Local shops open past 10pm, bars close at 11.

All was very easy and just works as a hotel. We would definitely stay again.

Located in the heart of the Old Quarter and a few blocks from Hoam Kiem Lake, this hotel is close to tourist shops, travel agencies, and cheap kitchen stalls. I got the deluxe room in the back of the hotel, so it was nice and quiet. Only fault I saw was not having an enclosed shower in the bathroom (so water was splashed everywhere, and the floorboards in the bathroom were soaked with water that wouldn't dry up). Breakfast was good with several options to choose from (eggs w/ bacon, pho bo, baguette w/ jams) and made to order for you. Staff is very hospitable and always ready to help you book a tour, taxi, etc. There was some trouble communicating with the staff in English, but the owner spoke great English, and I think his wife is American. There were no elevator, so it's a bit of a workout to get to the higher floors.

There is no more free airport pickup. When I had booked, on the website, free airport pickup was offered, but not anymore, but at US$12, it was not much to pay.

This place definitely fills up especially on the weekends, so make your reservations in advance. We tried to stay there another night when our plans changed all of a sudden, but it was already booked, and the place that we found around the corner from there paled in comparison to this place in terms of amenities and cleanliness.

This hotel is quite a good 2/ /3 star hotel, although i have stayed in better.

I was put on the 6th floor which was OK - good exercise but wouldn't be good for people who are very unfit. The room itself is ok. VERY hard bed which I quite like but others might not. The thing that puzzled me was that there were some things in the room that could be changed for very little money, but it seems the owners don't quite care enough. For example a moldy shower curtain. A bedside lap which doesn't work and is plugged in behind the bed which is difficult to get to, a shower head which is very old and sprays water all over the bathroom. If you look at the picture I put up, you will see that the bath has a large black "counter" around it and when you put the shower on and water sprays all over it and the water pools there and eventually soaks the floor. A good shower head would solve this problem. These are little things but when you are in the room it leaves a bad impression.

The roof also started to leak as we had quite heavy rain one night, but the staff were very good at moving to the same room one floor down (which was a nicer room anyway). You might not want to stay on the top floor in the wet season.

The breakfast is adequite. The staff are very nice and helpful. Good to have computer access. The hotel is in a very good location. One other annoying thing was that often there weren't enough safes for guest to lock away their valuables.

Overall, I wouldn't stay here again as I believe there would be places of a similar price but make a bit more of an effort with the rooms.