Lakeside Palace Hotel

Rooms and decor

Lakeside Palace Hotel sits in the Old Quarter, and the first thing guests flag is the airport shuttle — punctual and helpful, by most accounts. The lobby is small but cared-for, with fresh lotus flowers in a vase and staff who actually smile. We took a deluxe room of about 25 sq m on the 6th floor, done in warm brown-and-gold tones, with a mini-bar fridge, multi-channel satellite TV and a separate shower stall. Bedding was clean, Wi-Fi was fast throughout the building, and pulling back the curtain gave us a stack of Old Quarter rooftops. Rates run $37 to $63 a night. The surprise: a sauna, a small gym and a massage and skin-treatment room — facilities you rarely find inside a 3-star at this price.

Food and amenities

Back at the hotel around 11pm, we called down for pho bo and spring rolls on the 24-hour room service. Food arrived in 25 minutes — a big steaming bowl with a deep, rich broth, about 120,000 dong (~$5). The restaurant and coffee shop downstairs serve free breakfast and Vietnamese herbal drinks, and the bar-lounge stays open until midnight. There's also an airport and train-station shuttle. The on-site sauna and gym got real use too — small, but there, which is more than most 3-stars manage. Overall guest score lands around 8.7.

Location and getting there

The front desk lends bikes for free, so we borrowed two and rode out. Five minutes later we hit Hoan Kiem Lake, looped it twice, and stopped to photograph the red The Huc Bridge and the Tortoise Tower in the middle of the water. From there it's a short ride to Dong Xuan Market, Hanoi's largest covered market, where we grabbed Vietnamese coffee and spices to take home. Then on into the 36 Streets, where every street name starts with Hang — a nod to the trading guilds that have run here for a thousand years. Noi Bai Airport is about 27 km out, roughly 45 minutes by car.

Things to know before booking

This is a 3-star, and the rooms look it — clean and comfortable, but standard design with no real view beyond the rooftops. The Old Quarter address cuts both ways: everything's walkable, but motorbike traffic and crowds press right up to the door, and it can get loud past midnight. With only 29 rooms, it sells out quickly in high season, so book ahead if you're coming October to April. Light sleepers should request a higher floor away from the street.

Our take

Lakeside Palace Hotel is the budget traveler's smart play: a sub-$40 3-star that hands you a sauna, a gym, a massage room, 24-hour room service and free bikes — kit that usually costs a tier more. Reviews keep coming back to the value and the central Old Quarter spot, walkable to both Hoan Kiem Lake and Dong Xuan Market. If you want full facilities without paying boutique money, this earns its 8.7.