15 - Around and About Hanoi

 

 HOTEL METROPOLE, Hanoi

Hanoi street scene 2003, the way it was

      I’ve been to Hanoi on three occasions, and always stayed at the venerable Hotel Metropole,

The first time, thanks to a low-cost United alliance package, followed stopovers in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore and Bali.  For a world traveller I’m not much of an adventurer; my destinations are much influenced by where the mythic hotels are to be found. 

On this first around-the-world trip in 2000, I learned the necessity of juggling some really cheap lodgings with the more costly ones, plus a few guest rooms with friends along the way. 

A city of contrasts ... of cacaphony and elegance and color

  

The off-season summer in Vietnam can be blisteringly hot, and I lucked into a special deal of just over 100 dollars with full breakfast.  The biggest reason for the price was that the trip coincided with the waning days of a major SARS (viral pneumonia) epidemic throughout Asia, and tourists were few and far between.

Traveling alone and paying far less than normal rack rate, I began to fear a kind of discrimination of the poor.  I was afraid of finding myself, if not in a broom closet, perhaps in lesser accommodations than I might hope for.

I decided to reach out to the hotel’s managing director, a Frenchman recently named to the job.  I labored for days on the letter in which I more or less threw myself at his mercy, stating my passion for historic hotels, and making it clear that my means did not match my tastes.   

Explaining that I had long dreamed of staying there before finding  this bargain-price promotion, I pretty much implored him to find it in his heart to put me in one of the nicer rooms in the hotel’s original, historic wing.

Let me be clear, this tactic doesn’t necessarily give any results, but I figure there is nothing to lose, and in this case I was rewarded in spades.  My room was spacious, elegant, and with just the right touch of old-world Asia.  I don’t know that I’ve ever been happier with a hotel, and I let the management know.

First room at the Metropole 2000

It is surprising how rarely clients come forward with my kind of enthusiasm which usually seems to give a lot more pleasure than you’d imagine.  Those involved in the running of these out of the ordinary, historic hotels are almost always proud and passionate about their properties.  They are usually thrilled to hear that their efforts are appreciated.

 With Brenda in 2008 (above), we were upgraded to club class.  It was more than comfortable, but just lacked that note of old world authenticity that I had so enjoyed my first time at the Metropole.

* * * * * * * *

Life around the Metropole 1904  (photo Sofitel)

Of  all the world class hotels I have visited, the Metropole has probably seen more ups and downs than any other.  When it opened in the summer of 1901, it was undisputedly the pride and joy of France’s extended colonial empire.

Separate rickshaws for honeymooning Goddard and Chaplin 1936  (photo google archives)

Charlie Chaplin chose it in 1936 to spend part of his honeymoon with third wife Paulette Goddard.   He was purportedly surprised when thousands of local Vietnamese crowded the streets to greet him.  Noel Coward, Somerset Maugham and Graham Greene were among the British literati  spending time at the French hotel in its heyday.

After the French were booted home in 1954, the Metropole began a long slide from its former glory. 

By the time of  the outbreak of what the Vietnamese call “The American War” in 1965, the Metropole was no longer recognizable as a grand hotel, though it still received some foreign journalists, diplomats and peace activists.

Jane (google archives)

Immediately prior to the arrival of Jane Fonda in 1972, soldiers were sent with brooms to run screaming down the long corridors in an attempt to frighten the rats away.  It is said that they were more successful in dislodging the rodents than they were with the bats which continued to soar through the hallways after dark.

Joan (google archives)

Although Fonda is the celebrity best remembered for her two-week visit towards the end of the war, she was not the only one.  Joan Baez also toured the communist capital and gave an impromptu concert, singing for the troops in the hotel’s bunker during U.S. air raids around Christmas of 1972.  The government had constructed an important air-raid shelter in the courtyard, which is still in existence underneath the hotel’s swimming pool.   

Hanoi pagoda 2008, days of the beard  (photo B. Paladini)

 

Click below to view Vietnam photo album

SIDEBAR --DIGITAL MEMORIES   

  With the advent of emails, surviving internet correspondence sometimes resurrects travel memories that would probably be otherwise forgotten.  The following is an example.  [Extract from email to Harriet in Aberdeen from me in Hanoi, August 2003]

Hanoi is a city of lakes. The largest park is on West Lake in the town center.

 Had a funny experience yesterday i wanted to share.  While at the internet shop, a charming young Vietnamese woman approached me.  She said she worked for the major Hanoi television station, that they were doing a publicity film at a new cafe next door, and that she would consider it a great service if i would allow her a few minutes to make a little film, interviewing me.

The Jackie Gleason Show 1952 (photo CBS)

I have no idea why she chose me, but found the whole thing very exhilarating.  I was told my job would consist of vaunting (as sincerely as possible, and in my mother tongue) the merits of a local coffee.  Seated in front of several young ladies of varying degrees of beauty (a little like the way Jackie Gleason used to surround himself with a bevy of glamorous showgirls on his early variety shows), I was told to answer their questions as enthusiastically and naturally as possible.

I played the game to the hilt, and revelled in my moment of celebrity. After the long Vietnamese question was relayed by an interpreter, my unscripted reply came with a certain aplomb, I thought. 

Though the beverage was in fact entirely mediocre, I had no qualms in heaping great praise upon it.  They did one take, and then asked if i could elaborate a bit more, so i continued, saying the quality of the coffee was, in fact, the best i had tasted during my entire stay in Vietnam, and that as a resident of Paris, I was not so easy to please.

 I was as though possessed, on a roll, and nothing could stop me.  People started gathering around, perhaps wondering if I were some sort of Western celebrity.    The young publicity woman along with the production director-cameraman both decided my performance was nothing short of excellent, and offered me a free freshly squeezed orange and mango juice as a reward.

Unfortunately, I have no possibility of ever viewing the fruits of my labor, as much as I’d love to.  I don’t suppose it’ll be imported anywhere outside of Hanoi, and am at any rate keeping my feet on the ground and not much counting on any calls from Hollywood.  Bye for now from an extremely sunny Vietnam..

p.s. --just as i was settling in at the internet place yesterday, i saw a really ENORMOUS rat, strolling between the computer tables, totally unperturbed by the considerable human activity going on around it.   

No one seemed to pay any attention, and the young woman who had just pocketed my money finally gave the giant rodent the most casually unconcerned look, before distractedly shooing it away with a mini broom.  I am proud to say I don't think i so much as raised an eyebrow.  I find my bravery inexplicable.

I am now back at the same establishment (as I can't find another internet café other than at the hotel, which is WAY beyond my means), so every few minutes I kind of casually stamp my feet underneath the table, hoping to discourage any potential unwanted visitors.  

Gardens at presidential residence (Ho Chi Minh mausoleum in background)

  

Your input is welcomed:  hotel-musings@hotmail.fr

Next Friday:  "A momentous long distance phone call"

  [Photos are mine, unless otherwise credited]