Hanoi Legacy Hotel - Hang Bac

After fighting with bringing bags past parked scooters at the entrance we were surprised to be tokd we had been upgraded. Room door was wide open when we arrived. We think it was to air the room as it had a very strong musty mould smell. The bathroom was filthy and the window near the shower was covered with dirt and mould. If this was an upgrade I dont want to know what normal is. All 3 rooms of our group had the same level of filth and musty mouldy smell. We refused to even unpack and our tour group was moved to another hotel.

showers had mould in them. not just a little either. beds are hard as rock. when we checked back in after halong bay tour the boys opened their room door to find 2 cleaners resting on the chairs in the room. staff were lying across the dining room chairs sleeping

I stayed at the Hanoi Legacy Hotel for one night prior to going on a Halong bay tour. The hotel is in a great location in the center of the old quarter and not too far from the Water Puppet theatre and Hoan Kiem lake. If you are new to Hanoi then it is worth bearing in mind the Old Quarter has narrow streets and the cars and motorbikes will wizz by you as you will likely need to walk on the side of the road due to the lack of space on the pavements/sidewalks. I booked this hotel due to it's excellent reviews which I was surprised by once I saw my room. The check in staff were helpful but the hotel is quite dated which is evident as soon as you get into the lobby. The elevator up to the rooms is also pretty old. I paid slightly more for a room with a window and was surprised to find that the window looked out on to a gap in the building with another room window facing me about 10 feet away. There was no sort of view at all and it was quite pointless paying the extra for a window at all. The room didn't look much like the pictures on the website and was old and murky. The bathroom had limescale/scum evident around the shower and there was a large cobweb near the entrance doorway. Overall I felt that this hotel was well below my expectations based on it's reviews and I found a much nicer hotel in the Old Quarter for only a few pounds more several nights later, which I was much happier in. I would not stay at the Hanoi Legacy again.