The Lakeside Hotel is situated next to one of the least scenic lakes in Central Ha Noi. It is in the middle of the embassy/business district, a crowded and noisy area far from most major tourist spots, but not out of the way either, depending on what you’re here for.

The well-air-conditioned lobby with comfortable leather couches gives a good first impression (well, the first first impression is the façade of the building, which is so-so). But the lobby is nice, with clean marble floors and plenty of light.  The friendly but occasionally awkward staff members speak decent English.

A good-sized elevator takes you to clean and well-lit hallways.  The rooms are fairly minimalist, with solid, comfortable beds and lots of natural light. The views are unspectacular. 

There is great water pressure in the bathroom, and the tiling looks relatively new.  You can pipe cheesy elevator music into the room with a control panel built into the bedside table.

There is a nice breakfast room on the first floor with lake views, though the lake is unimpressive at best and ugly at worst.  There is also a Chinese restaurant with seafood tanks on the back wall.  Customers can point to the seafood of their choice and then eat it for dinner.  At the time of our inspection, most of the fish looked, if not dead, then dying; thus, we would advise against eating here.

A night club is attached to the hotel.