Cinnamon Cathedral Hotel

The location is fabulous. The rooms set back on the alley, not facing the cathedral, are quiet for Hanoi even though you are in the middle of it all.

I made the mistake of mentioning that I had stayed at Cinnamon Saigon, which meant that it was assumed we knew anything we needed to know. No information was forthcoming about where breakfast was, the time, the process, when to pay, how to lock our doors! Both rooms did not lock when closed, you had to swipe your card, sometimes, to lock them. I'm 49. I've travelled a lot. I have never seen this before. When we returned the first day our doors were open and when I asked Reception staff they explained that sometimes the doors needed swiping to lock them. It would have been good to know this at check-in. The hotel talks up its environmental credentials, however, our linen and towels were changed each day, even when we followed the 'Save the Earth' signs in the room and hung everything up so it wouldn't be washed daily. Plastic straws were placed in our drinks in the cafe even though the signs on the table talk about their commitment to reusable bamboo straws. We chose Cinnamon Cathedral Hanoi because we had had such a welcoming wonderful experience in Saigon but the staff at the Hanoi hotel are not as well trained nor committed to the environmental standards the hotel says it sets. Our children's bathroom, in room 303, was moldy and really dirty. Both room's bathrooms had incomplete toiletries, missing shampoo. There was a real lacking in attention to basic detail. Three things we ordered for breakfast on the first day weren't available, and we weren't told, we just received different meals. When questioned, staff looked put out and said those things (yoghurt, mushrooms) they didn't have. Things were then made again, which wasn't necessary, but somehow the ingredients were suddenly there. The staff did go to great lengths the next day to make sure breakfast was as we ordered it. I think the staff were just not particularly well trained? Or their communication skills left lots of room for miscommunication? Not sure.