http://www.hotelchatter.com/ Hotel Reviews, Hotel Ratings, Hotel Openings en-us Copyright 2008 - SFO Media 2012-02-14T07:34:59Z HotelChatter HotelChatter http://www.hotelchatter.com/images/hcwhite.jpg http://www.hotelchatter.com/ http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2011/10/19/10309/868 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/metropolehanoibunker.jpg" class="top"><p> Today's cool hotel history lesson for today involves the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/SOFITEL+METROPOLE+HANOI/local/2795"><b>Metropole Hotel</b></a> in Hanoi which recently discovered a Vietnam War-era secret bunker that once housed Jane Fonda, Joan Baez and a few others during the 1972 Christmas bombings by American forces. <p>After the bombings and the war, the bunker had been sealed and forgotten. And while the hotel always knew of the shelter, they could never find it. Until over the summer, when during renovations of their poolside bar, a worker's drill hit a piece of concrete. The seven-room, five-foot high bunker had finally been uncovered. <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ipBcFOV6WXEU7_E2GshysbEKRtEw?docId=daf41a75d75e44d39738dfea2e7a8128">Associated Press</a> reports: <blockquote><p>Since then, workers have been excavating the flooded and low-ceilinged space. Not much has been found in juliana 2011-10-19T10:36:51-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/2/8/8530/89420 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/7156/DSCN2313.jpg" class="top"><p><i>All this week our roving correspondent <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/user/ced183">Claire Duffett</a> will be sending back her reports on the <b>Vietnam Hotel Scene.</b> Any questions or suggestions? <a href="mailto:tips@hotelchatter.com">Send 'em our way</a> and we'll have Claire answer them for you.</i><p> <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/tag/hilton%20hotels"><b>Hilton&#146;s</b></a> PR division in Southeast Asia probably despises John McCain&#146;s nomination for U.S. president more than they did the release of &#147;One Night in Paris," Paris Hilton's sex tape. Suddenly, &#147;Hanoi Hilton,&#148; resurfaced as a euphemism for unspeakable torture and hardship. Well, guess what, Hanoi has a real-life Hilton and it&#146;s actually quite lovely.<p> The stately <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Hilton+Hanoi+Opera/ian/139371"><b>Hilton Hanoi Opera Hotel</b></a> and the Hoa Lo Prison museum, aka "Hanoi Hilton" buildings are located only a few blocks from each other. ced138 2009-02-09T09:01:01-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2006/10/2/2725/68301 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/sofitel_hanoi.jpg"><p>We know the Hanoi Hilton isn't really an actual hotel but rather the Hoa Lo prison in Vietnam where American POWs like John McCain were kept.<p>Yet we thought we would mention it in this week's Amazing Race recap. The Racers' task last night was to find McCain's flight suit within the Hoa Lo prison, then they were on to Din Vac to make either a coal brick bridge or a birdcage at a Buddhist Temple.<p>They didn't get a chance to stay over in the episode but if they wanted to check out a real Hanoi Hilton they could have stopped in at the <a href="http://www.hilton.com/en/hi/hotels/index.jhtml?ctyhocn=HANHITW"><b>Hilton Hanoi Opera.</b></a> However, we would stay at the <a href="http://www.sofitel.com/sofitel/fichehotel/gb/sof/1555/fiche_hotel.shtml"><b>Sofitel Metropole Hanoi</b></a> mainly because juliana 2006-10-02T08:55:02-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2006/2/26/205327/111 <![CDATA[<img align="right" src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/hiltonhanoi.jpg"><p> Vietnam War buffs hoping to spend a night in the "Hanoi Hilton" -- where over 300 US pilots were held during the War, will be disapointed. All that remains of <i>that</i> Hilton aka Hoa Lo prison is a small museum. &nbsp;<p> <a href="http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/02/26/travel/26check.html">The NY Times</a> checks in and discovers the <a href="http://www.hilton.com/en/hi/hotels/index.jhtml;jsessionid=KZDFLOJ2WMPJ2CSGBIW222QKIYFCVUUC?ctyhocn=HANHITW"><b>Hilton Hanoi Opera</b></a>, has very little to do with prisons.<p> Nope Hilton Hanoi, which opened in 1999, looks more like a bank. Colomns on the outside, ornate ceiling, 3 story lobby. And like banks, this hotel loves money. Hilton only slightly marks up the food: a bowl of rice-noodle soup costs 15 cents round the corner, and $4.50 (plus gratuity and tax) in one of the GEM0330 2006-02-27T09:26:18-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/