A luxury hotel will be built on Le Thai To Street in Hoan Kiem District 

According to the municipal People’s Committee, some 20,000 rooms are to be built in the city’s downtown areas.

“Hanoi encourages investors to develop luxury hotels, as there is a shortage of hotel rooms. Developing luxury hotels is necessary to develop tourism into a spearhead industry of the capital city,” Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung said.

Pham Thanh Tung, office manager of the Vietnam Architecture Association, said it was essential to develop luxury hotels to boost tourism, however, adding that the city should not move ahead too quickly.

The city needs to first gather information about privately-owned mini hotel rooms as a basis for decisions about constructing luxury hotels, Tung said.

“This is important to prevent a shortage in several places, and an excess in others,” he said.

He noted that developing luxury hotels must include special attention to the development of the city’s infrastructure, as well as transportation.

Prime locations to develop luxury hotels in downtown Hoan Kiem District include No 22-32 Ly Thai To St, 22-24 Hang Bai St and 39 Hai Ba Trung St. Further, the hotel at No 1 Ba Trieu Street and Hoa Binh Hotel on Ly Thuong Kiet St would also be upgraded.

Other hotels to be developed are in Dong Da, Nam Tu Liem, Ba Dinh and Dong Anh districts.

According to Le Vinh, Director of the Municipal Department of Planning and Architecture, several projects in the downtown area have been converted from high-end office and apartment buildings into luxury hotels.

Further, the commercial real estate services firm CBRE said the hospitality market in Vietnam was expected to see robust growth, driven by the country’s large tourism potential, as well as policies to improve tourism services.

Vietnam was voted one of the 20 best countries to visit in the world by the US Condé Nast Traveler magazine, based upon criteria such as food, beauty sports and traveling costs.

In the first eight months of this year, international arrivals to Vietnam reached 6.5 million, rising 25 per cent over the same period last year.

VNA