Po Hung
March 26, 2025
Phoenix Palace Hotel Hanoi: Accommodation Myths Under Faded Gold Leaf
Phoenix Palace Hotel Hanoi, which calls itself a "five-star hotel in Hanoi's Old Quarter", has a retro elevator door frame inlaid with gold foil and a crystal chandelier in the lobby, which perfectly replicates the illusion of the French colonial period. However, the moment I pushed open the door of Room 609, the musty smell and the peeling imitation gold paint in the corners made this time-travel journey quickly fall into the black humor of absurd realism.
To be honest: the experience was not good, from the shaking elevator to the dampness and mold in the room, everything made me glad that I only booked a two-day room.
Conclusion
As I dragged my luggage through the hotel's glass door, I caught a glimpse of the yellowed certificate on the wall that read "Hanoi Best Nostalgia Experience Award 2016". Perhaps this hotel is a large-scale performance art, deconstructing colonial history with absurdity and mocking the vanity of the modern hotel industry with magical realism. It’s just that when you pay $1,000 a night for a room, you’re not expecting a Kafkaesque tragicomedy of a stay—unless your definition of “culture shock” includes sharing a bath towel with a gecko.
Original TextTranslation provided by Google