Hotel Review: Pan Pacific Hanoi Skip to main content

Hotel Review: Pan Pacific Hanoi

As I travel quite often for work, I’m going to keep a record of all the hotels I’ve stayed in, to serve as a reminder of what works and what doesn’t. It’ll make future bookings much easier. The Sheraton Hanoi is extremely old, so I decided on the Pan Pacific.

Location: Overlooking a lake, the location is quite alright, although not downtown. The downtown hotels are old.

Room: Abit dated, but still alright. There are many strange corners in the room, and it's weird to walk in. It doesn't really flow. Perhaps it's because I was given the room adjacent to the suite.



Gym: It's split into 2 areas, weights and cardio. They have all the equipment you need and alot of treadmills and bikes. The pool is also a good 25m lap pool.




Breakfast: The selection is decent with an omelette station and the usual western fare. This place is flooded with Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese tourists, so you have to jostle with them for food. Go late if you aren't in a rush. Overall, alright but not near the SPG standards.


Rooftop bar: Nice place to hang out and chat with friends. Lots of well dressed locals here along with foreigners probably from the hotel. I had the burger and its terrible, please skip it.

Would I return? There aren't many high end choices in Hanoi. I'd probably try the Intercontinental down the road the next time, but if not, then the Pan Pacific works.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Trade wars, Hong Kong riots

Be greedy in times of fear. That's the investment mantra I live by. Recently there's been a huge spat on trade wars and the Hong Kong riots, which took a toll on the stock markets.  This was a great opportunity to load up on my existing positions as their prices have come down to more favorable levels. There no reason to explore other stocks unless a super attractive opportunity arises, like hongkongland. That counter was hit extremely hard by the riots, since they derive 50% of their revenues from HK.  Other than such events where opportunities present itself, I prefer to average up or down into my existing positions... No need to perform the due diligence again, unless fundamentals have changed. I'm enjoying the opportunities that the markets are presenting in the past few months.  Simply keep calm and aim to collect more dividends by increasing your stake when frivolous sentiment changes. Market entry is a psychological battle against yourself. Another post on this ...

Hotel Review: Novotel Halong Bay

As I travel quite often for work, I’m going to keep a record of all the hotels I’ve stayed in, to serve as a reminder of what works and what doesn’t. It’ll make future bookings much easier. Unfortunately there was no SPG/Marriott hotel in Halong Bay area, so i ended up with Novotel. Location: Along the western side of Halong, right across some ongoing construction. Room: Decor is dark wooden, taking a spin on modern Chinese. Wood flooring and a huge king size bed that's abit hard and uncomfortable. I like the decor though. Gym: This has got to be the saddest hotel gym i've ever seen. I decided to run outside instead. Breakfast: The selection is so limited, and it's not even that good. Nice decor though. Would I return? Definitely not to this 4 star hotel. Thankfully I was only here for 1 night. Although the place is filled with Korean tourists, you can eat some basic Korean breakfast here, but that's not my preference.

I increased term + critical illness coverage further with Manulife

I recently increased my term and critical illness coverage by another $1M and $300k respectively. I checked around with many providers and ended up with Manulife as it's what I need, without all the bells and whistles. AIA offered total coverage for recurrent illnesses, but I figure if I get the same cancer twice, I'd probably be dead by then. So there's no need to pay a premium for that type of policy. Sometimes plain vanilla is the best. I also considered disability insurance where they pay you an amount on a monthly basis. While this sounds like a great idea, the insurers will make it difficult for you to claim this, with strange delay clauses and exclusions. It's much cleaner to receive a large lump sum payment and manage it from there. Why these figures for critical illness? I based it on annual family expenses. Most insurance agents will tell you like 5-10x of your salary, just to get you to buy a bigger policy. An agent that looks out for you will tel...