Kai Speth, general manager, Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, opines that while Vietnam’s tourism development has come a long way, its nightlife scene still has some catching up to do
Remember Robin Williams, and that fantastic movie he starred in, Good Morning, Vietnam? What a tour de force of improvisational comedy. And what a great headline. I remember, as a much younger man in the early 1990s, that the media put the title of that movie to great effect as Vietnam opened up to international travellers.
Back then, it was apropos. Today, not so much, unless, of course, you’re writing headlines about Dunkin’ Donuts coming into Vietnam. (In that case, it’s irresistible!) In recent years, we’ve witnessed an incredible maturation of the country’s hospitality scene. Some of the best resorts in the world are perched upon Vietnamese shores. You can shop here for Louis Vuitton. The country’s flagship airline flies a modern fleet; gone are the days when Tupolevs and Yaks limped between cities. As for hotels, well, you can stay in hotels from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi and enjoy as fine an experience as you would anywhere else in the world.
Indeed, Condé Nast Traveller in February hailed the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi as one of the top 25 hotels in the world in the new Gold Standard Hotels 2013 list.
We’ve come a long way, and I’m always tempted – whenever I see that Good Morning, Vietnam headline – to note that it’s no longer morning here. But sadly, I can’t quite muster the protest. Because in many ways, it’s still morning when it comes to the evening in Hanoi.
“Where we, as a destination, are falling down on the job is with regard to the sophistication of our night-time opportunities.”
Where we, as a destination, are falling down on the job is with regard to the sophistication of our night-time opportunities. Go to Bangkok, Hong Kong or Singapore, and there are scads of opportunities to buy into a high-end evening experience. There are scads of opportunities to spend money here at the budget-end and for a middle-income experience, but I’m talking about what we need at the high-end, because a destination like Vietnam wants a healthy mix of travellers across all demographics. And we won’t get them unless we start providing nightlife experiences that travel (experts) and tourists talk about.
Sure, they can come to Angelina and Le Beaulieu and enjoy a superior dining experience. (Pardon me while I toot our own horn again: Le Beaulieu was recently hailed as one of the 101 Best Hotel Restaurants in the World by US-based food website The Daily Mail.)
But hotel guests need options beyond the doors of their accommodation, and our concierge is hard-pressed to make any meaningful recommendations. Some guests want karaoke, discos and bars that do regular promotions for this or that brand. But if you’re 50 years old, 60 or 70, you’re looking for something else.
That’s part of the work we have to do to enhance the desirability of the destination for those who would fly first class or on private jets. In The Sheltering Sky, Bernardo Bertolucci’s film about a couple who travel to Northern Africa in an attempt to get something going again in their marriage, the character played by John Malkovich makes that great line about the differences between travellers and tourists: Travellers may never go home; and tourists always go home.
Hanoi’s got plenty of travellers. What we need are more tourists.
By Kai Speth, general manager, Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi
