Best Places to Stay in Hanoi: Neighborhood & Hotel Guide

As Vietnam’s chaotic capital, knowing which areas to stay in Hanoi are best for first-time visits can make or break your experience!

For most tourists, staying in Hanoi’s lantern-strewn Old Quarter (Hoan Kiem area) is ideal because it is walkable. But the Old Quarter is quite spread out, and not every hotel in this area is worth your money.

Having stayed in Hanoi as a digital nomad on multiple visits, I can assure you that the city has more corners worth exploring beyond the Old Quarter, and each neighborhood has pros and cons.

In this guide, I’ll share my top hotel recommendations for travelers seeking a non-resort experience in Hanoi.

There are all types of accommodation styles in Hanoi: luxury 5-star hotels with rooftop pools and fitness centers, and large-scale chains that feel like standard US hotels with TVs. I actually hate those!

For a city as characteristic as Hanoi, I prefer to stay somewhere cozy, somewhere central but not loud.

This post features places I’d actually stay in Hanoi: boutique hotels, guesthouses, and mid-range options for solo travelers, families, and digital nomads that offer a more typical Hanoian experience!

Where to Stay in Hanoi, Vietnam

As mentioned above, the Old Quarter or the Hoan Kiem District is the ideal area in Hanoi for first-time visits.

However, depending on your travel plans and Hanoi itinerary, you may consider other neighborhoods, such as:

• First-timers: Old Quarter or Hoan Kiem Lake area
• Digital nomads / extended stays: Tay Ho (West Lake)
• Cultural and quiet: Ba Dinh or the French Quarter
• Budget / solo travelers: Old Quarter
• Boutique luxury: French Quarter or lakeside stays in Tay Ho

Below is a quick overview of each area and my recommended hotels!

Best Neighborhoods & Places to Stay in Hanoi

1. The Old Quarter (Hoan Kiem)

Cradling the north and west sides of Hoan Kiem Lake, the Old Quarter is where you’ll find the beating heart of Hanoi.

Full of charm, you can expect peeling colonial façades, lantern-lit streets, and the crème de la crème of Hanoian and Vietnamese street food.

If you don’t mind sharing the street with motorbikes as you explore on foot, rubbing shoulders with chaos, and wandering to and from restaurants, shops, and more, then you’ll love the Old Quarter.

The main reason to stay in Hoan Kiem is that it’s ultra walkable!

You’ll be close to Hanoi’s Train Street, the Hoan Kiem Lake, the Water Puppet Theatre, multiple night markets, street food hotspots, the French Quarter, and Vietnamese egg coffee.

However, is the Hanoi Old Quarter too loud to stay in?

Yep—the downsides are that it’s crowded, loud, and generally more expensive as it’s Hanoi’s tourist epicenter. But you can find places that are tucked off side alleys.

Hotels and recommended stays in the Old Quarter area:

🏡 Need more space for a larger group? This two-bedroom apartment in the Old Quarter is homely and just the type of place I’d book!

On the east side of the lake, along Trang Tien street, you’ll find the more “affluent” French Quarter, however much smaller.

PS — I wouldn’t recommend first timers to stay in the French Quarter, unless you’re looking for a glitzy hotel like the 1901 “historic luxury landmark” that is the Sofitel Legend Metripole!

2. Ba Dinh

After the Old Quarter, Ba Dinh feels like the sweet spot for first-time stays in Hanoi.

This urban neighborhood lies west of the Old Quarter but is close enough to get there on foot or with a quick Grab taxi.

This is where I stayed for part of my Hanoi trip and it felt authentic and quiet, yet well-connected. It’s also a much closer to cultural sites such as the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Temple of Literature.

The downsides? There are fewer hotel options here.

We stayed at the Bi Eco Suites—one of Hanoi’s certified eco-friendly lodgings—but it wasn’t as convenient as just being able to set foot out in Hanoi’s Old Quarter to find food.

Nonetheless, I’d stay there again just because it was so beautiful, clean, safe, and it really felt like a hidden gem outside of the ‘touristy’ center.

4. Tay Ho (West Lake)

For a calmer base in Hanoi, look north to the Tay Ho or the West Lake area.

In this leafy neighborhood located 15-minutes north of the Old Quarter, you’ll find more upscale bistros and apart-hotels mixed in with lakeside parks, ancient temples and attractions—including the Tran Quoc Pagoda which you can visit on this Hanoi bicyling tour along with the Long Bien Bridge and Banana Island.

I would recommend staying at iRest in this area if you plan to do a few day trips out of Hanoi and prefer to have an easier exit than if you were to stay in the center.

This area is also good for long-term stays, ideal for expats, remote workers, or digital nomads in Hanoi.

Otherwise, if you have a short 3–5 day itinerary, you may find it better to visit Tay Ho on a day excursion rather than picking it as your base. Tay Ho, while nice, is definitely less of a “traditional” experience of Hanoi.

Final Tips for Booking Your Stay in Hanoi

Early bird gets the worm, as they say, and with Hanoi’s rise in popularity, it’s wise to book your hotel in advance!

Booking.com offers free cancellation, which is why I recommend booking now. You can always change your plans later.

On that note, don’t shy away from non “traditional” hotel setups. Some of my favorite stays have been in cozier accommodation that are more integrated into the atmosphere than your standard concrete hotel.

Secondly, don’t forget your Vietnam eSIM for getting data in Hanoi. This makes calling Grab taxis or looking up restaurants a breeze when you’re not connected to your hotel WiFi.

Finally, make sure to WATCH YOUR STEP! Hanoi’s traffic can get a little crazy… You’ll see! 😝

Have any questions for me about where to stay in Hanoi? Drop them in the comments below!