By Minh Nguyen
HANOI (Reuters) – A five-star hotel has opened in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi with a special feature designed to attract guests with particularly expensive tastes: gold-plated bathtubs, sinks and even toilets – all hidden behind a massive gold facade.
Dolce Hanoi Golden Lake Hotel has made extra efforts to bring visitors back to Vietnam, where the tourism sector is slowly reopening after a three-month coronavirus lockdown.
The hotel, owned by the Hoa Binh Group and managed by U.S.-based Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Inc., stands in stark contrast to the surrounding weathered Soviet-era buildings.
“There is currently no other hotel like this in the world,” said Nguyen Huu Duong, majority owner and chairman of the Hoa Binh Group.
Hotel facilities include a 24-carat gold-tiled rooftop infinity pool, while guestroom bathrooms feature yellow metal. Starting at $250 per night, the hotel is priced in line with rival luxury accommodations in the city.
“It changed my mind about what luxury can be. Other luxury hotels usually use marble as tiles, but here everything is gold-plated, right down to the sink,” said 62-year-old guest Luong Van Thuan, himself a hotel owner.
Vietnam has been relatively successful in containing the coronavirus outbreak, with only about 355 cases reported and no deaths. Duong said without the pandemic, the hotel would likely be fully booked with international guests.
About a ton of gold was used to clad the hotel, said Duong, a Vietnam War veteran and former cyclo taxi driver who made his fortune in construction and real estate.
He is planning gold-plated projects in Ho Chi Minh City and a resort in central Vietnam.
(Reporting by Minh Nguyen; Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
