The back story
Hanoi After Dark: Hotel Bars, Sky Bars and Jazz
Cocktails at the Metropole, jazz by the lake and bars high in the sky: Hanoi at night.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © Sofitel Legend Metropole HanoiWhen the heat goes out of the day, Hanoi heads out. The best of its evenings run from a colonial bar by a pool to a lounge on the 64th floor, and from a jazz club by the Opera House to the low stools of Tạ Hiện. Here is where to go.
When the heat goes out of the day, Hanoi heads out. The motorbikes thin, the lake fills with walkers and the bars light up, from a colonial pool bar to a lounge 64 floors up.
At the Metropole
Begin where Hanoi’s smart evenings have always begun. At the Sofitel Legend Metropole, the Bamboo Bar sits under its thatched roof beside the pool, between the hotel’s white wings: a gin and tonic in the garden is a Hanoi ritual. Indoors, Angelina pours classic and modern cocktails and is known for its whisky collection.
By the lake
A short walk east of Hoàn Kiếm Lake, Fairmont Hanoi’s YY Bar is a candlelit room on level 2 with a terrace. Its cocktails use Vietnamese ingredients and botanicals; there is live jazz every week and a DJ playing funk, soul and R&B from Wednesday to Saturday, until 2am at the weekend.
Up in the sky
For the view, head west to the Lotte Center. Pharaoh’s Bar & Upper fills its 63rd and 64th floors, with a pianist and singer most nights from 8.45pm; higher still, Top of Hanoi is the rooftop bar of Lotte Hotel Hanoi, with the whole city below.
By the lakes, the Summit Rooftop Bar is on level 20 of Pan Pacific Hanoi, with West Lake on one side and Trúc Bạch on the other. In the Old Quarter, La Mejor Sky Bar hangs its fairy lights above Tạ Hiện.
From a thatched bar by the Metropole pool to the 67th floor: Hanoi after dark.
Jazz and the street
For music, Binh Minh Jazz Club at 1A Tràng Tiền, by the Opera House, is the home of Minh Jazz Vietnam and publishes its programme on its own site.
And for the street, go to Tạ Hiện in the Old Quarter, where low stools and small bars fill the lane every evening, busiest at weekends. Keep an eye on your bag, and drink beer or wine from sealed bottles: GOV.UK warns of methanol in spirits.
Did you know? Pharaoh’s Bar & Upper is on the 63rd and 64th floors of the Lotte Center, and Top of Hanoi is higher still, on the roof.
Our advice
Our advice: start with a drink by the Metropole pool, walk to the lake for jazz, and finish up high. Dress smart casual for the hotel bars, and check each bar’s own page for the night’s hours.
Photo Credit
Image courtesy of © La Mejor Hotel & Sky BarWhy it's on our list
- At the Metropole
- By the lake
- Up in the sky
- Jazz and the street
- Our advice
Location
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