Look! The Red River!’ the driver exclaims. The legendary stream, with its reddish-brown, silt-laden water rich in iron oxide, gleams in the evening sun. Red indeed. We cross the bridge and swiftly reach the heart of Hanoi in the Metropole’s limousine. Passing lakes and tree-lined alleys, we glimpse old villas reflecting the city’s European past: bicycles, motorbikes, busy traffic. Ah – there is the exquisitely restored Opera House. Then the car pulls up in front of The Metropole. A friendly smile and a ‘welcome back’ greeting await me. Here I am.

I check into the Charlie Chaplin Suite and climb the stairs in the old wing. They creak and groan, as if narrating their first centenary.

Later, I stroll through the hotel’s Path of History, pass by the pool with its Bamboo Bar, greet the staff at the Spice Garden – the Vietnamese restaurant – call at angelina – cocktail bar, whisky lounge & restaurant, and pass through Le Beaulieu restaurant. Its sidewalk café, La Terrasse, causes a regular traffic jam every evening as throngs of guests converge to see and be seen.

Until 1888, an immense temple complex covered this area. The French destroyed it and built streets, government buildings, and the post office on it.

"After a visit to Hanoi, one is curious to learn what the French would have done to Singapore or Hong Kong if they had possessed them," penned Alfred Cunningham, founder of the South China Morning Post, in genuine admiration, in 1901.

After dinner, I take my first stroll in the mild Hanoi night. I walk towards the dyke that protects the city from the regular threat of floods by the Red River. Behind its walls flows the mighty waterway, once the only connection with the outer world.

I am blending back into the late 19th century. Here, boats arrived and passengers descended: Paul Bert, Paul Doumer, and the rest; gold-diggers of a bygone colonial era. Adventurers, civil servants, explorers, clergymen, teachers, and travellers. So many characters, so many destinies. On one of those jetties, early one morning, Gustave Dumoutier must have stood, too. Waiting.

That’s where our story begins.

Andreas Augustin
presents the history of the
Hotel Metropole, Hanoi
in the series
The Most Famous Hotels in the World™
Thanks to all the general managers of the hotel, who supported the continued research into the rich history of this icon of Asian hospitality industry. Spiritus rector of the book is Richard Kaldor, general manager between 1996 and 2000, who had the vision and enthusiasm to request a well researched history of his hotel. Greatest thanks to the board of directors of the S.E.M Thong Nhat Metropole Hotel Company Limited.

We thank the general managers of the hotel, in particular George Koumendakos, William Haandrikman, Franck Lafourcade, Gilles Cretallaz, Kai Speth (the driving engine behind the Path of History, the permanent history exhibition at the hotel, and the unearthing of the long hidden bomb shelter).
We thank HE Deanna L. Horton, HE Susan Boyd, former Ambassador of Australia to Vietnam, HE Serge Degallaix, former Ambassador of France to Vietnam, to Tore and Vigdis Sund, Michael Rastrup Smith, Sam and Rosetta Miller, Patrick Antona, Robert Farnsworth and Yasmine Bombardier. Un merci tout particulier à Didier Corlou, le premier chef cuisinier de l’hôtel nouvellement ouvert en 1991.
Credit must also go to Guy Poujoulat and his successors, Marc Bégassat and Charles-Henri Chevet, who – as resident managers – accompanied this project. Merci to Anthony Slewka, Joseph Colina, Carl Sladen, Thibault Souchon, André Bosia, Denis Groison, Hoang Anh Tuan, Arie Sunia, Léa Burel and all the others of the wonderful staff of the Metropole who makes each stay such a memorable one.
Credits to Sarah Grant who successfully set up the hotels PR office when so little was known about its past. The help of her successor Ms Nguyen Thanh Thuy and her assistant Nguyen Hai Au made work on this book so much easier. For the edition of 2008 we thank Nguyen Dinh Thanh. The 2010 and 2012/13 editions were in the hands of Ms Le Thi Nhung. 2014 were coordinated by Ms Huyen Ha and assisted by Ms Ly Le.
Further thanks go to Ricardo Perran, the first general manager of the hotel after its extensive renovations, and to his former assistant Edouard George for his collection of old photographs of the hotel and Hanoi. A word of special thanks goes to Dr Stein Tonnesson of the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies who helped persuade Richard Kaldor that in fact the hotel’s story was within reach, to Gerard Toupet, the general manager of the hotel Scribe in Paris, to Shimon Tokuyama of Mitsubishi Corporation and to Marc Charuel, Directeur de l’iconogarphie Valmonde.
Luong Ngoc Khanh, former front office and business development manager, supplied the most important assistance. It was good to talk to Frederick Rech, Richard Eliot, Le Hong Hai, Duong Trung Quoc of the Revolutionary Museum and Vu Quoc Khanh of ‘Viet Nam Pictorial’, Jeanne Loubet, Le Van Phuc, Do Thi Duong Minh, Mike Fogata, Madam Nguyen Thi Xuan Phuong, Maitre Duong Van Dam, Pierre Schoendoerffer, Tiana Thi Thanh Nga and James Compton. Greetings to Australia, where Beris L Gwynne and Sarah Hodgkinson recalled their days at the Metropole – then Thong Nhat Hotel – during the early 1970s. Thanks also to Pierre Marbote and to Jeanne Réau in Paris. Special thanks to US journalist Mark Sommer and all the others, who were not named before and deserve a deep bow for their very kind help.
Ronnie Tan Virata, Director of Engineering, was instrumental in setting up the Path of History at the hotel.
Photographs, drawings, maps and other illustrations: Imperial War Museum and British National Library, London; Famous Hotels Main Archives, Vienna; Archives Nationales, Paris; Centre des Archives d’Outre-Mer, Aix-en-Provence; Institute for information – Social & Science, Hanoi; National Library, Hanoi, Giovanni Di Giorgio, Northboer, Heimo Aga.
Collections Veronique Ducamp, Edouard George, Beris Gwynne, Peter Fleming, Cao Xuan Nha, Sarah Hodgkinson,
Archives of the Hotel Metropolel, Josselin Varenne-Caillard
Historic research assistance: Andrea Riegl, Tuan Thi Le Diem, Joao Mimoso
Production: Harrison Dolittle
Editor: Andrew Williamson and Thomas Cane
Edited by Thomas Cane; Historical advisor and curator of THE PATH OF HISTORY: Carola Augustin
There is a limited leather-bound edition available.
All rights in this publication are reserved. This book and no part of it, be it historic or contemporary images, text or quotes, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the copyright owner.
Important note to publishers
In particular all historic images were edited and restored by famoushotels and are as such subject to international copyright laws. For a maximum of quality they can be obtained from:
archives@famoushotels.org
www.famoushotels.org         www.pathofhistory.com

© 1998–2024 / Andreas Augustin
ISBN   978-3-900692-21-6