Like its big sister hotel, the Metropole in Hanoi, this luxury hotel has a colonial feel. The recently re-furbished rooms have wooden floors, rich polished furnishing, fabric-draped beds and claw-footed baths. The hotel was originally built in the 1920s but its grand interior style harks back to those French colonial days of the 1880s. So fittingly the elegant Le Rabelais restaurant serves French cuisine and some French-Asian fusion dishes. After dinner you can relax in the piano bar or have a cocktail at Larry's. The spa L'Apothiquaire, at the top of the hotel uses traditional French herbal treatments and has magnificent views over the lake and gracious wood panelling in reception. The Luxury Travel Bible likes the Junior Suites with lakeside view or The Presidential Suite for le ultimate treat. Special guests get a ride in the hotel's lovingly-polished 1920s Citroen.