Hanoi Legend Metropole Completes Restoration

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. June 21, 2010

June 18, 2010 - The last building block of the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi's re-emergence as Sofitel's first 'Legend' hotel was levered into place this month when the hotel debuted its 'Legendary Events' initiative.

A complement to Sofitel's recently introduced InspiredMeetings™ program, Legendary Events is a turnkey events management solution that delivers the same individualized attention to groups that a butler provides to an individual.

The Metropole is Sofitel's first Legend hotel (designated as such in 2009), and its Legendary Events concept is the first of its kind to be rolled out worldwide.

Standard menus and set itineraries are bygone. Personalized attention and one-of-a-kind functions are in. Forget about blase coffee breaks. Legendary Events brews coffee breaks, and dinners with panache. To wit: The Hanoi Night Market, the Splendid Night, the Belle Epoque.

“Meetings in hotels can all too often be merely functional,” said Kai Speth, the hotel's general manager. “But there's no reason they cannot be functional and memorable and stylish and singular in a destination as remarkable as Hanoi.”

Off-site, Legendary Events can usher guests to some of Hanoi's grandest landmarks — the 1926-built History Museum, the 930-year-old Temple of Literature — and to golf outings at several of greater Hanoi's top courses.

Sofitel launched its InspiredMeetings™ Concept last September, setting the stage throughout the Asia-Pacific for events that coordinate dedicated personnel and technology and that deliver one-of-a-kind affairs, from intimate parties to large scale conferences.

Legendary Events steps up the bespoke appeal, albeit with an emphasis on the heritage of a particular Sofitel property. The Metropole launched the new M.I.C.E. (meetings, incentives, conferences, events) concept in June. The hotel has hired additional staff - events planners and concierges - to shepherd each event from initial inquiry to last goodbye.

Where a number of hotel staff previously commanded various aspects of an event, now two individuals within the hotel will manage the entire production from start to finish, liberating the client group's leadership of the stress that naturally attends such events.

“Reducing the event organizer's stress level is at the heart and soul of this new Legendary Events concept,” said Andrew Hartley, the hotel's director of sales and marketing. “Our Planner and Concierge will organize, execute and follow a particular event from beginning to end, providing the utmost in personalized service and singular appeal.”

There's much that's new about the 109-year-old hotel. In April, Conde Nast Traveler found cause in a $20 million refurbishment to elevate the hotel to its Hot List, which is generally reserved for just-opened properties.

Le Spa - the first spa in the Metropole's 109-year history - celebrated its grand opening this spring. And in late 2008, the hotel debuted Angelina, an Italian restaurant and bar that immediately redefined the cutting edge of Hanoi's upscale night scene.

Le Spa and Angelina will be integral to the Legendary Events. So will the hotel's older assets, like Le Beaulieu, the oldest continually operated restaurant in Vietnam, albeit with the country's newest French chef, Denis Groison.

ABOUT SOFITEL LEGEND METROPOLE HANOI
Opened in 1901, Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi reigns as the Grande Dame of Vietnamese hospitality and one of Southeast Asia's most iconic hotels. In 2009, the hotel became the first in the Sofitel portfolio to acquire distinction as a 'Legend' hotel.

The 364-room hotel was completely renovated over the past several years. Its historic Metropole Wing features suites named for Charlie Chaplin, Somerset Maugham and Graham Greene, each of whom 'stopped' at the Metropole during his time in colonial Indochina. The hotel's restaurants include Spices Garden (Vietnamese), Le Beaulieu (French) and Angelina (Italian). Le Spa du Metropole opened in late 2009 and immediately set a new standard for nostalgic elegance in Vietnam.

For reservations, call + 84 43 9386 999. For additional information, contact Chu Bich Hang (Ms. Hang) at ext. 8519 or email [email protected]