Metropole Hanoi sets up festive railroad at hotel

Metropole has prepared a truly special festive offering

In deference to its 118th year of decking the halls for Christmas, the country’s most storied hotel has anchored its celebration by the development of two toy-size railways in each wing of the hotel that travel through a series of decorative stations.

As a complement to the enchanted Journey, the hotel is building replicas of the Metropole and Opera Wings of the property in gingerbread. They will forego a Christmas log house for a life-sized train car that might be coupled to the Polar Express.

Of course, there will be a Christmas tree lighting ceremony on December 6, musical performances by renowned Vietnamese singer Tung Duong and Jazz Diva Micki Murphy, and a chorus of Metropole staff singing carols in five languages, including French and Vietnamese.

“We have been celebrating Christmas here for 118 years,” said the hotel’s general manager, William Haandrikman, “but even the spirit of Christmases past will be overshadowed by this year’s production.”

In each wing of the hotel, trains will chug along tracks that wind through two separate Christmas villages. In between the wings of the hotel, several stations will celebrate modes of transportation common to Hanoi’s past, including the cyclo, the bicycle, the airplane, and of course the renowned motorcycle.

Christmas trees will tower over each of the five stops of the enchanted journey, adding to the magnificent 15-metre tree on Le Balcon and the many thousands of lights that will decorate the entire exterior of the hotel.

In addition to the festive season visuals, the hotel is firing up the kitchens for a series of special dinners on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Eve across the hotel’s restaurants and bars, from the timeless Le Beaulieu to Spices Garden, Le Club Bar, La Veranda, and the remarkable new Angelina.

Throughout the festive season, the hotel features two particularly enticing opportunities: For a little holiday pampering, Le Spa du Metropole is offering a 90-minute Sothys body treatment with vanilla and passion fruit and a 60-minute oxygenating seasonal, facial, that will invigorate your skin.

For shoppers, the hotel’s delicatessen, L’Epicerie, is offering a range of specialty products and gifts this holiday season.