Ninh Binh Legend Hotel

“Spiritual!”

This place holds a special place in my heart. I booked at the last minute after changing my plans stayed for a week and spent my 50th birthday here. I had been on an escorted tour which i spontaneously left as it wasn’t as expected and randomly chose Ninh Binh and this hotel as a destination for so… more

This place holds a special place in my heart. I booked at the last minute after changing my plans stayed for a week and spent my 50th birthday here. I had been on an escorted tour which i spontaneously left as it wasn’t as expected and randomly chose Ninh Binh and this hotel as a destination for some down time; I’d never heard of either the town or hotel a few days before which now feels unreal as they’re both so vast and beautiful that I can’t believe more people don’t know about them. I had a few issues at the beginning due to some ongoing health/stress issues (exacerbated by the tour, so I really wanted some down time) which meant I was grouchy about ongoing conference and construction noise on site, and about the fact that the rooftop pool/bar was closed. The construction noise IS a bit annoying, but I learned to live with the timings and sleep around it (early to bed, early to rise), however the warmth, friendliness and professionalism of the team and comfort of the room made up for it. The rooms are huge and very well equipped with shower and freestanding bath with a view, minibar, large beds and comfy bedding. Apart from the construction noise it’s very quiet and you cannot hear noise from other rooms. The breakfast buffet was huge. A couple of things to improve: more vegan/veggie options maybe and also keep the coffee and food warm and fresh. The buffet ends early at 9am and as most guests are on tours they tend to eat early and there are fewer people around after 8am. Anytime I ate after 8am the coffee was cold and they stopped preparing fresh eggs unless you asked, which took more time. I understand the eggs but the coffee should be refilled regularly. In the end I didn’t use the pool once as I was out seeing the beautiful scenery but I did have some cocktails (different ones each day) from the bar which were lovely. Housekeeping was really good and efficient. Anything I ordered from room service was really good - hot and tasty. I do eat fish but not meat and think there could be more options for pescatarians, vegetarians and vegans. I usually avoid dairy as it upsets my stomach but felt it was hard to avoid here (which is common in many hotels). What really stood out was the warmth and hospitality of the team that work here and I felt very taken care on. The staff took on board my request for as quiet a room as possible and were really thoughtful with some beautiful birthday gifts and an amazing cake which I polished off far too quickly! Also they offered a free foot massage as an apology for the noise. They are courteous and polite without being overbearing and are helpful with giving suggestions of where to visit and arranging transport. I felt I had lots of space to reflect on my milestone birthday in peaceful solitude, which was really important to me, and although I was a bit inpatient in finding my “zen”, I did find it, thanks to the team and this beautiful part of the world, Thank you so much Legend Team! You are all lovely and I miss you and NB!

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