Review: the Hotel Royal Hoi An – MGallery, Vietnam

This is our review of the Hotel Royal Hoi An – MGallery.

It is part of our series on Vietnam. You can read more about my trip in Vietnam, including reviews of business class on Vietnam Airlines, a review of premium economy on Vietnam Airlines, the Hilton Hanoi Opera, a Halong Bay cruise and a review of the Sailing Club Resort Mui Ne.

As a reminder, Vietnam Airlines offered me and my plus one complimentary flights (one way Premium Economy, one way Business).  It also used its contacts to arrange complimentary hotels, including the Hotel Royal Hoi An.  HfP paid for all its incidental expenses.

About the Hotel Royal Hoi An

The Hotel Royal Hoi An – MGallery is situated just a block or two from the western edge of Hoi An’s ancient city, and on the Thu Bồn River. It is very conveniently located for walking into the old parts of Hoi An, although it is also pleasantly outside of the main hustle and bustle. Here is the main entrance:

…. although there is an entrance on the river side, too. The hotel itself is made up of two wings, although I never had a need to visit the other wing with the rooftop pool, bar, breakfast buffet all being within my half of the building.

When you enter you are greeted by a lobby area with the check in desks around the corner on the left:

There was no queue at check in and I was seen immediately. After taking a deposit I was given my key cards and proceeded to the seventh floor, which is the uppermost residential floor before the rooftop bar and pool.

The room

I had a Grand Deluxe room:

…. which featured an open plan arrangement. Whilst the toilet and shower were separate the bathrobe, sinks and bedroom were all next to each other:

Although there is a thick curtain you can pull to divide the room up:

This does mean that the bathroom is not totally private – you may still get sounds (or scents!) from the bathroom, so if privacy is a key consideration for you another room or hotel might be better. Still, I liked it a lot and it gave the room a very spacious feeling.

You have the usual amenities – a TV, minibar items for purchase, tea/coffee machine and desk. On arrival I was left this spread, although I’m not sure it’s standard:

…. and each evening, during turn down service, a small treat in a box was left on the bed.

The decor itself strikes a good balance between a modern and more ostentatious / traditional aesthetic. The Hotel Royal Hoi An is inside a (faux?) French colonial building and the interior reflects this. All in all, the room is very impressive.

Amenities in the bathroom are Seaweed Therapy, and had really nice scents. The bathrobes were also especially fluffy!

There is only one problem with the room: it is poorly insulated against external sound. My room must have been directly beneath the rooftop pool because during the day you could hear the quiet burbling of the pool filters! In the evenings this meant we could also hear some music and conversations. The sound-proofing was so bad that you could listen into conversations people were having in the corridor!

Pools

The hotel has two pools, one in each wing. One is on the rooftop:

.… and one on the ground floor:

I was in the rooftop wing so only used this one. It has an exceptional view and obviously retains the sun longer throughout the day. I suspect the other pool is very quiet, which may suit some. It is generally warm enough in Vietnam that you do not, necessarily, want the sun beating down on you all day anyway.

The rooftop pool also has a bar (the round roof) which is open until midnight. Because it is next to the pool they only serve drinks in plastic glasses, which somewhat spoils the ambience, although it is understandable why.  Drinks are more expensive than locally but cheaper than you would expect at a European hotel.

The hotel also has a gym and spa, although I didn’t use either. From what I have seen online the gym is fairly small and basic.

You will also find an executive lounge for those with Accor Le Club status or who have upgraded to an executive room.

Breakfast

The breakfast buffet is served in the main restaurant downstairs, facing the river. You have a choice of inside or outside seating.

The buffet itself is made up of various stations, including a pho, eggs/omelette, and waffle / pancake.

There was the usual choice of cold meats and cheeses, fruit, cereals, salads, hot Asian and western items (including dumplings), pastries, breads etc.

and

The restaurant also serves lunch and dinner although it seems a shame to dine in when you have some of the best banh mi restaurants right on your doorstep!

Conclusion

The Hotel Royal Hoi An feels very upscale. When you consider how much a room is – mine was about $100 a night – you are getting very good value for money. It’s definitely a hotel I would stay at again.

The only concern I have is regarding the sound proofing. I’m not sure if all the rooms are as badly sound-proofed – and I assume most rooms won’t hear the gurgling of the pool – but the doors could do with a little extra to stop noisy neighbours from rousing you.

That being said, this I was impressed by this hotel. It has clearly been refurbished in the last few years and it really shows. You can see more about the hotel on the Accor website here.

PS.  From a loyalty perspective, you have two options here.  Take points in Le Club AccorHotels or earn airline miles.  I don’t recommend the former if you are not a regular Accor guest, as the minimum redemption is 2,000 points for a €40 voucher.  (Accor does not offer free nights for set amounts of points – all you can do is redeem for vouchers towards future stays at 2 Eurocents per point.)

For a one-off stay, you are better off selecting to earn airline miles.  Do NOT credit to British Airways Executive Club as the rate is 2 Accor points to 1 Avios.  If you credit to Iberia Plus, you get double.  1 Accor point gets you 1 Avios.  You can then use ‘Combine My Avios’ to move your Avios from Iberia to British Airways.

Our full overview of Le Club AccorHotels is here.

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Accor Live Limitless update – April 2024:

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