Hanoi's authorities want to see 20 high-class hotels on prime locations developed in the city centre.

Several office and apartment complexes will now be converted into hotels projects. The Tan Hoang Minh Company’s apartment and commercial project at 22-24 Hang Bai Street and 25-27 Hai Ba Trung that covers 4,000 square metres will instead be made into an up-market hotel project.

New hotel to be built at 22-24 Hang Bai Street

Le Vinh, director of the Department of Planning and Investment said they were seeking opinions to carry out the five-star hotel project on Ly Thai To Street, by Hoan Kiem Lake, because this area has two old villas built before 1945.

The office building project on Tran Quang Khai Street was transformed into the Park Hyatt Hanoi Hotel and a five-star hotel on Giang Vo Street is being built.

According to Hanoi Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung, the city wants to increase accommodation capacity by 20,000 rooms or 20 hotels in Hoan Kiem District and on busy streets such as Ly Thai To, Hang Bai and Hai Ba Trung. Hotels with 300-600 rooms will be built in further districts including Dong Da, Nam Tu Liem and Dong Anh. Hanoitourist Travel Company is preparing to build a hotel at 1 Ba Trieu and upgrade the Hoa Binh Hotel on Ly Thuong Kiet Street.

"We encourage investors to focus on high-class hotels as Hanoi is lacking about 20,000 rooms and this is also an important factor to help transform tourism into the city's key industry," Chung said.

Meanwhile, Pham Thanh Tung from Vietnam Association of Architects said building more hotels was necessary but the local authorities should not be hasty.

He said, "The authorities should review the number of guest houses and mini hotels. Moreover, where to place the hotels is important to even out the demands, especially to avoid putting more pressure on overloading transport infrastructure as the number of high-rise apartments has rapidly risen in recent years. This needs careful calculation."