La Residence Hotel and Spa Is Rightfully Snooty
Just north of Hoi An, along the Perfume River, is Hue, the former royal capital of the Nguyen dynasty. Down the road from the famed Unesco palace ruins is La Residence Hotel & Spa, the town's most understated luxury hotel. This French colonial relic recently underwent a massive expansion and renovation. It now has 122 rooms, 91 of which face the river. To complete the modern facelift, this week, it added free WiFi throughout the hotel.

The hotel, once a French governor's residence during the country's Indochina years, updated and modernized its existing art deco motif. It preserved the historic ambiance, so the whole place feels almost as though you're visiting the estate of a wealthy, eccentric uncle—the kind who collects nude watercolors and taxonomy.

There's even a library filled with quirky paintings, handicrafts, and books that have that magical old-book smell to them. If the hotel could talk, it would have the aristocratic accent of Dr. Frasier Crane.

The suite rooms in the original mansion all have individual themes—Suite d’Ornithologue, Monuments d’Egypte, Voyage en Chine, and Chambre Rouge. The eclecticism extends beyond the suites. The sales manager at the hotel, Nguynen Thuy Ngoc Quynh, says she rarely sees Vietnamese guests, that most of her visitors are American, French, or German.

Greece's prime minister and former first daughter Chelsea Clinton were among the international guests last year. They even have a South African chef. Sounds like this is the place to stay after you've had one too many bowls of pho.

• La Residence Hotel & Spa
• 5 Le Loi Street, Hue, Vietnam
• No website, more information here

Floating Hotel Surrounds You In Natural Wonder, Wood Paneling
When we imagine living on a houseboat, it usually involves a serious amount of wood paneling, good scotch, and seriously outdated '70s furniture. So we were pleasantly surprised when, minus the booze, we discovered that a floating hotel on Halong Bay, Canh Buom 8, possessed these traits.

The tour boat shuttles travelers around the thousands of islands jutting out of the bay. For boat standards, the cabin rooms—there were four on either side of the small, antique ship—were surprisingly spacious. We've seen cruise ships with more cramped cabins. And cruise ships certainly lack the appealing kitsch of these rickety ships. The entire trip from Hanoi, including the room, food, and transportation, costs either $32 or $56 depending on which "class" you select, although the difference between classes was indistinguishable.

Each room comes with a private bathroom, which had been recently renovated. While the water pressure was lousy, the hot water tank provided scorching, lasting hot water. This is impressive for a ship, since few hostel and budget-hotel showers offers as much. The restaurant area is spacious, with big windows that block the chilly February wind on the bay while still offering an incredible view.

There's no website, but you can book a spot on a Canh Buom ship or on a similar boat with amenities that are just as oddly cozy by visiting any reputable tour agents in Hanoi.

• Canh Buom 8,
• Halong Bay, Vietnam

HotelChatter's roving correspondent Claire Duffett has been sending back her dispatches on the Vietnam hotel scene throughout the month of February. While Claire pays the bills as a legal reporter, she fills her wanderlust by doing so from some of the most exotic locations in Southeast Asia, and then sharing her insider info with HotelChatter readers, of course. Any questions or suggestions? Send 'em our way and we'll have Claire answer them for you.