On your left is the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi. This is no ordinary hotel: it was the first luxury hotel in Indochina, built to showcase French colonial prestige, with its Belle Époque style and long, history-filled corridors. When you walk through its doors, you’re following in the footsteps of famous guests like Charlie Chaplin and Graham Greene. What surprises most visitors is hidden underground: beneath the gardens is an air-raid bunker built during the Vietnam War, which you can visit today on a guided tour. The Metropole isn’t just a relic of the past — it has also hosted major diplomatic events, including the Trump–Kim summit in 2019. Even if you’re not staying here, stopping for a coffee or taking the historical tour is enough to understand why this place has becomeone of the most memorable places in Hanoi.