Hanoi builds the world's first gold-coated hotel

A large wall of the Hanoi Golden Lake hotel on the bank of the Giang Vo Lake in Ba Dinh district has startled many passers-by with its glistering gold-plated tiles shining day to night.

While hotels boasting gold-plated rooms or accessories are not something new around the world, those using gold-plated tiles are rare.

Nguyen Huu Duong, general director of Hoa Binh Group which is developing the 400-room hotel, proudly claims that Hanoi Golden Lake would become the world's first hotel having its facade gold-plated.

It is not going to be the tiles that are gold plated but many other construction materials and furniture of the hotel that are also going to be covered with real gold. 

Once completed and going into operation, hotel guests can expect to dine with gold-coated cutlery and eating utensils.

A gold-plated rooftop infinity pool is also another highlight of hotel in Hanoi, which will be open all year round.

Duong revelas that covering tiles with real gold requires a complicated method and hardly any investors or property developers would even dare to think of or to take the risks of having a property coated fully with gold. If one would, finding a tile manufacturer to do the job would never be as simple.

Duong’s company itself has in fact been able to manufacture the gold-plated tiles and accessories thanks to an investment made earlier on to cater to its other real estate projects.

The Hoa Binh International Tower in the west of Hanoi, for instance, has been equipped with gold-plated lifts. Other projects like the Hoa Binh Green Apartment and Hoa Binh Green City have also utilised real gold in some of their architecture parts. 

His company is operating the 920-room Danang Golden Bay hotel in central Vietnam, that boasts a gold-plated rooftop infinity pool. 

Part of the Hanoi Golden Lake’s wall has been covered with gold gilded tiles

Duong said the gold-coated hotel will serve as a marketing tool itself in not only Vietnam but internationally.

Hanoi Golden Lake is going to be a famous check-in spot for many tourists and local residents, Duong said.

“As tourism has been identified as the spearhead of the local economy, the sector must have unique product to attract visitors. The Hanoi Golden Lake will become a place not to be missed in this sense,” he noted.

Together with its distinctive features, the hotel will be managed by US-based Wyndham Hotel Group to ensure the international standard of management and services to its guests.

Price for one night stay at the Hanoi Golden Lake will start from $250, on par with prices offered by other five-star hotels in the city.

A number of apartments in the hotel will also be sold at a starting price of about $6,500 per square metre. However, buyers will not be able to live there permanently but rent out through a rental agency to ensure the quality consistency of the building. A committed rate of return, as Duong revealed, will be at least 6 per cent a year, in USD.