Where to Stay in Hanoi for a Golf Trip: Old Quarter, West Lake or On the Course?

Last updated: 26 September 2026

For most trips, the answer to where to stay in Hanoi for golf is the Old Quarter and Hoan Kiem area. The nearest course is 20 to 30 minutes away and the main championship courses 40 to 60, so a central hotel costs you little on the road and gives you the city every evening.

What is the best area to stay in Hanoi for golf?

Base yourself by the courses you will play, not by the courses that exist. Hanoi’s golf is spread around the city in every direction, so no single neighbourhood is close to all of it, and the centre ends up being the fairest compromise.

Most visiting golfers play three or four rounds from a list of five or six courses: Long Bien inside the city, Van Tri and BRG Legend Hill on the airport side, BRG Kings Island and Sky Lake to the west. From the Old Quarter those drives run from 20 minutes to about an hour, and every one of them starts from the same hotel. That is why GoGolfVietnam, a local golf tour operator based in Da Nang, builds most packages that pair a city hotel with the right courses around one central base rather than a string of hotel changes.

The exceptions are narrow and worth knowing: a repeat round at one far course, a late-night arrival, and a finish at Ha Long Bay. Each gets its own section below.

How far is each golf course from central Hanoi?

Between 20 minutes and an hour and a half. The table uses the drive times on our own course pages, measured from Hoan Kiem, and they move with traffic.

Rush hour is the variable the table cannot show. Hanoi’s morning traffic builds quickly, which is one more reason we book early tee times: leaving before the city wakes up keeps these numbers honest.

Is the Old Quarter and Hoan Kiem a good base for golfers?

Yes, it is the default we recommend. You get the shortest average drive to the courses most trips use, and evenings on foot around Hoan Kiem Lake instead of in a hotel bar in the suburbs.

The trade-off is the morning. Old Quarter streets are narrow and busy, so pick-ups need a little more time than the map suggests. For most groups that is a fair price for the evenings.

These are the central hotels we book golfers into, with details taken from our own hotel pages:

• Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi: 15 Ngo Quyen, about 400 m from Hoan Kiem Lake and 200 m from the Opera House, with a heated pool and a full spa. The heritage choice.
• Silk Path Hotel Hanoi: 195–199 Hang Bong, 106 rooms, walking distance to the lake. No pool, but a spa, and breakfast early enough for first tee times.
• MK Premier Boutique Hotel Hanoi: 72–74 Hang Buom in the Old Quarter itself, 65 rooms and a rooftop bar, about 600 m from the lake.
• De Syloia Hotel: 17A Tran Hung Dao, 33 rooms and a sky bar, a short walk from the lake and the French Quarter.
• Mövenpick Hotel Hanoi Centre: 83A Ly Thuong Kiet near the train station, 155 rooms, a rooftop pool and a gym that opens early for golfers.

Most of them, along with the larger Fortuna Hotel Hanoi in Ba Dinh, have their own page on every city hotel on our Hanoi shortlist, with photos and room details.

Is West Lake a good base for golfers?

It can be, but check your course list first. West Lake (Tay Ho) is quieter and greener than the Old Quarter, and it sits in the north of the city on the side of the Nhat Tan Bridge road towards Noi Bai.

That makes it a reasonable fit when your rounds lean to the airport side: Van Tri and BRG Legend Hill. For Long Bien, across the Red River to the east, or for Kings Island and Sky Lake out to the west and south-west, you are crossing the city every morning instead. We do not currently book a specific West Lake hotel for golf groups, so if the area appeals, tell us your courses and we will say honestly whether it works.

When is it worth staying at a golf resort instead?

When you play the same far course on consecutive days. The drive is the cost of a city base, and two days at one course means paying it twice for nothing.

Sky Lake is the clear case. Wyndham Sky Lake Resort sits on the golf property itself, about 45 km and close to an hour from central Hanoi, so a two-night stay-and-play at Wyndham Sky Lake replaces four transfers with a walk to the first tee. We use two nights as the tipping point: one night on site rarely justifies the hotel change.

A few other courses around Hanoi have rooms of their own. Ask us before planning around them; availability and standards vary, and we would rather check than promise.

Should you stay near Noi Bai Airport for golf?

Only on the first or last night, and only when the flight time demands it. BRG Legend Hill is about 15 minutes from the terminal, which is what makes airport-side golf work.

A late-evening arrival followed by an early round at Legend Hill, or a morning round before an afternoon departure, are the two situations where sleeping near the airport saves real time. For every other night, the city is the better base. Our guide to how close Legend Hill sits to the terminal sets out the arrival-day and departure-day options.

Which Hanoi hotel suits which golf group?

Match the hotel to the group before the courses. The table reflects how we allocate the hotels above.

Where should you stay with non-golfers?

In the Old Quarter or around Hoan Kiem Lake, without much debate. The partner who is not playing has the whole day on foot while you are on the course.

The Temple of Literature, the lake, the French Quarter cafés and the Opera House are all within a short walk or ride of the hotels above. A resort on a golf course gives a non-golfer a pool and not much else, which is one more reason we only suggest on-site stays for golf-heavy groups.

Should you change hotels during the trip?

Once at most, and only if the trip ends somewhere else. Most Hanoi golf weeks work best from a single city hotel.

The common exception is Ha Long Bay. Groups finishing on the water play the Hanoi side first, check out, play Chi Linh Star on the road east and spend the last nights at the coast; our guide to moving east to Ha Long Bay for the last nights shows how that fits together.

Frequently Asked Questions

GoGolfVietnam is a Vietnam-based golf tour operator arranging tee times, transfers and hotels around Hanoi and Northern Vietnam.