I came across this boutique hotel (at 23 Au Trieu St. Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi) in Tripadvisor.com. I got sold when Jenny, the hotel manager I was communicating with, did so promptly, efficiently and in immaculate English. It cost us only US$45 per night incl. breakfast.

When we checked in, we found out she is only 21 years old! She has a staff of seven for their hotel of 12 rooms. We got to chat often with everyone of them. We were very impressed with their friendliness, sincerity and going-the-extra mile service.

For example, when we had to leave to take the night train to Sapa, one of the staff not only rode with us to the train station but brought us and our luggage to the cabin that we were assigned to.

When we returned from Sapa at 5 o'clock in the morning, they let us check into the room even though the check-in time was 2 p.m.

We will forever remember them and promised to recommend their hotel to our friends.

Most boutique hotels in Hanoi are small, like the Hidden Charm. The width of our room is the width of the entire hotel. We found out later that the government taxes property based on the width of the frontage. So most hotels have a width of about 12 feet but are deep and tall.

What makes Hidden Charm stick out is that it is new (built only this year) and has facilities like a jacuzzi bath or shower. As in most hotels, there is free wifi and there are also computers in a common area for guests to use.