wonderful place, but could have done with more knowledgable staff
We arrived on the train from Hue. It took us a while to find this place as is was in a lane off the main street. If you know where it is and are relatively fit, you can walk the 2-5 minutes it takes to get here.
Hanoi View 2 Hotel has a market right outside it. Wonderful roast meats, snacks on the go, pho (rice noodles), com (rice) and other goodies await you.
If you've come to Vietnam with the intention of not mixing with the locals, then this place is not for you. This is where the locals shop, so you can get some good prices for things. Taxis into the city center cost between US$0.50 to US$1 if you travel with a reliable company.
The main complaint was that the staff weren't all that helpful. Only one or two of the staff speak good English. The Map that they gave us lacked quite a few details as we ended up getting lost for an hour or so while trying to figure out where we were.
On the upside, they treated my young son like a king. Whenever we couldn't be with him because of booking accommodation in another country, one of the staff always would be.