DISCOVER THE EHG STORY AND HOW IT ALL BEGAN
The Elegance Hospitality Group (EHG) has come a long way since the original members’ humble beginnings running a 10 room mini hotel in Hanoi’s Old Quarter.
This is a story of how the founding owner Do Van Dan, and his team, aspired to build a highly professional boutique hotel group founded on superb customer service. Through hard work, knowing how to take risks, natural instinct and a sheer love of creating wonderful luxurious memories all expectations were exceeded.
Dan, born into a poor working class family on the outskirts of Hanoi, was financially unable to pursue his dream of becoming an architect. He instead went to teacher training college, funding his studies by working every available hour doing jobs such as a computer engineer, mini-hotel night receptionist and even a pesticide seller. Then fate intervened when he landed a receptionist job in a 4 star hotel in Hanoi. The next few years gave invaluable insight into hotel management, HR, guests’ expectations and customer service. A plan formed in his mind.
Taking the plunge at the end of the 1990s he invested all his savings in a small 10 room mini hotel in Hanoi’s Old Quarter. He ran this with four staff (who are still with him today). At the time, Hanoi’s Old Quarter hotel industry was a competitive “jungle”. Quality, customer service and putting the guest first were not priorities for most hoteliers. Many just wanted to make money by any means possible.
Dan rose above this. Good customer service and high standards would define and differentiate his business. The ethos right from the start was, and continues to be, to focus on every single detail, to care for every guest, to exceed expectations and to build a team of genuinely friendly professional staff with the “guest comes first” vision.
The early days were very challenging, made harder because of limited financial investment. Plus this very young team was trying hard to introduce a new concept into Hanoi’s competitive hotel market. Their passion, open-minded approach and an unfailing determination to succeed paid off. Working 24/7 EHG’s foundations were laid as the team set a new trend for Hanoi’s boutique hotel industry.
The team upscaled and started to develop a brand identity in the first decade of 2000, which would differentiate their hotels from others. This was the Elegance brand – the forerunner of today’s La Siesta Brand. 2003-2010 a series of new boutique hotels under the Elegance brand, most named after jewels, were opened. Dan and his team became serious players in Hanoi’s hotel market.
From 2010, the business went to the next level. Some of the older hotels closed in order to refocus investment on an expanded vision. In 2013, the group’s first four-star resort-styled hotel opened in Hoi An. A year later EHG’s flagship brand – La Siesta – was born. This signifies a higher level of service offering featuring more luxurious accommodation, restaurants, bars andspas.
At the end of 2017 the Essence Hoi An hotel & Spa was relaunched as La Siesta Resort & Spa – the group’s first five-start standard resort with 2 pools, 2 restaurants and townhouse villa accommodation with butler service.
EHG’s portfolio diversified to include the Red Bean Restaurant brand and leading spa La Spa, as well as a number of cool hip rooftop bars. Every year influential major travel sites (TripAdvisor, Booking.com, Agoda etc) bestow numerous honors on EHG, recognizing the business in all areas – customer service, high standards, design and customer satisfaction.
EHG’s goal is to consistently give every guest an outstanding personal service focusing on sophistication, luxury and great memories. Dedication, passion and hard work by this hotel family has made EHG one of today’s most respected boutique hotel groups in Vietnam. With a reputation for impeccable quality and a five-star ethos, we invite you to come and experience our unrivaled service.
Our journey continues and so will our story.
Milestones
At EHG, we offer:
- Six boutique hotels located in Hanoi Old Quarter & one outstanding resort in Hoian.
- Seasonal packages offering exceptional value and luxurious extras
- Great Hotel, Even better staff
- Fantastic hotel, fantastic value!”
- Great location, best beds!
- Outstanding service at a mid-range price!”
- No request is too large, no detail is too small
EHG’s achievements
The LA SIESTA portfolio of hotels is consistently one of the leading hotel brands, out of many hundreds, in Hanoi and Hoi An. Numerous global travel websites continually vote LA SIESTA hotels as the most favored properties in both cities.
Some of the major awards and acknowledgements EHG has received from international hotel reviews in Asia and worldwide include:
In 2019, Hanoi La Siesta Hotel & Spa voted the most popular hotel on TripAdvisor
- No. #1 Hotel in Vietnam
- No. #3 Hotel in Asia
- No. #10 Hotel in the world
In 2018, Hanoi La Siesta Hotel & Spa voted the most popular hotel on TripAdvisor
- No. #1 Hotel in Vietnam
- No. #3 Hotel in Asia
- No. #4 Hotel in the world
In 2017, Hanoi La Siesta Hotel & Spa voted the most popular hotel on TripAdvisor
- No. #1 Hotel in Vietnam
- No. #3 Hotel in Asia
- No. #8 Hotel in the world
In 2016, Hanoi La Siesta Hotel & Spa voted the most popular hotel on TripAdvisor
- No. #1 Hotel in Vietnam
- No. #3 Hotel in Asia
- No. #4 Hotel in the world
In 2019, Hanoi La Siesta Trendy Hotel & Spa voted the most popular hotel on TripAdvisor
- No. #4 Hotel in Vietnam
In 2018, Hanoi La Siesta Trendy Hotel & Spa voted the most popular hotel on TripAdvisor
- No. #2 Hotel in Vietnam
- No. #5 Hotel in Asia
- No. #10 Hotel in the world
In 2015, Hanoi La Siesta Diamond Hotel & Spa voted on TripAdvisor
- No. #4 Hotel in Vietnam
- No. #9 Hotel in Asia
La Siesta Hoi An Resort & Spa
The property continues to receive numerous awards from international organizations and is consistently ranked as one of the best hotels in Vietnam and Asia. At present, La Siesta Hoi An Resort & Spa is ranked No. 1 on TripAdvisor for the Da Nang, Hoi An and Quang Nam regions as well as receiving other awards, which include:
- Agoda’s Gold Circle Award 2015
- Real Guest’s Award 2015 from Booking.com
- Insider Select 2015 chosen from Expedia
It is regarded as one of the world’s most favorite hotels offering the best quality of service.
In addition, all member hotels of the ELEGANCE HOSPITALITY GROUP have received the TripAdvisor Traveler’s Choice Award over consecutive years since 2009.
In 2016, Channel NewsAsia (part of the Singaporean Mediacorp group) selected EHG as the sole representative from Vietnam’s entire hospitality industry. EHG featured in the channel’s ‘The Big Turnaround’ documentary, which was broadcast in 25 countries and territories.
All member hotels of the ELEGANCE HOSPITALITY GROUP have featured in local as well as foreign newspapers and magazines, including Travel & Leisure, CNN, The Australian, Travel Weekly Asia, Business Traveler USA, Escape, Luxury Travel Advisor, Luxury Lifestyle Magazine, TTG Asia, Travel Weekly, VnExpress, VietnamNet, Vietnam Economic Times, The Guide, Travellive, Timeout, Elle Magazine…