Our experience with the Hotel Elegance 3 is pretty much like that for most others – highly positive. They’ve got their formula right – friendly and helpful service without being too much in your face. We had booked a standard room prior to the hotel's opening and based only on reviews of their two older establishments - hence, we'd really come here with no prior knowledge of this hotel. When we arrived, we didn’t have to stand at the reception desk – instead, we were both correctly greeted by name (they'd worked who we were as we’d arrived in their ‘meet and greet’ car) and ushered to a seat and offered the customary welcome drink. They took our passports and checked us in with no fuss and all in a friendly manner - no form filling or other time wasting formalities. They’d upgraded us to a deluxe room on the two separate nights we were there. In total, we had been in 3 different deluxe rooms and each was just slightly different especially where the bathroom was concerned. All the rooms we'd been in had sufficient space, but each had a different style of bathroom. The first had a shower cubicle and appeared more basic; the second room which we occupied 2 nights later had a bath and felt more spacious. The third room we used (only to have a shower in) was decorated in what we'd term ‘Versace’ style - a little over the top with the gold trimmed basin - but that's nothing to complain about. The rooms were clean, had a computer that worked well, fast internet speed and large flat screen TV. It really was pretty good value for the money we paid. Whilst we didn't get a look at the superior (ie standard) room that we initially booked, it would probably have been on the small side. The rooms do not have external windows though, but to rectify this, internal windows had been put in - ie, either to the corridor (but curtained) or to the internal back wall (quite a nice wall for what it was). However, not having windows that open to the outside, meant that the rooms were quiet - we didn't hear any street noise at all. The breakfast was good – it was cooked to order and was sufficient in variety, and quantity was not an issue. We had nothing to complain about. But the hotel elegance 3 is really not about the rooms or bathrooms or what was in it. What stands out is the service and hospitality that you receive – this really counts towards the quality of your stay. We had two split nights here as we had a trip up to Sapa in between (we also had a Halong Bay trip after our second night and returned to the hotel to freshen up after the trip - we were no longer paying guests but were treated as so). Now, after checking out after the first night, the hotel stored our excess luggage and provided us with towels, soaps etc to have a shower before the night train trip to Sapa. They arranged a taxi and took care of us like we had never checked out. When we got back very early from Sapa (we rocked up at the door at 5am), they let us in even though the hotel was closed and everyone was asleep. A sleeping staff was woken to make us coffee, and later we were offered breakfast (we were technically not checked in and weren’t really entitled to breakfast that morning). We got the same treatment when we got back from our Halong Bay trip – treated like we had never left the hotel. Most hotels would have happily checked us into the crappiest room and served sour service if we'd booked a room for much less than the rack rate - but not this hotel (particularly if you knew what we actually paid). It was definite value for money - we felt guilty on more than a few occasions when they bent over backwards for us. The other thing was that they knew our itinerary better than we did! We simply left it to them to look after us - they'd worked out schedules for us where required and held on to our tickets to make sure they were safe. Yes, they did of course make a small commission when they booked train or tour tickets, but when compared to what others had paid - we were still ahead. The taxis they use were what I'd call 'no fuss' taxis - no need to haggle over prices etc as they were honest and will use an un-tampered meter. We did stand next to a hotel guest that had some issues, but after overhearing his complaint, it was plain that he was the problem and not the hotel. I have stayed in many top end hotels and never have I received the sort of treatment that we had been given by the staff of this hotel. The owner definitely realises that positive service is the key to growing the business - something many hotels in developed countries could perhaps pay a little attention to.