Ha Noi hotels fully booked 6 days ahead of millennium

Many hotels in Ha Noi are fully booked six days before celebrations begin for the 1,000th anniversary of the capital city.
An estimated 800,000 domestic and international tourists will travel to the city for the celebrations.
Ha Noi has 900 hotels and guest houses with a total of 17,000 rooms.
Many major hotels around the city are enjoying high occupancy rates. A receptionist from the Ha Noi-DaeWoo Hotel said 90 per cent of the hotel’s rooms were booked out.
Nguyen Hai Nam, owner of a guest house in Long Bien District, said accommodation prices had risen.
"Normally, the price of a room in our guest house costs VND200,000-300,000 (US$10-15), but now the price is from VND350,000-500,000 ($17-25) per day," he said.
Officers from the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism and the Ha Noi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism have begun inspections of hotels and guest houses before the celebrations kick off.
The inspectors divided into two groups, the first group led by Nguyen Phuong Anh, deputy head of the National Administration of Tourism’s Hotel Department. This group is responsible for three-to five-star hotels.
The second group led by Truong Minh Tien, deputy head of the city’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Department, has begun inspecting two-star hotels and guest houses.
Inspectors had ordered three-to five-star hotels to improve their service quality and stabilise prices to serve tourists on the occasion of the city’s birthday, said Phuong Anh.
The department also recommended the capital’s Anti-Smuggling Steering Committee 127 to join activities to prevent fraudulent trade by hotels and guest houses during the celebrations, Tien said.