Lao Cai · Vietnam
Hotel de la Coupole - MGallery
Bensley theatre in the mountains, where French couture meets Hmong textile
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Bill Bensley imagined this hotel as a collision between a 1930s Paris fashion house and the hill-tribe markets of the northern Vietnamese highlands. The result is deliberately theatrical: velvet, mannequins, chandeliers, trunk-shaped furniture and indigo textiles piled on top of one another across 249 rooms.
It stands in the centre of Sapa, so the town's market, church square and restaurants are on the doorstep, and the cable car to Fansipan, Indochina's highest summit, is a few minutes away. A heated indoor pool and spa are welcome after a cold, misty day on the terraces.
The real draw is the landscape beyond: the rice terraces of the Muong Hoa valley, the villages of the Black Hmong and Red Dao, and trekking routes that range from gentle to punishing.
At a glance
What to expect
- Heated indoor pool
- Spa
- Mountain-view rooms
- Two restaurants
- Fitness centre
- Trekking desk
- Central Sapa location
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