When we visited Hoi An this hotel was just called the Hoi An Hotel, I am not sure when it became ‘historic’, although we did enjoy staying there at the time.
Hoi An had the feeling that the town was just beginning to attract foreign tourists. The main attraction at the time seemed to be the ability to buy tailor made suits / dresses much cheaper than back home in Australia.
The driveway to the front of the hotel.
The pool was clean and very pleasant for swimming. The rooms were dark wood furniture, with wooden floors for coolness. Fully air-conditioned, plus a ceiling fan.
We found the staff keen to please, very polite and friendly. I had a small problem when I asked for couple of small (20 ml) containers of milk for tea in our room, because we had used the original two the previous evening. I was given the milk and asked to sign for them, because they would be charged to my room.
Later, as the person who had made the booking on behalf of our group, I was asked to fill in a guest form, obviously because we were foreigners. I was happy to so, and commented that charging for 20 ml containers of milk will turn people away, because tourist object to rip-offs.
I posted the comment card in the box provided and we all went off for a day of sightseeing.
On our return I was asked by the Manager to join him in his office because he had read my comments and wanted clarification.
We had a very friendly chat and he accepted my ‘comment’ about the charge for the milk – the charges were immediately cancelled, and he also put out an instruction to the front desk that they would no longer charge for small items.
I was flattered that the Manager was so interested in what I had to say. He asked me many questions about the different hotels that we’d stayed in during the previous couple of years. He told me that his problem was only having local hotels to judge if he was offering the right level of service to international travelers, so he was very keen to learn.
It was a pleasure to help him out, but I only wish certain other hotels (no name, no pack drill), would ask for their guests’ opinion while the guest was still at the hotel, rather than making excuses on Trip Advisor, after a guest has made a public negative comment. In my opinion the standard in any hotel is set by the manager – poor service to a paying guest, shows poor management.
If (hopefully when) we return to Hoi An I wouldn’t hesitate in staying at the Hoi An Hotel again, historic or not. . . . .
We had a decent size room (36 sq mt) on the third floor – the above picture is from the hotel web site – I can’t find my photographs of our room.
silverfox175 
Enjoying your travelogue immensely. As you say, the GM makes all the difference. A friend of mine is a Hilton group GM and I visited his hotel in Hefei whilst he was there and again a year after he left. It had gone from 100% in my book to 60% and never once did I see the GM despite staying in an Executive suite,
LikeLike
Thanks for letting me know that you enjoy the blogs. As you know without feedback you are flying blind. :-o)
LikeLike