Gyms and Running in Hanoi, Vietnam
Hanoi's Scooter Death Tally Sign
Vietnam’s capital city is not exactly known for its running friendly reputation, and any runner attempting to find a quiet road or back street for a quick dash around the block will find themselves having to contend not only with the millions of scooters that inhabit the city streets, but also the numerous street sellers and shop owners whose businesses extend across both pavement and road. In a city whose air pollution count supersedes all of its neighbours (bar China), running outdoors anywhere other than either Ba Vi or Tam Dao national park (to the west and north of Hanoi proper) is a very bad idea.
Access to Ba Vi or Tam Dao national parks relatively easy by bus or taxi but a round trip will take you upwards of half a day. If time is not on your side or you need a practical alternative to road running in Hanoi then using one of the many Hotel gyms scattered throughout the capital is your best option.
Hotels with Gyms in Hanoi
Mövenpick Hanoi Hotel Gym
The Hanoi Mövenpick hotel gym was by far the best that I had the pleasure of using whilst on my travels in the Hanoi area. Not only is the Hotel located a shore five minute walk from both the main railway station in Hanoi and the city centre, the facilities that were on offer were unrivalled in any of the other hotel gyms in the area. Along with all the usual free weights and resistance machines, the Mövenpick gym has treadmills, bikes, cross trainers and above all, a smith machine squat rack (something of a rarity in hotel gyms).
Hanoi Movenpick Hotel Gym
The Mövenpick staff are incredibly courteous and couldn’t wait to show me around the gym and locker room every time that I visited although I was hard-pressed to hear them over the four flat screen televisions that were blasting out a variety of English news channels (bonus for forgetting the pain in your legs whilst on the treadmills!). Entry to the Mövenpick gym is a little on the expensive side at $20 but for the facilities on offer it was well worth the money in my opinion.
Mövenpick Hotel Hanoi, 83A Ly Thuong Kiet Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, Vietnam
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Hanoi Mercure la Gare Hotel Gym
Located conveniently opposite from Hanoi’s main railway station, the Hanoi Mercure has a small but relatively new fitness centre that is available to hotel guests. At the time of my visit the fitness centre was not open to non hotel staying guests but due to its location in the centre of Hanoi, it is worth checking if you are in the area just in case they have changed their policy.
Hanoi Mercure La Gare Hotel Gym
Hanoi Mercure, 94 Ly Thuong Kiet Street, Hoan Kiem District 0, Hanoi, Vietnam
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Quoc Hoa Hotel Hanoi
If you are based more in the north of the city then the Quoc Hoa Hotel has a small gym that paying visitors can use along with a Sauna and Spa. Didnt visit it personally but I hear that it is well staffed and maintained.
Quoc Hoa Hotel, 10 Bat Dan Street, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi,Vietnam
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Hotels with swimming pools in Hanoi
Sofitel Plaza Hotel Hanoi
If you don’t mind paying a little bit more then you can workout in style at the Sofitel Plaza Hotel. The Hotel has both an outdoor and indoor heated swimming pool along with a large fitness centre, Jacuzzi and spa. The Sofitel Hotel gym has several treadmills for running but as the gym is always busy thanks to the numerous business people that stay at the hotel, the treadmills often are in use at peak times throughout the day. There is also free wifi available for writing the odd blog post after your workout!
1 Thanh Nien Road, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi, Vietnam
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Army Hotel
Despite the actual hotel picking up some bad reviews due to unhelpful and unsmiling staff (what do you expect – this is Vietnam!) the hotel has a very well maintained pool that north hotel guests and paying visitors can use and is recommended by the 2010 Lonely Plane guide for Vietnam. The pool is large enough to swim in but can become very crowded in the high tourist season so make sure you plan your swimming session early in the morning. Entry to the pool will cost you about $5 and you need to provide your own towels.
Hanoi Army Hotel Pool
Army Hotel, 33 C Pham Ngu Lao St, Hanoi, Vietnam
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Hotels with Gym, Swimming Pool and Tennis Courts in Hanoi
Somerset Grand Hanoi
[13/08/10 edit: I have just been informed by Somerset hotel staff that the tennis courts are for paying hotel guests only at this time]
The Somerset Grand Hanoi is the best inner city option if you are looking for a variety of fitness facilities in one location. The hotel has a long pool perfectly suited for swimming lengths, a well equipped cardio focused gym and two hard court tennis courts available to either the tennis enthusiast or those of us that just like hitting a tennis ball into the net and over the fence every now and again! Additional facilities also include a Jacuzzi, sauna, steam room and table tennis tables.
Hanoi Somerset Grand Swimming Pool
Somerset Grand Hanoi, 49 Hai Ba Trung Street, Hanoi,Vietnam
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Melia Hotel Hanoi
I have been informed by the Hanoi Somerset Staff that the Melia Hotel has tennis courts available for guests.
44b Ly Thuong Kiet,Hanoi
Please comment below if you know of any other gyms in the Hanoi Area.
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Other Running and Gym’s in Asia Posts:
Ho Chi Minh City – Nha Trang – Beijing – Xi’an – Thailand – South East Asia Running Tips
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Wow, Ross. As an American, I’ve never really taken the time to stop and think about how lucky we are to be able to run outside. While those hotels and gyms are very nice looking, I, personally, would get very tired of being confined to the same places day in and day out.
I had never really thought about it before Jimmy but we really do take running outdoors for granted! The air in Vietnam was so bad that sometimes we couldn’t see the end out our 50m street. It was bloody dangerous because you couldn’t see the kamikaze scooters that would suddenly erupt from the fog and try to run you over lol.
When there is a will, there is a way. Having spent a year in Hanoi, I used to run at the start of Tran Phu, through the Mausoleum and around Truc Bach lake. You can even do a few loops at the Mausoleum before proceeding to Truc Bach if you want to increase the total distance.
Another option is to run Westlake – either at the crack of dawn or when the sunsets. Try it, it is quite a sight to behold.
I agree with Cindy, there are several options in Hanoi which you can have nice runs. If you try to get up early in the morning then it is pretty cool to do some of very nice runs around Hoan Kiem Lake or Westlake. Load of Vietnamese people run there and quite fun to see them doing Taichi, badminton…ect… Hanoi is not a bad and dangerous to run as Ross said.
I have been running in Vietnam for 16 years and it is easy. Do like the locals do and get up at 4: no traffic, heat, or pollution.