Swiss-Belhotel to Open New Hotel in Lao Cai, Vietnam

Swiss-Belhotel will next month open a new hotel in the stunning and historic city of Lao Cai, Vietnam.

Adjoining the city's new commercial centre, the Swiss-Belhotel Lao Cai hotel features 186 guestrooms and an array of facilities including conference rooms, a business centre, fitness centre, lobby lounge, as well as a bar and restaurants.

The Lao Cai-Hekou border crossing is the prime conduit between Vietnam and China, an international border crossing checkpoint at the confluence of two rivers, adjoining four provinces between the two countries.

Its cool climate, colourful inhabitants like the 'Black Hmong' and 'Red Dao' hilltribes, and breathtaking scenery make it a tourist favourite, with attractions including nearby Sapa, One Pillar Pagoda, Ho Chi Minh's stilt house, and Mount Fansipan, Vietnam's highest peak.

Lao Cai is also set to assume much greater significance as a regional economic and trade hub given its strategic location ahead of the likely establishment in 2015 of the ASEAN free trade zone. The border gate comprises road, railway and waterway facilities, and in the future will include air routes. Lao Cai is also the lynchpin of the Two Corridors, One Economic Belt project, and will become a key free trade route between ASEAN members and China.

The Swiss-Belhotel Lao Cai brings the Hong Kong-based group's portfolio to more than 120 hotels and resorts across Asia and the Middle East, and is the group's second property in Vietnam, joining the five star beachfront Swiss-Belhotel Golden Sand Resort & Spa, Hoi An.