Metropole Hotel and Opera House

Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2001 15:20:23 -0400

From: Hue Tam H. Tai <hhtai@fas.harvard.edu>

Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu

To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: Metropole Hotel and Opera house

Dear List:

Could someone tell me how the Metropole Hotel was used after 1945? And the Hanoi Opera House? Thanks,

Hue-Tam Ho Tai

Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2001 20:10:49 -0400

From: Hue Tam H. Tai <hhtai@fas.harvard.edu>

Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu

To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: Hoa Lo

Anaother question:

When did Hoa Lo prison stop being used to incarcerate prisoners? Thanks

Hue-Tam Ho Tai

Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2001 04:50:17 +0200

From: Pietro P. Masina <pietro@ruc.dk>

Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu

To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: Re: Hoa Lo

I think you can find an answer to your questions (Opera House, Metropole, Hoa Lo) in a recent volume that I bought at the airport in Bangkok few months ago (and I assume should be easily avaliable elsewhere). William S. Logan (200) Hanoi: Biography of a City. Sydney: University of South Wales Press.

Best regards

Pietro Masina

PS If you have problems in findinfg the volume, send me a message and I will check the information that you need. From a very fast look it seems that the Opera House became a museum, while the Metropole was used as hotel but with a different name.

Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2001 10:39:24 -0700

From: Charles Keyes <keyes@u.washington.edu>

Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu

To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: Re: Hoa Lo

The book has also been published by the University of Washington press.

Biff (Charles Keyes)

Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2001 13:28:52 +0200

From: John Kleinen <kleinen@pscw.uva.nl>

Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu

To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: Re: Metropole Hotel and Opera house

Dear Hue-Tam,

The Metropole Hotel in Hanoi was still used after 1945 as one of the best hotels in town. Jacqueline de Castries, the wife of the commander of Dien Bien Phu, occupied a suite there, from which she operated to look after the care of the wounded (as she told the Dutch reporter Alfred Van Sprang). Graham Greene travelled to Hanoi between 1951 and 1954 to report the war in the north for the Sunday Times. He also seemed to have occupied a room there. In October 1954, the French started the evacuation of Hanoi, followed by Haiphong on May 15, 1955. I guess that the hotel after that year was used for those official guests from socialist brother countries, who could not be lodged in the official Government's guesthouse a block further away towards the lake. In september 1979, when I visited for the first time Hanoi, I met a Belgian charge d'affaires in one of the rooms, which were infested by rats. Dutch diplomatic staff also used the rooms for official bussiness and private affairs. The Hotel was called Thong Nhat at the time (until 1989 I think), still at Ngo Quyen 15, telephone 54537 (I still keep a calling card). Like Dan Chu, it had the worst restaurant in town.

For further details about the city of Hanoi, see the excellent book by Philippe Papin, but I guess that Sofitel-Metropole also has documented the history of the place.

Best regards,

John

Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2001 17:46:02 -0700

From: C. Michele Thompson <thompson_mc@scsu.ctstateu.edu>

Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu

To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: Re: Hoa Lo

Dear All,

Hoa Lo was still being used to house prisoners for certain in 1993 when I lived sort of across from it and down a block or so. I was also by it often enough during 1994 that I think it housed prisoners for most if not all that year. The Singaporean construction firm that tore it down started work late in the winter or early in the Spring of 1995 so I assume that prisoners would have been moved out shortly before that time. I did some translating for the Singaporean construction workers who rented rooms from my landlady so I'm pretty clear as to when their firm started work tearing down the prison.

cheers

Michele

Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2001 09:55:56 +0800

From: Adam Fforde <msefaj@nus.edu.sg>

Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu

To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>

Subject: RE: Metropole Hotel and Opera house

The Swedes and others had offices (Embassy and the aid cooperation) in the Thong Nhat in the 1970s, I think at one stage keeping their files in the lavatory, for lack of space. The Thong Nhat, the Dan Chu and the Hoa Binh were the basic 'space' for the Western Embassies and UN agencies (such as UNDP, UNICEF) who did not have separate housing.

Dr. Adam Fforde, Senior Fellow

Rm AS3 06-14, Southeast Asian Studies Programme

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, NUS

SINGAPORE 119260

Tel: (65) 874 6865

Fax: (65) 774 8750

Email: seafaj@nus.edu.sg

NOTE: My permanent EMail is aduki@compuserve.com (from this December)