The InterContinental Hanoi Westlake hotel by night.

Conde Nast Traveler, one of the world’s most prestigious travel magazines, has named the InterContinental Hanoi Westlake in its 2008 Hot List, the 12th annual compendium of the most compelling new hotels in the world.

The exclusive list features 136 hotels in 53 countries and includes just one hotel in Vietnam, the InterContinental Hanoi Westlake.

Opening late 2007, the hotel is set entirely over the waters of the Westlake and adjacent to the 800 year old Golden Lotus Pagoda. It offers 359 stylish guest rooms, a ballroom, four event rooms and six cutting edge restaurants and bars in a tranquil residential setting. At a 43-square-metre minimum, the InterContinental’s guest rooms rank among the most spacious in the capital.

Conde Nast lauds the new hotel for its “sublime setting,” its “stylish guest rooms,” and its on-site restaurants and bars that “will more than satisfy anyone rushing to explore Hanoi’s rich and diverse dining scene.”

The Hot List is an especially notable tribute because Conde Nast’s surveyors judged thousands of hotels and spas around the globe, visiting undercover at each to experience the hotel’s accommodation, services and ambiance. (SGGP)