The hotel was fabulous and the staff couldn't have been nicer. I enjoyed the Spa every day and it was amazing! The breakfast buffet should nnot be missed, the best choices of foods and the pastries and fruit are delicious!
The area is not walkable, you'll need a taxi to take you places. There is only one overpriced mall in the area - other than that it is a ghost-town during the day. At night you can go to the Halong Night Market and pickup some fun things.
The restaurants in the hotel are not great. The Akoya was super overpriced and it didn't come with any side dishes or bread or salad?!?! I ordered the fish and that's all that was on my plate. If you're going to charge such high prices, why not add some veggies and rice or potato to the plate??? Hardly anyone is going in to eat, so that says a lot!
The other restaurant, the Pavillion, was beautiful. It sits on the dock so you have gorgeous views of the water. I did enjoy the steak there, very nicely cooked and it came with veggies and potato. Order it you won't be sorry!
Overall, I would say the stay was nice, but it is completely empty all day, as all the tourists are riding on some bus or boat. It was a very pretty hotel and I got lots of rest there. Glad I stayed there.