Hotel de la Coupole, Sa Pa, Vietnam, 21 September 2024

It is safe to say that the moment I walked into this amazing French colonial style hotel (at 3:30 am!), I thought, ‘they will have a great breakfast’. Fortunately, my instant impression was fully borne out. This is a very nice, very large buffet. Vietnamese and western only. Plenty of warm and cold dishes, nice local specialties like the chestnut cake (not too sweet). Among the western dishes they have shakshuka! There is also an egg bar. Good selection of cheese, fruit, vegetables, cold cuts and fish. Pancakes and waffles. Excellent choice of teas (although bag only). The phở looks nice, and there is ice cream. Any drawbacks? Well, I mentioned that the tea is bags only, and while the croissants are excellent, the bread, as is so often the case in Vietnam, is quite soft. I like bread to be crusty. Nevertheless, an absolutely excellent breakfast. My (Vietnamese) travel companion did, however, feel that the taste of the local dishes were lacking a certain something. We agreed on a rating of 9/10.