The Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi has climbed to 61st spot among the world's 100 top hotels chosen by readers of the US's Travel + Leisure magazine, its highest position ever in one of the world's most prestigious top hotels lists.

Last year the Metropole was in 66th position, and the year before, in 68th.

Only five other hotels in the Far East bested the Metropole: the Peninsula Hotel in Shanghai, Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Tokyo and the Mandarin-Oriental in Hong Kong.

Only one other hotel from Vietnam made the top 100 – the Park Hyatt in Ho Chi Minh City, which is in 68th place.

Vietnam made a strong showing in a top-ten list of Travel + Leisure readers' favourite cities in Asia, with Hanoi claiming seventh spot and HCM City, ninth.-VNA