Hanoi was not overly devastated by bombing and military action during WWII. Although Vietnam was occupied by the Japanese, the local government leaders apparently weren’t all that thrilled with the French, who had occupied them prior to that time. When the Japanese showed up, the locals said, “We surrender,” and although they suffered a lot of the other deprivations (several hundred thousand starved due to lack of food) they avoided the air attacks.
During the extended American / French / Vietnamese conflict, though, a decision was made that a bomb shelter (holding 40 people) was necessary to protect hotel guests. This was only for guests, mind you – employees weren’t to go in for the most part.
The guy that gives the tour – who is energetic to the point of exhausting – not only has information about the hotels, but also offers some personal stories that fill in some gaps. He was a child during much of the conflict.
There are a row of trees along one side of the hotel – they’ve been planted in what were originally created as individual bomb shelters. These were about 30 inch concrete manholes, 4 ft or so long, that were set with metal covers. If the sirens went off, people could jump in and cover up.
The shelter is interesting in itself. 15 feet below ground with a honeycombed ceiling of concrete / soil / gravel / etc. to absorb the shock of bombs. It is divided into four cells, each about 5 ft. wide and 15 ft. long. The individual cells were not only to create structure to support the roof, but were also to help avoid panic in a larger group.
There’s a damper system, again to protect from shock waves, in the hallway along the front, as well as air holes that could be blocked in the event that poisonous gas was used.
As with most underground spaces, it has water infiltration issues.
After 1975, the shelter was used as a wine cellar by the nearby Australian Embassy. In the last chamber, where a bottle of wine was found when it was rediscovered in 2010, someone had scratched their name in the concrete.
Turns out this someone was attached to the Australian Embassy, and he apparently got locked in or stuck down there when sent to retrieve a bottle of wine. After he found the shelter and at their grand re-opening, they traced down this person and invited him back.
When asked for some profound reason for scratching his name in the concrete, this now old man simply stated, “It was dark and I was bored.”
So much for the wisdom of the ages.
After the war the shelter was covered over and apparently the exact location was forgotten. It wasn't discovered when the new pool was put in even though its within just a few feet of it. It was rediscovered in 2010 when they were expanding the patio bar and drilled to put in the foundation piers. When they hit concrete, the engineers recognized this was man-made and after some investigation they recognized that it was the lost shelter.
Who could pass up an attraction like that?
The shelter is very confining. You have to wear a hardhat when you go down, which is good because the doors are even lower and if you’re looking down it’s easy to smack your head pretty hard (LJ did several times).
You can also imagine how the noise of bombs, even that far underground, would reverberate through a concrete structure. Our voices bounced off the walls and made it loud enough.
They would sometimes be called to go down there as much as 6 times during a night. That’s not much of a 5-Star hotel experience!
When asked for some profound reason for scratching his name in the concrete, this now old man simply stated, “It was dark and I was bored.”
So much for the wisdom of the ages.
After the war the shelter was covered over and apparently the exact location was forgotten. It wasn't discovered when the new pool was put in even though its within just a few feet of it. It was rediscovered in 2010 when they were expanding the patio bar and drilled to put in the foundation piers. When they hit concrete, the engineers recognized this was man-made and after some investigation they recognized that it was the lost shelter.
Who could pass up an attraction like that?
The shelter is very confining. You have to wear a hardhat when you go down, which is good because the doors are even lower and if you’re looking down it’s easy to smack your head pretty hard (LJ did several times).
You can also imagine how the noise of bombs, even that far underground, would reverberate through a concrete structure. Our voices bounced off the walls and made it loud enough.
They would sometimes be called to go down there as much as 6 times during a night. That’s not much of a 5-Star hotel experience!
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