The Sofitel Legend Metropole in Hanoi in 2020. The 125-year-old landmark has hosted everyone from Charlie Chaplin to Jane Fonda. | REUTERS

For decades, the Sofitel Legend Metropole stood alone as Hanoi’s only luxury hotel, a colonial-era grande dame steeped in wartime history — complete with its own underground bomb shelter — that hosted everyone from Charlie Chaplin to Jane Fonda.

Now, the 125-year-old landmark is being joined at the top by a new generation of high-end hotels amid Vietnam’s push to attract wealthier travelers and propel its double-digit growth ambitions.

“Vietnam has become one of the hottest markets, with Japan,” said Maud Bailly, the chief executive of Sofitel Legend, Sofitel, MGallery & Emblems. “After COVID, we noticed tourism in Asia has become more intraregional.…