It's all in the title really, the staff were very helpful, we had come to the reception originally just looking for directions to another guest house we had already booked. The manager has excellent english and took the time to help us out. It later turned out the other guesthouse we stayed in wasn't great, so we returned to 'the legend' and stayed a couple of nights.

The apartment rooms are indeed clean and, unusually, the bathroom was spotless.
Minor gripes: there is currently (July 2010) work going on out on the street, beginning at 07:00 in the morning, but that's not these guy's fault.
We stayed on the 5th floor and the stairs are heavy going, there seems to be a lot of these style buildings in Hanoi, asking for a lower level apartment might work.

Arriving in Hanoi for the first time will probably be a shock for many people. When we pulled up outside our hotel I was sure the driver had got the address wrong. On first appearances the old quarter seems squalid and dirty. The buildings are all very narrow and mostly 5 or 6 storeys high. The streets are also narrow and the light seems permanently dim. The narrow roads area absolutely crawling with traffic, mainly motorbikes but plenty of cars too.
At the front desk of the Legend Hotel we were met with a smile and our host Lien. Our room was on the 4th floor with no lift so we got plenty of exercise during our stay. The rooms were large, clean and comfortable enough but quite dark. With a few directions from Lien we were walking the streets of the old quarter and realised that most of the hotels in this area are much the same. Space is a premium and they pay tax on the amount of street front their building occupies so all the biuldings are quite narrow and hence, I imagine the rooms are dark.
Breakfast was nothing special compared with other hotels we have stayed but they are happy to cook you an egg and if you are used to the Vietnamese coffee by the time you arrive then you will enjoy the coffee at the Legend. Ask Lien to show you where they get their coffee from. There is a small store in the same street as the hotel and they have the best price on Wessel coffee. VND 250,000 per kilo. I wish I had bought more.
The hotel booked an overnight trip for us to Howlong Bay staying on a house boat. The trip was very enjoyable with great food and comfy beds and about a third of the price we were going to pay before we left Australia. We also booked a city tour which was good value as well.
The hotel has free internet and once again the staff were a highlight. Both our girls got quite sick while we were there, the first with a tummy upset which Lien cured with some Vietnamese medicine and the other with a cold which the hotel organise a doctor to come to the hotel to see her and give her some medication. By the time we left Hanoi we loved the place. Once you walk the streets and soak up the atmosphere of the place you realise that the streets are not dark and dirty at all. They just have heaps of character. Enjoy your stay.

The manager is awful. The hotel has some good rooms, some bad.

Having been shown a lovely room before our trip to Halong Bay, my partner and I booked the Hanoi Legend. We wanted a nice room on our return to Hanoi as it was my birthday. We were shown a twin room (which was currently being stayed in... does that make you want to leave the key when you go out?!) which was nice.

We were told that both of the TWO superior double rooms were occupied (although, thinking about it, why was the manager willing to show us a twin room that was occupied and not a double one?) but that upon our return one of these double rooms (which were exactly like the twin room but with a double bed and a separate single in it - as many rooms in SE Asia are) would be reserved for us.

Upon our return from Halong Bay we were checked into a double room on the top floor which was nothing like the room we were shown. It was completely different with no furnishings at all. We asked the duty manager about it and he showed us a room like we had viewed in the first place but wanted 40 USD for it?! It also didn't have a double bed but 3 singles, two of which they said they could put together.

When we said that we had reserved a double bedroom but as per the style of the room he was showing us he said they were booked! As a compromise he showed us a double bedroom at the front (noisier) but their best room. He apologised for the mistake and said we could have it for the original price agreed (25 USD) as it was their fault.

The next day, the original manager (who first showed us the rooms pre our Halong Bay trip) was very rude to my partner and said that we "really want the front deluxe room". It made me quite irate since the double they tried to put us in was completely different to the one she had shown us. Even if we'd have taken the 3 bed version of the room they were going to put us in they had wanted 40USD?!! She even rang the duty manager that checked us in and from the sounds of the conversation you could tell he was agreeing with what we wer telling her. They porter even said something which seemed to suggest he collaborated with us.

I suggested to her that we take a trip upstairs to compare the room she showed us vs. what they were trying to give us. At which point the manager said "OK. Same price. Just go."

A terrible experience, just don't even bother. There are some lovely hotels around that area for the same price.