We stayed here in January 2012. It was very cold and rainy when we were there and it was very very cold in the hotel. We only got a small heater in the room which only gives direct heat. Therefore we could not warm our room properly and the whole room was damp of the cold and rain. We could also not dry our clothes properly because of the damp in the room and the fact that we did not have a proper heater.
The dining room was also very cold and they only had a local heater which did not work properly either. The staff was also not informative. We booked a tour with them through our hotel in Hanoi and the hotel staff at Royal Hotel only informed us on the time we should be down, but for example did not tell us we had to check out. So we went down without our luggage and then they told us we had to check out. And to top it all the guide was then annoyed with us and told us us to hurry up. That was very annoying.
Further, food in the hotel is ok, but there are way better places to eat in Sapa than in the hotel. Also, the staff is not very friendly. We ordered a set dinner option and then they brought out a totally different set menu. When we said we ordered something else, the first reaction of the waitress was that her brother was already cooking so we should eat it. We refused and then eventually we did get the correct menu.

All in all, I would not recommend this hotel or the tour organised by the hotel. There are many hotels in Sapa which are better than this one. Especially when the weather is as bad as it was when we were there.

Part of our trip included Sa Pa.
We stayed at the Royal Sa Pa as arranged by our tour opporator.
The food was fantastic, and the highlite of the hotel; unfortunately that is where it ends.
We found the staff to be young and likely inexperienced. They were more interested in playing computer games than in serving us. One meal we saw the waitress once, when she took our orders, and someone else delivered them. The music was the asian version of Titanic on repeat, with the sound effects of the computer game she was playing coming through the same speakers. The room was average with no real problems but no real comfort either. There was no hot water, only a luke warm trickle for 5-7 minutes at a time. If not for the food, this would have been a most miserable experience.

Staying at this hotel and touring in Sa Pa by the hotel as an arrangement by the travel agent in Hanoi. Arriving 7 am, the rooms were not ready until 9 am while at 9.30 am we should pack for the cat cat village track.
Information we got from the agent, after doing 3 km tracking at Cat Village, the car should be ready to pick us up back to the hotel, while they did not do it, until we complaint and made a phone call to our agent in Hanoi.
7 pm at night, the front office guy just stepped into our room, talking with loud voice and wandering around our room, while we asked why did he do that he stayed quiet.
They did not inform us we could rent the boot and raincoat to do the tracking there, while the other hotel gave the good information.
Return to hanoi, they just left us at the station without giving any ticket confirmation. Luckily we have traveled around by ourselves manytimes so we know what we had to do.

We have informed our agent in Hanoi about this, and he has contacted them about the tour arrangement they have given us - why they did not send the car to pick us up back to the hotel from cat village, and they just got in to our room at night very rude, they DID NOT ADMIT that. They said it was not happened.

For sure, there will me no more time to stay at this hotel, and i will not recommend any friends of mine to stay at this hotel or having tour arrangement from this hotel.

To see what they do - they treat the western travelers nicely, while they treat asians traveler very bad. We pay the same for the hotel and the tour but they give different service to the customers.

It was not happened only to us, while we met some other people who stayed at this hotel from Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, they also had the same experience like us. They cheated us as much as they can.

Any budget traveller looking for a great view in Sapa needs to stay at the royal. Ask for a corner room, as you will have a city view and a second patio with a view of the mountains. The staff were nicer than other trip advisor revers suggest, just be nice to them and they will be nice to you. ( simple south east Asia rule)
Grab a couple local cheap corner store beers and enjoy the view from your own patio!!