The Sofitel Legend brand partners with UNESCO: potters, coffee and an imperial citadel, starting in Hanoi

The Sofitel Legend brand, which brings together five historic hotels in the Accor group, announced on 26 October 2026 a worldwide partnership with UNESCO to make cultural heritage part of the journey. The programme starts at Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary: a workshop with potters, a coffee meditation and a private visit to the imperial citadel are among the experiences on offer. Neither the length nor the value of the agreement has been made public.

☰Contents

1. Four commitments, with no term or budget
2. Your loyalty points, donated to UNESCO
3. Hanoi first, as the Metropole turns 125
4. Coffee, potters, a citadel: what’s on offer?
5. Five hotels today, ten targeted by 2030
6. From Hanoi to Amsterdam: €404 to 461 a night

Four commitments, with no term or budget

The agreement covers built heritage, living heritage (craft skills, oral traditions, performing arts) and natural heritage. It rests on four commitments set out in the brand’s announcement:

• Artisans: the hotels will work with artisans, makers and heritage professionals identified through UNESCO’s networks.
• Staff training, starting with concierges, on the history and living heritage of each destination, drawing on UNESCO’s technical expertise.
• Cultural bridges within the hotels: exhibitions, artistic encounters, creations by local artisans.
• Voluntary donations from guests to UNESCO, through the ALL Accor Charity platform.

The brand is also committing to UNESCO biosphere reserves, areas recognised for their wildlife, plant life and landscapes. However, neither the term nor the value of the agreement has been disclosed, nor has the list of sites that will benefit.

“Our alliance with UNESCO reflects a deep conviction: luxury hospitality must extend beyond accommodation to become a true bridge between cultures. At Sofitel Legend, we have the privilege of caring for places shaped by History with a capital H,” explains Maud Bailly, CEO of Sofitel Legend, Sofitel, MGallery and Emblems.

Your loyalty points, donated to UNESCO

The financial side runs through guests. On ALL Accor Charity, members of the ALL Rewards programme will be able to donate their loyalty points to UNESCO. The announcement does not say which sites or projects these donations will go to. The same ALL Accor programme has published a study on what travellers want, carried out in seven countries.

“Heritage lives on through the communities that pass it down. With Sofitel Legend, we want to bring visitors closer to artisans and tradition bearers, while supporting the transmission of know-how and creating job and income opportunities for local people,” says Julien Pellaux, director of partnerships at UNESCO.

Hanoi first, as the Metropole turns 125

The programme begins at Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, opened in 1901. The signing was photographed there on 21 October 2026, with Maud Bailly and Jonathan Baker, head of office and UNESCO representative in Vietnam; the experiences were designed with the UNESCO office in Hanoi.

The hotel has 358 rooms and suites, split between the historic Heritage wing and the Opera wing, in the Hoan Kiem district. The programme will then be extended, step by step, to all the brand’s hotels and adapted to each destination. The Vietnamese capital is drawing other groups too: Minor Hotels will open a 310-key Avani+ there in 2028.

Coffee, potters, a citadel: what’s on offer?

The announcement mentions five cultural experiences but describes only three, all in Hanoi and given as examples.

The Hanoi Coffee Journey is a coffee meditation led by experts from Trung Nguyen Coffee. The setting suits it: the hotel created its Egg Coffee, a coffee topped with an egg-yolk cream, in 1946.

Just 30 minutes from Hanoi, the potters’ village of Bát Tràng welcomes guests for half a day: a museum visit, a traditional lunch and a ceramics workshop with a master artisan.

Finally, the Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long, a World Heritage site, can be visited with an expert: access to remains and objects usually closed to the public, and a presentation of the archaeological digs under way.

Five hotels today, ten targeted by 2030

Founded in 2009, Sofitel Legend today has five addresses: The Grand Amsterdam, Casco Viejo Panama, Santa Clara Cartagena, Metropole Hanoi and People’s Grand Hotel Xi’an, in China. It aims for ten by 2030. All of them stand in or near World Heritage sites, from the canals of Amsterdam to the walled city of Cartagena and Panama’s Casco Viejo.

In Colombia, the Santa Clara occupies a restored 17th-century convent, with 126 rooms and suites, Restaurant 1621, a Sofitel Spa and a pool. In Amsterdam, The Grand was a convent in the 15th century, then a royal residence, the seat of the Dutch Admiralty and the city hall.

Maud Bailly also runs Sofitel, the sister brand: in Paris, the Sofitel Le Scribe hotel is home to the first Maison de Thé Dilmah, near the Opéra.

From Hanoi to Amsterdam: €404 to 461 a night

We checked prices on 26 October 2026 on ALL Accor, the official booking site, for the night of 1 to 2 December 2026: two adults, cheapest room, taxes included.