[imagesource: Facebook/Hanoi Golden Lake]

These days, when one thinks of a golden toilet (or a golden shower), Donald Trump might be the first thing that comes to mind.

Trump Tower, and Trump’s gaudy apartment in it, is known for being gold-gilded in a way that makes you feel like you’re looking at the living space equivalent of one of those gold chains on a greasy mob boss in an 1980s action film.

I’m sure I don’t need to explain the golden shower reference.

Trump’s gold toilet is, however, no longer the best gold toilet (nothing like it, best in the world, everybody’s saying it, Fox News called it…), because they’ve just opened the world’s first gold-plated hotel in Vietnam.

Condé Nast Traveller with more:

The all-new gilded Dolce Hanoi Golden Lake has opened its doors to guests even amid the pandemic, and the gold service includes coffee in a 24kt mug and a bath in a tub plated with gold.

The 25-story hotel stands in the central district of Hanoi along the Giang Vo lake. It proclaims itself as the first gold-plated hotel and was built at a cost of $200 million dollars.

Very few things are spared the golden treatment. Smatterings of gold are seen all across–in the lobby, on the tiles of the beautiful infinity pool that overlooks the city, the cutlery, showerheads, bathtubs, sinks, taps and even the toilet seats!

The hotel owners say that you shouldn’t be surprised if you find gold in your food. Judging by this picture of the food, you’d have to be pretty dim to be surprised:

Before you drop insane amounts of money on a gold-encrusted whatever that thing is, you should probably know that edible gold leaf tastes like paper.

Will you have to fork out a bar of gold for a room? Not really. Starting from $250 (Rs18,600), a room at the gold-plated hotel comes for less than most big-city luxury hotels in India.

The presidential suite offers sweeping views of the Giang Vo lake, and is equipped with gold-plated appliances, bathtub and a private sauna. Now, all we need is a flight to Vietnam.

That’s only R4 300 for a room. It’s pricey, but not that pricey all things considered.

The hotel wants everyone from “ordinary people to the super-rich to check-in”.

Livemint spoke to a few of the guests to get a feel for the place:

“When I arrived here… I felt like a king, you know, the Pharaoh… the king of Egypt,” joked Phillip Park, a South Korean guest.

“I really enjoyed the luxury atmosphere,” added Vietnamese guest Luong Van Thuan, saying he felt his status had automatically been “raised”.

The relatively modest construction price tag was achieved by sourcing the gold plating locally — significantly reducing costs.

Take a video tour to really get a sense of the grandeur:

If that’s your thing, you’ll be able to stay there once this whole pandemic mess has cleared up, provided you have a couple thousand to throw around.

Not my first choice, but to each, their own.

[source:condenaste&livemint]