Such is the shortage of quality accommodation in Hanoi that if the upcoming Apec summit in the city were to be moved forward a few months, some of US President George W. Bush's entourage might be forced to share low-rent hotel rooms with backpackers.
Authorities insist they will have the accommodation problem sorted out by the time the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum summit opens in November.
The solutions may include the use of luxury government villas, which are usually reserved for Vietnamese state officials.
However, whether the once-isolated developing country can cope with a continuing surge in foreign visitors remains another question. The World Travel and Tourism Council projects Vietnam will post the world's sixth-fastest growth over the next decade.
The number of visitors to Vietnam has already shot up from a trickle of 300,000 in 1991, about the time the communist government began to drop its reclusive post-war policies, to 3.5 million last year. That number is expected to soar to 6 million by 2010.
The result has been a scramble to keep pace, especially on hotel rooms.
Vietnamese media report that several high-profile Asian business groups had to be turned away last year owing to a lack of accommodation.