AAMAS 2027 in Hanoi: Travel Guide

AAMAS 2027 runs from 3 to 7 May 2027 at the JW Marriott Hotel Hanoi. It is the 26th edition of the main conference for autonomous agents and multiagent systems, and the first time in several years that it has been held in Southeast Asia, after Auckland, Detroit and Cyprus.

If you have not been to Hanoi before, there is one decision that matters more than all the others, and it is easy to get wrong.

The venue is not where you think Hanoi is

The JW Marriott is in Nam Tu Liem, in the newer western districts, next to the National Convention Centre. That is where large conferences in Hanoi land, because that is where the big meeting space is.

The Hanoi you have seen in photographs, the one with the narrow streets and the lake and the motorbikes, is the Old Quarter, about 8 km east. Those are not the same place and they do not feel remotely alike.

This matters because the instinct is to book the Old Quarter. It is the famous part, the guidebooks lead with it, and the hotels there are cheaper and more characterful. But 8 km in Hanoi is not 8 km anywhere else. Traffic is dominated by motorbikes, and a cross-city trip at the wrong hour can take 40 minutes each way. Do that twice a day for five days and you have spent most of a working day in a Grab car.

Neither side is the wrong answer. Booking one without realising you have made a choice is.

Where to stay

Distances are from the JW Marriott, with the Old Quarter distance alongside.

On the venue side. JW Marriott Hotel Hanoi (details) is the conference venue, so the commute is a lift. It is the simplest answer if you are here to work and it will fill first. Grand Plaza Hanoi Hotel (details) is the nearest alternative at 1.6 km, a five minute ride. Crowne Plaza West Hanoi Residences (details) at 2.9 km has kitchens and washing machines in the units, which is the one to take for a long stay or if you are travelling with family.

In between. Lotte Hotel Hanoi (details) sits at 4.3 km from the venue and 3.9 km from the Old Quarter, which is as close to splitting the difference as Hanoi allows. It occupies the upper floors of the Lotte tower, so the views are the point. If you want to do sessions by day and the old city at night without committing to either end, this is the compromise.

In the Old Quarter and French Quarter. All of these are 7 to 8 km from the venue and within about a kilometre of Hoan Kiem Lake. Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi (details) is the 1901 colonial grande dame and the most famous hotel in the country. Hotel de l’Opera Hanoi - MGallery (details) sits beside the Opera House. La Siesta Classic Ma May (details) is in the middle of the 36 streets and consistently one of the best-rated mid-range hotels in Hanoi. Church Boutique Hotel Hang Trong (details) is the budget pick, near the cathedral, and the sensible option for a student on a stipend.

The full list is on the Hanoi city page, and the conference-rate question is covered here.

A suggestion rather than a rule: if this is your first time in Vietnam, book the venue side for the conference nights and move to the Old Quarter for two or three nights afterwards. You get the short commute while it matters and the city while you can enjoy it, and Hanoi hotels are cheap enough that two bookings will not hurt.

Getting in

Noi Bai International (HAN) is about 27 km north of the centre, which sounds far and is, but the road is good and the airport is modern. Reckon on 40 to 50 minutes to the western districts and slightly more to the Old Quarter, and longer at peak.

There is no rail link. Grab is the default for everything in Hanoi, both cars and motorbike taxis, and it removes the fare negotiation that otherwise comes with taxis. Install it and set up payment before you land.

Hanoi’s international connections have improved a lot but most routes still involve a change in Singapore, Bangkok, Seoul, Doha or Hong Kong. For a conference on the other side of the world from most AAMAS attendees, check whether you need a visa early. Vietnam’s e-visa system is straightforward but it is not instant, and it is the sort of thing that is easy to leave until it is a problem.

Early May is at the wrong end of the good season

Worth setting expectations. Hanoi’s comfortable window is October to April, and the best of it is November to January at 15 to 22C. AAMAS falls in early May, which is the start of the warm, humid stretch running into the summer rains.

Expect high twenties to low thirties Celsius, high humidity, and a real chance of heavy afternoon downpours. It is not unbearable, but it is not the crisp Hanoi of the postcards either. Pack for heat and rain rather than for spring, and plan outdoor sightseeing for the mornings.

Between sessions

The Old Quarter is the reason to come early or stay late. The 36 streets are the historic trade quarter, each originally dedicated to one craft, and the names still carry them: Hang Bac for silver, Hang Gai for silk. It is best explored on foot with no particular plan.

Hoan Kiem Lake sits at the edge of it with Ngoc Son Temple on an island reached by a red bridge, and at weekends the surrounding roads close to traffic entirely, which is the only time central Hanoi is quiet.

The street food is the main event and Hanoi’s is among the best in Asia. Pho originated in the north and is a breakfast dish here. Bun cha, grilled pork with noodles and herbs, is the Hanoi speciality worth going out of your way for. Egg coffee, condensed milk and whipped egg yolk over strong coffee, sounds wrong and is not.

Further out, the Temple of Literature is Vietnam’s first university, founded in 1070, and the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology is the best museum in the city and unusually close to the conference venue rather than the centre, which makes it the easy afternoon if you are staying on the western side.

One note on the deadline

At the time of writing the AAMAS 2027 submission deadline is listed as early October 2026, to be confirmed. That is roughly six weeks out and not yet a fixed date, so if you are planning to submit, watch the official site rather than relying on last year’s pattern. Several third-party trackers already quote specific October dates that the conference itself has not published.