The Caravelle Hotel
by biawak about The Caravelle Hotel
As we paid through the Saigontourist travel bureau, we paid a package deal for 4 nights and 3 days of tours together. We ended up paying less than USD100.00 per day (for 2 persons), including the tours etc. EVERYTHING ELSE in the hotel is VERY EXPENSIVE. For example a Coke is about 50,000 Dongs after tax (about USD3.30), about 12 times the price in a supermarket. Very nice 5 star hotel with reasonable rates.
Book ahead through the travel agents to get the best deal! Do not just walk in, you'll get nailed!
Best place in HCMC
by anilegna88 about Park Hyatt
hate to join the chorus of praise for Park Hyatt but it really is the best, I tried throughout my whole stay to think of one bad thing I can say about this place and I guess the only thing I can say is that the bathtub is a bit small and there was one strand of hair in it (which I flushed down with the showerhead) + the only shop that was opened was a cigar shop.
what makes this hands down the best place to stay is the EXCELLENT service, whoever is training the staff here should go and train hotel staff at all the other park hyatt hotels as well, in addition to checking in in your own room, the one time that I went downstairs to remagnitize my card (actually I remembered the wrong room #), the front desk girl walked me up to my room. This morning when I checked out, the front desk boy walked me out to the car, while the bellboy handled my luggage, all this at 4 a.m. in the morning, while someone was playing the piano in the lobby lounge. When I mentioned I liked something in the room and wanted to buy 3 pieces of it (Vietnamese coffee filter), they were wrapped up and delivered to my room pronto.
Food at Square one is excellent, unlike many restaurants that have mediocre wine by the glass choices, Square one had excellent choices, and is beautifully designed (the kind of restaurant you'd expect to see in Wallpaper magazine)
for anyone interested in Vietnamese art, the painting throughout the hotel rival those of any Hanoi /Ho An art gallery
in terms of location, this hotel is smack in the middle of everything and across the street from the previously #1 Caravelle Hotel. The hotel car pick up at the airport also is not bad at US$28 (and they are brand new mercedes benzes)
I enjoyed Northern and Central Vietnam more vs. HCMC but every second at Park Hyatt was worth every penny of my hard earned money old colonial Viet-Franch retro exterior but smart ambience (ie Ceiling fans, shuttered windows), used to be an opera house
Photos
Fancy Coffee, Caravelle Hotel
View of Saigon River from Caravelle Hotel
Forum Posts
5-star hotel recommendations in HCMC
by Marcialina
Kindly advise for good location at HCMC of newly built 5-star hotel? Must be convenient for shopping and eating places. Kindly advise the air quality in the city too. Where would be good place for "Pho"?
Re: 5-star hotel recommendations in HCMC
by swiftfoot
for location, caravelle hotel at dong khoi street is receommended. breakfast is quite hectic though
sofitel is a good choice too if you con't mind walking under the sun, or waiting for a taxi. the rate is a bit lower than caravelle.
Re: 5-star hotel recommendations in HCMC
by swiftfoot
Pho 2000 near Ben Thanh market (its claim to fame is Bill Clinton ate pho there); or try Wrap & Roll near Caravelle Hotel.
Re: 5-star hotel recommendations in HCMC
by JonnyVN
The best two are the Park Hyatt or Sheraton (caravelle in need of a lick of paint, and also charging ridiculous prices at present). Another, and cheaper, up market is Riverside Renaissance. Stayed or have put friends in all 3 and all are great and right smack in the centre of town.
The best place to get Pho is Hanoi (sorry all the Saigonese, but this is a northern dish and they just do it better), but you should try the Southern dish Banh Xeo, delicious
JOnny
