Where to Stay?
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- Renaissance Riverside Hotel Saigon |
Renaissance Riverside Hotel Saigon
Country: Vietnam
City: Ho Chi Minh City
Date: June 18 – 20, 2015
City: Ho Chi Minh City
Date: June 18 – 20, 2015
![]() Thanks to an immediate trip to Ho Chi Minh City, I had to book a hotel without any knowledge in the city but luckily I had found Renaissance Riverside Hotel Saigon under my Marriot, IHG, and Hilton radar screen before flying to Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN) from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport. After landing SGN at nine o’clock in the morning, I was easily able to hail a taxi to the hotel while a female driver drove safely in between Vietnam’s typical motorcycle commuters. By slightly after 10 o’clock or after less than a 30-minute ride, I arrived in the hotel and was escorted to the executive lounge for my check-in process.
It was still a quarter past 10 o’clock in the morning but a lounge receptionist tried his best to accommodate me into any available room without any hesitation on his face. Soon later, he checked me in one of the rooms on the executive floor and sent me to the room a few walks away. The room was clean and tidy but a bit outdated, which did not really matter and was within my understanding. The executive lounge is located on the 18th floor and you will enjoy the river views through the windows but it is not like Shanghai’s magnificent river views. In the evening, the evening hour is prepared. A variety of choices of mini dishes from Vietnamese satay to Japanese sushi are nicely served in the kitchen tables. Nationalities of the lounge guests were mainly American and Japanese when I stayed while both countries have been generously investing this city as a form of foreign direct investment. ![]() (L) Vietnamese-style o’devours as well as western dishes are served during the evening hours in the executive lounge. (C) The spacious lounge accommodates foreign business travelers every evening. (R) A river view from the executive lounge. The view resembles Shanghai’s Huangpu River without skyscrapers.
Room is clean and well equipped, including a wider couch by the window. If your room is given to the riverside, you will have a decent view of empty land right behind the river, where it may become the future metropolis, like today’s Pudong financial district in Shanghai. Nearby the hotel, subway construction is underway and this will definitely create greater people mobility to generate further economic growth in the city upon the completion. As mentioned in the article, “Starbucks in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: Green Mermaid Joins Asia’s Biggest Coffee-Oriented City,” Vietnam’s GDP grows more than 5 percent annually over the past decade. This hotel is conveniently located in the District 1 downtown, where most tourist attractions are within walking distance. The Vietnam War Remnants Museum, which probably interests foreign tourists, is about 20 to 30 minute walk from the hotel. Some may think it is far enough to walk but it is going to be a nice walk to enjoy several tourist spots on the way, such as Opera House, Vincom Center Shopping Mall, Reunification Palace, Saigon Post Office, Notre Dame Cathedral, and several Starbucks stores. If you start off your walk at 10 am, you will visit most of those by the evening and you can enjoy the cooler evening at one of your favorite outside bars nearby the hotel through the night.
On the top floor of Renaissance, there is a rooftop pool that you can also enjoy the amazing view of Ho Chi Minh City but mostly the riverside. Along with the pool, a gym is available to set you work out 24/7 so that you are in good shape until you check out. As always, you can ask for a late checkout if your flight departs late evening. They are happy to help such need as most international branded hotels in the city also do so to accommodate foreign guests pleasantly.
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