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Luxury Imitates Art at Ho Chi Minh City’s Hôtel des Arts Saigon
Written by Nate Robinson
It’s all in the name: art-filled, audacious and achingly chic, Hôtel des Arts Saigon is as much gallery as hotel.
Hôtel des Arts Saigon is timeless. The hotel’s design smartly balances modern Vietnamese, French colonial and traditional Feng Shui influences to craft spaces that feel familiar yet fresh. Spacious Art Deco-inspired rooms and excellent views over historic Ho Chi Minh City cement Hôtel des Arts Saigon’s place among the city’s growing collection of top-notch luxury hotels.
What’s the neighbourhood like?
Hôtel des Arts Saigon boasts an unrivalled location in Ho Chi Minh City’s underrated District 3. Many of the city’s best sights are within easy walking distance including – Saigon Post Office, Ho Chi Minh Book Street, Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon, War Remnants Museum and the Independence Palace are all less than a 15-minute stroll away. The neighbourhood is crammed with local fashion markets, coffee shops, mindblowing pizza restaurants and upscale department stores; one of the city’s best beer gardens, Lalaland, is just a block away.
The hotel is located approximately 30 minutes’ drive from Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN).
Where am I sleeping?
My Deluxe Room (from A$225) features a wonderful king bed – trust me, Egyptian cotton sheets do make a difference – and a floor-to-ceiling arch window that offers sweeping views of the city below. Rosewood parquet floors stand in serious contrast to porcelain-white walls, themselves interrupted only by bright paintings and Art Deco finishes. The television, framed in gold, looks as if it had been snatched from the Louvre; not to be outmatched, the bathroom is all cool marble and glass. It’s spacious, and an included basket of fresh local fruit, nightly turndown service and an expansive pillow menu make it excellent value for money.
What’s on the menu?
The buffet breakfast at the light-filled Saigon Kitchen is excellent and includes the restaurant’s signature tea and coffee service – your order is taken as soon as you’ve sat down – and sweeping views over the motorbike traffic below. Beside a breathtaking arrangement of local fruits, a fresh juice bar stands ready to energise your day. An elaborate charcuterie station includes smoked seafood, cold cuts, soft cheeses and fresh salads. While Saigon Kitchen delivers a fine traditional Western breakfast of eggs and toast, curiosity is well rewarded: look around and you’ll find banh mi and pho stands (made to order and delivered to your table) and a fridge filled with coconuts, refreshingly cool to the touch.
For lunch, a poolside croque monsieur at Social Club Rooftop Bar is just the ticket. The hotel also serves a decadent high tea each afternoon at Cafes de Beaux-Arts on the ground floor (starting from approximately A$52; free-flow sparkling wine included) and a European-inspired a la carte dinner at Social Club Restaurant, tucked away on the hotel’s 23rd floor.
And how about drinks?
Social Club Rooftop Bar is open all day; the bar is directly connected to the rooftop infinity pool – and the adjoining Centec Tower, via the highest glass suspension bridge in Ho Chi Minh City – and keeps a laidback atmosphere. Drinks are expensive for Ho Chi Minh City standards (at approximately A$17 per cocktail): thankfully, a half-price Happy Hour runs from 3pm–7pm daily and includes a selection of local beers, wines, spirits and cocktails. I’m immediately hooked on the Dragon Slayer (local Lady Trieu gin, fresh dragon fruit, lime juice, peach and lychee).
I’ve visited at the height of the rainy season, and as storm clouds begin to rumble it feels uniquely romantic to drink so high in the sky. Before I know it, dusk has fallen, a DJ’s beginning their set and the city is awash in a blanket of bright neon. Spending an evening drinking on a rooftop bar is one of Ho Chi Minh City’s great delights; I don’t think I can recommend anywhere finer.
What are the facilities like?
The hotel lobby is cosy despite the high-vaulted ceilings, and comfortable chairs make it an excellent place to people-watch. A spacious driving lane, attended at all times by two ruthlessly efficient doormen, makes taxi pick-ups and drop-offs a breeze.
Le Spa des Artistes by L’Apothiquaire, positioned on the hotel’s third floor, is an oasis of calm in the famously hectic city; treatments start at approximately A$125 and may be arranged directly from the comfort of your room.
On checkout, we were immediately offered use of the hotel’s baggage storage service, and informed we were free to continue using the third-level showers, spa and sauna, as well as the rooftop pool (the highest rooftop infinity pool in the entire city).
What sets Hôtel des Arts Saigon apart?
The service was extraordinary. The hotel’s grand lobby doors are always attended to, bags are carried directly to your room and guests checking in are greeted with a chilled kumquat drink and cool towel. The concierge was helpful and knowledgeable, happily providing city maps, directions to the nearest good ATM and suggestions on where to visit next.
As we were wrapping up our final breakfast, an attendant – the same wonderful man who tipped me off about the iced coconuts – handed us a Hôtel des Arts Saigon-branded take-away bag. “Just in case you get delayed at the airport,” he said. “Take as many croissants as you like.”
Who will love Hôtel des Arts Saigon?
Those keen on discovering Ho Chi Minh’s electric nightlife will adore the rooftop bar, while those seeking a uniquely romantic escape will find much to love in the hotel’s old-world hospitality, hidden antique-filled nooks and spellbinding interior design. Interconnecting rooms are available on request. Hôtel des Arts Saigon feels like a decidedly adult affair, with the level of polish and creature comforts more suited to guests after the finer things in life.
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