Ho Chi Minh

Saigon Fushion Original Hotel

May 10, 2023May 10, 2023Posted in Ho Chi Minh, Hotels Vietnam, VietnamTagged Fushion Original Saigon, Ho Chi Minh, hotelLeave a comment

The Saigon Fushion Original is a 5 star hotel on top of of the Saigon Centre. It is located in District 1, just next to the Ben Thanh Market, The Opera House and the Cathedral, which makes it super convenient.

We had a 2 bedroom suite on the 22nd floor, and it was perfect for our family, with a small kitchenette and also a living room next to the 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The mini-bar was free, but the best part was the pantry (there was one for each floor), where snacks, fruit and fresh coffee was available 24/7. The breakfast, served on the 26th floor, was so good and there was also a pool, a gymnastik and an amazing view of the city.

In the basement of the Saigon Centre is a large foodhall by Takashimaya, so lots of Japanese and Korean options as well as Vietnamse street food, a supermarket and much more. We had so many meals here to be honest.

The girls didn’t want to leave this place, ’cause as they said “it has everything”. Baby Ellen had a cold and a high feber, so we had to run by a doctor, but she was fine, and luckily the suites was so spacious that it didn’t feel too bad staying in with her. Value for money here was top dollar. We would love to come back here any time.

ps. The Saigon Fushion Original has a sister hotel called The Saigon Suites that we went to first upon arrival to Ho Chi Minh, as we thought it was the hotel we booked. The Saigon Suites is also a very nice hotel, and for the record, we wouldn’t have minded staying here either…

Saigon River Resort

May 10, 2023May 10, 2023Posted in Ho Chi Minh, Hotels Vietnam, VietnamTagged Saigon River ResortLeave a comment

The Saigon River Resort is a very special place. I have wanted to come here ever since we were in Ho Chi Minh back in 2016. As I hadn’t been in Ho Chi Minh before, I did a “safe” choice, and chose a hotel in District 1. But this small piece of paradise is just a 20-minute boat ride up the River and so worth that small trip. It feels like you arrived for a jungle stay, but really you are just around the corner from the hutle and buste of the city centre.

This resort is also owned by An Lam as the resort we stayed at in Ninh van Bay, so locally owned and as with the Ninh van Bay resort, it is build from local materials and the food is either from their own organic garden or locally sourced.

We stayed here for 3 nights and just relaxed by the pool or hung out at the restaurant or by the pier (one day we even did a little fishing). We could easily have taken the boat to town, as it went several times a day complimentary. However, we had already had some days int he city centre, and we just wanted to have some quiet days before going back home. The resort is just 30 minutes from the airport, so that is also very convenient.

Everywhere it was so lush and green, with lots of shade and a little brise (which was not the case in the city centre). The spa was a dream and the rooms/villas were very large. We couldn’t have imagined a better way to end our 1 month long stay in Vietnam.

If you every go to Ho Chi Minh a stay at the River Resort comes with the absolut highest recommandation, as a perfect place to get rid of jetlag, get a unique experience or just wind down (like we did) before going back home/further on your vacation.

May 10, 2023May 10, 2023Posted in Ho Chi Minh, VietnamTagged Ho Chi Minh, sightseeing, VietnamLeave a comment

Ho Chi Minh city, formerly known as Saigon, is the capital of South Vietnam. It is also the largest city in the country with more than 9 million people living here. It is super busy, and during rush hours the 7,3 million scooters are very visible in the streets.

The strangest thing here is (as in Hanoi and other cities in Vietnam) that to cross the street, you have to just “trust the system” and walk over, even though it doesn’t seem as the scooters or cars are holding back for you – but they actually will stop (or drive around you) as you cross. It is something that seems nerve wrecking every single time, especially crossing the street with children.

Ho Chi Minh feels both like a Metropolitan city, but it also has a very “old Vietnam feel” at the same time, as it is skyskrabers next to street vendors in a mix.

As we have been here before, we didn’t “tourist” too much around, but hung out and tried to escape some of that very hot weather (40 degrees). The last time we were here, we went to the War Remnant Museum, the Museum of Modern art, The Reunification Palace and Cu Chi Tunnels (I wrote about this in earlier blog posts ;-)).

So this time we spend time at the Ben Thanh Market, had lots of street food, hung out in some of the best mails (for the air con benefits) and also went by the flower market an early morning.

We really wanted to see the floating river flower market, however, it is unfortunately only during the Lunar New Year season it can be experienced (December-January).