A Historic Treasure in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

The oldest hotel in Vietnam, built in Saigon in the late 1870s to accommodate French colonial tourists on sea cruises, is still one of the premier places to stay in all of Southeast Asia.

The Hotel Continental Saigon doesn’t try to compete with the luxury brands of the 21st century. But for travelers in search of the historic flavor of past eras without compromising the comforts of the modern-day, there is simply no better place in what we now know as Ho Chi Minh City.

If you read The Quiet American by Graham Greene or saw the movie starring a perfectly cast Michael Caine (or an earlier version with Michael Redgrave), you already know the Continental. Greene wrote much of the book — set amidst the transition of power in Vietnam in the early 1950s from French colonists to U.S. “advisors” — while staying in Room 214 of the hotel.

With íts high ceilings and polished rosewood furniture, it would have been a great perch, overlooking the handsome Municipal Opera House and the broad sweep of Rue Catinat, as the avenue was then known.

Today that street is called Dong Khoi, but it remains a vital seven-block-long artery in the city of 9 million people. At one end is the lofty Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Grand Central Post Office, originally designed by Gustave Eiffel. To the south, beyond the French-era Hôtel de Ville and later colonial inns, is the muddy Sông Sài Gòn, the Saigon River.

Throughout the years, the Continental has never lost its elegance nor its dignity. Doormen continue to greet new arrivals, who enter the hotel off Lam Son Square facing the still-majestic Opera House.

Spacious seating highlights the broad lobby, which opens on one side to a set of upscale jewelry and art shops. Friendly reception clerks speak good English; they direct guests to a broad staircase or a pair of elevators to ascend to their 80 rooms (including 30 suites) on upper levels.

On the west side of the lobby, nearer to Dong Khoi, is Le Bourgeois, a sidewalk café with an eclectic international menu that serves as the hotel’s principal restaurant. It was a favorite gathering place for foreign journalists during the Vietnam War — or the “American War” as it is known in this country.

Especially in the early 1970s, when many of its tables were set up as miniature broadcast stations, the bistro was half-jokingly known as Radio Catinat. Today, guests at those same tables can watch a passing cavalcade of Porsches, BMWs, and Rolls-Royces arriving at the hotel and the Opera House.

Through the lobby, the Continental Palace Restaurant and Patio features an open-air inner courtyard when an international breakfast buffet is served daily. It is particularly remarkable for its trio of frangipani trees. Planted in 1880, they continue to offer color and shade even today.

The Continental offers six styles of rooms, all of them spacious, with ceilings 13 feet high and brick walls thick enough to minimize the effect of tropical heat. Its original architects designed the property for the climate, taking natural light and prevailing breezes into account.

Each guest room overlooks the Opera House or city skyline — or, for those not fond of early-morning light, the frangipani courtyard.

When the hotel underwent íts first and only major restoration in 1986, under the direction of the state-owned Saigontourist Holding Company group, an outdoor swimming pool, rejuvenating spa, and standard fitness gym were drawn into the plans. Contemporary guests are more than grateful.

But some things never change: The original tile roof, over 140 years old, still slants gently toward the Opera House.

–John Gottberg