my husband and i stayed here for 4 nights and were very pleased with the hotel, staff are very friendly and helpful, rooms are gorgeous and huge (we booked a delux) and the hotel is very central, walking distance to the opera house, town hall and the river and about a 15 min walk to ben than market, be aware though we stayed in HCMC during the lunar new year which was great the celebrations were amazing, but about 90% of shops and attractions close for the new year and not just for 1 or 2 days but for 4/5 days, my husband and i walked the ben than market 3 days after the new year and only about 10% of stalls were open, we saw many tourists like us just wandering around the city, all the bars and restaurants remain open which is fine for the evenings, but not too much to do during the day. We spent a few days round the pool area which looks amazing but the only downfall was the lack of sun, my husband and i like to sunbathe but because the pool is on the 7th floor and the hotel itself is 20+ floors as is the sheraton next to it, the pool area only got sun for about an hour and half out of the day, for the rest of the day it was blocked by the hotels, obviously it was not cold, but still when on holiday you do want to feel the sun on your body.
The roof top bar was also a bit of a dissappointment, we went up for one after a night out and most of the bar was actually under a roof and only a few seats and tables outside, my husband and i have also stayed at the Rex, and the roof bar and the pool area are much better although the rooms are not as nice, but if we return to HCMC we would stay in the rex over the caravelle, which is a shame because the hotel is lovely and the buffet breakfast is amazing.....so much choice. Maybe if we visited when the new year was not happening we may not of noticed the problem with the pool because we would be out most of the day sight seeing, but if you like to sunbathe i would not recommned staying here.
- Caravelle Ho Chi Minh City
- Caravelle Hotel Saigon
