The Reverie Saigon: Inside Vietnam’s Most Spectacularly Extravagant Hotel

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There is a moment, somewhere between the airport arrivals hall and the hotel’s vaulted lobby, when Saigon stops being a place you’re visiting and becomes a place you belong. For us, that moment happened before we’d even left the curb at Tan Son Nhat Airport – a hotel representative in a sharply tailored suit was already waiting, holding a sign with our name, next to a gleaming Mercedes S-Class. If first impressions are everything, The Reverie Saigon understood the assignment before we even arrived.

This is my review of one of Ho Chi Minh City’s most talked-about five-star hotels – the address, the prices, the distances, the little rituals of luxury I didn’t expect – written for anyone weighing up whether Saigon (and this hotel in particular) deserves a spot on their travel list. Short answer: yes. Here’s why.

Where Is The Reverie Saigon? Address & Location

The Reverie Saigon occupies the top floors of the landmark Times Square Building, right at the intersection of the city’s two most storied boulevards: Times Square Building, 22–36 Nguyen Hue Boulevard & 57–69F Dong Khoi Street, Sai Gon Ward, Ho Chi Minh City

This is about as central as it gets in Ho Chi Minh City. The hotel sits within walking distance of the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Saigon Central Post Office, the Saigon Opera House, and the pedestrianised Nguyen Hue Walking Street, with Ben Thanh Market roughly a 10-minute stroll away. If you want to explore District 1 on foot after a day of sightseeing, you genuinely can – everything worth seeing is close by.

From Tan Son Nhat International Airport, the drive to the hotel takes just 10 to 20 minutes, depending on Saigon’s famously unpredictable traffic – making it one of the most convenient luxury stays in the city for travellers who don’t want to lose half a day to transit.

📍 Address: Times Square Building, 22–36 Nguyen Hue Boulevard & 57–69F Dong Khoi Street, Sai Gon Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
📞 Phone: +84 (0) 28 3823 6688

First Impressions: Airport to Hotel in a Mercedes S-Class

Let’s start where our stay actually started – at the airport. Guests are met by an Airport Representative dressed immaculately in a suit, standing out instantly amid the arrivals crowd. There’s no fumbling with taxi queues or ride-hailing apps; you’re simply greeted, your bags are taken care of, and you’re guided to a Mercedes S-Class or BMW 7 Series for the short ride into the city.

It felt luxurious from the second we saw it. That 10-to-20-minute transfer sets the tone for the entire stay – this is a hotel that has thought through every single touchpoint of the guest journey, not just the room itself.

The Grand Lobby: Where Italian Design Meets Vietnamese Soul

Nothing quite prepares you for walking into The Reverie Saigon’s lobby for the first time. Rising seven metres overhead, the vaulted ceiling frames a space where Italian design sensibility meets Vietnamese and Asian influence in a way that feels less like a hotel lobby and more like stepping into a private palazzo.

Look closely and you’ll spot the details that make this space genuinely one of a kind: a custom-made emerald-green Baldi Monumental clock, a five-metre Baroque-meets-Rococo sofa upholstered in purple ostrich leather with gilded trim (and, yes, set with a real amethyst stone), and vivid mosaic artwork by the Italian atelier Sicis lining the walls. Checking in here doesn’t feel like paperwork – it feels like an occasion.

It’s worth knowing that this level of craftsmanship runs through the entire property: The Reverie Saigon has partnered with heritage Italian design houses including Baldi (Florence, est. 1867), Poltrona Frau (Turin, est. 1912) and Giorgetti (Meda, est. 1898) to furnish its interiors, meaning even the furniture has a story behind it.

The Lounge Access Upgrade: Is It Worth It?

At check-in, our host mentioned an option we hadn’t planned for: paying an additional fee for lounge access, which unlocks a private experience including breakfast, afternoon tea, an evening dinner buffet, and unlimited drinks and cocktails throughout the day. If you’re the kind of traveller who likes to graze on excellent food and never think about a bar tab, it’s a genuinely tempting add-on worth budgeting for – particularly on a special-occasion trip. Ask about current club pricing when you book, as it’s typically offered as a per-night or full-stay supplement.

Riding Like Royalty: The Rolls-Royce & Bentley Experiences

This is the part of our stay that still doesn’t feel entirely real when we look back at the photos. Beyond the standard airport transfer, The Reverie Saigon offers chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce and Bentley limousine services as part of its ultra-luxury guest experiences – including a bespoke city tour served with champagne.

We booked the Saigon Discovery Tour, which departs from the lobby (Level 01) at 16:30 in a Rolls-Royce, champagne in hand as the city rolls by outside the window. The tour runs for 75 to 90 minutes, depending on traffic, and was priced at VND 8,155,000++ (roughly USD 320–330, subject to exchange rates and taxes/service charge).

The route is a genuinely well-curated introduction to old and new Saigon:

• Ben Thanh Market
• Chinatown via Vo Van Kiet Boulevard
• Hai Thuong Lan Ong traditional medicine street
• Binh Tay Market
• Thien Hau Pagoda
• Reunification Palace
• City Post Office
• Notre Dame Cathedral
• Saigon Opera House

Watching Saigon’s chaotic, beautiful streets glide past from the back of a Rolls-Royce, glass of champagne in hand, is one of those experiences that sounds excessive on paper and feels completely unforgettable in person. If you do one “extra” during your stay, make it this one.

Dining: Five Restaurants, One Standout – Long Trieu

The Reverie Saigon is home to five distinctive restaurants and bars, each built around a different culinary identity – from Café Cardinal’s contemporary French menu to The Long @ Times Square’s continental cuisine, Italian pizzas and handmade gelato.

We dined at Long Trieu, the hotel’s gourmet Cantonese restaurant, and it was, without exaggeration, one of the best meals of our trip. Elegant, softly lit, and precise in every plate that came out of the kitchen, it’s the kind of restaurant that could headline a standalone trip to Saigon. If you only book one dinner reservation during your stay, make it here.

The Spa & Outdoor Pool

Described as Vietnam’s most luxurious city spa, The Spa at The Reverie Saigon brings a European-inspired sense of calm to the middle of one of Southeast Asia’s most energetic cities. Paired with the hotel’s outdoor pool, it’s the natural counterbalance to a day spent exploring – think treatments that draw on both Asian and Western wellness traditions, in a setting as considered as the rest of the hotel.

Our Room: Grand Deluxe Twin, City View

We stayed in a Grand Deluxe Twin room with a city view, and it set an unusually high bar for what a five-star room should feel like. Highlights included:

• A generously proportioned layout (hotel rooms and suites here range from 43 to 313 square metres across 12 accommodation categories)
• A complimentary minibar – restocked daily, no surprise charges
• Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city
• Italian-designed furnishings and finishes throughout

Across the property, The Reverie Saigon offers 286 guestrooms and 89 full-service residential-style suites, making it one of the more spacious luxury stays in the city – a real point of difference if you’ve stayed in more cramped high-rise hotels elsewhere in Asia.

The Staff

I could write an entire section on individual staff interactions, but the short version is this: every single team member I encountered, from the doorman to the servers at Long Trieu, went noticeably out of their way to help – remembering preferences, anticipating requests, and never once making five-star service feel stiff or performative. It’s the kind of hospitality that’s genuinely hard to fake, and it’s a huge part of why this hotel has earned its reputation.

Recognition & Design Pedigree

A few details worth knowing if you like your luxury verified: The Reverie Saigon has been named Best Iconic Luxury Hotel of the Year, holds Forbes verification, and is a member of The Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) Leaders Club loyalty programme – meaning frequent LHW guests can earn and redeem points here. The hotel’s interiors also reflect an unprecedented collaboration between Italian design houses and Vietnamese craftsmanship, a detail that becomes obvious the moment you start looking closely at the furniture, lighting and marble underfoot.

What Does It Cost? A Realistic Budget

The Reverie Saigon sits firmly in Ho Chi Minh City’s ultra-luxury bracket, and rates fluctuate significantly by season, room category and promotions, so always check current pricing directly with the hotel before booking. As a general guide for planning purposes:

• Entry-level rooms typically start in the low-to-mid hundreds of US dollars per night (dry season / weekday rates tend to sit lower than peak weekends and holidays)
• Suites and residential-style accommodation climb considerably higher given their scale (up to 313 sqm)
• Club access (breakfast, afternoon tea, evening buffet, unlimited drinks) is an optional supplement worth asking about at booking
• The Rolls-Royce Saigon Discovery Tour: VND 8,155,000++ for 75–90 minutes

Given the level of design, service and unusually spacious rooms, most guests find the price justified – particularly for a milestone trip, honeymoon, or special celebration.

When Is the Best Time to Visit Saigon?

Ho Chi Minh City has a tropical climate with two clear seasons, and picking the right window makes a real difference to your trip.

Dry season (December to April) is widely considered the best time to visit. Temperatures average around 28°C (82°F), humidity is lower, and rainfall is minimal – ideal conditions for exploring the city on foot, taking that Rolls-Royce tour with the windows cracked open, and adding day trips to the Mekong Delta or Cu Chi Tunnels while the ground is dry.

Wet season (May to November) brings Saigon’s classic tropical downpours, typically short, heavy afternoon showers rather than all-day rain. The rainiest stretch tends to fall between July and October, with monthly rainfall commonly exceeding 250–300mm. Temperatures stay warm year-round, generally ranging from the mid-20s to low 30s°C (77–91°F), even in the “cooler” months of December and January.

If your priority is comfortable sightseeing weather and dry evenings on the hotel’s terrace, aim for January to March – the sweet spot between festive December crowds and the building heat and humidity of April and May.

Why Saigon Deserves a Spot on Your Travel List

Ho Chi Minh City doesn’t ease you in gently – it’s loud, layered, historic and constantly moving, all at once. Staying somewhere like The Reverie Saigon gives you a genuinely restorative base to return to after a day spent navigating markets, motorbikes, war history and world-class food, without ever losing sight of where you are: this is still, unmistakably, Saigon, just filtered through Italian marble and seven-metre ceilings.

If you’re planning a trip to Vietnam and want one stay that captures the country’s contradictions – old and new, chaotic and refined, Eastern and European – start here.

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Quick Facts: The Reverie Saigon

Address	Times Square Building, 22–36 Nguyen Hue Blvd & 57–69F Dong Khoi St, Sai Gon Ward, Ho Chi Minh City
Phone	+84 (0) 28 3823 6688
Airport transfer	10–20 minutes from Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN)
Rooms & suites	286 rooms, 89 suites; 43–313 sqm across 12 categories
Restaurants & bars	5, including Long Trieu, Café Cardinal, The Long @ Times Square
Signature experience	Rolls-Royce Saigon Discovery Tour, VND 8,155,000++, 75–90 mins
Best time to visit	December–April (dry season, ~28°C, low rainfall)
Loyalty programme	The Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) Leaders Club

Rates, tour pricing and package inclusions change seasonally – always confirm current details directly on The Reverie Saigon website before booking.