Park Hyatt Saigon

Staying at the Park Hyatt Saigon, you may be smack-dab in the middle of downtown Ho Chi Minh City, but inside, you wouldn’t know. Enclosed within a stately, French Colonial-style facade, the honking motorbikes and buzz of the city center fade away. That is, until you venture out into the fray to take advantage of the hotel’s spectacular location, with many of the city’s top landmarks—like the Opera House and Notre Dame Cathedral—just minutes away. 

While it may seem an old grand dame, this 245-room property is, in fact, a sophisticated modern urban sanctuary. The Indochine facade only dates from 2005, but it blends in splendidly with the city center’s historic structures. Inside, photos and decor nod to Vietnamese and French Saigon history, bringing heritage touches to the elegant, classical rooms. Sit down at an ornate wood desk to pen postcards about your travels, and wash away the humidity in pouring rain showers and soaking tubs.  

A lounger-lined outdoor swimming pool and luxurious spa, which makes use of local ingredients in its treatments, add further to Park Hyatt Saigon’s urban oasis appeal. And while gourmands may want to instantly hit the city’s stalls and markets for banh mi sandwiches and steaming bowls of pho, they definitely don’t want to miss the globetrotting fare on offer within the hotel. Two stand-outs are Square One, which dishes up modern Vietnamese, while the mixologists at 2 Lam Son make a mean martini.