InterContinental Hotels Group Stay Forum - IC Asiana Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)

I had a two nights stay there this May.

Nice room. The 1 Br Suite has 2 X 42" flat screen TV. Bose Home theater. Ther's even a TV in the bathroom.

Mini bar is excellent with Champagne and lots of selection.

Welcome gift is red wine and a surprise gift I havent opened yet since last week since I am busy. Chocolates. Fruits. Local samplers. Cheese which are usually served in the Club Lounge though I wasn't able to sample Happy Hour as I am not at the hotel that time.

Breakfast not much choice unlike and compared to other SE Asia IC I stayed ( IC Manila and IC Singapore).

Nice staff as well. Beside a brand new small mall/boutique with Hard Rock Cafe bar/store.

Great value as an RA.

I had a two nights stay there this May.

Nice room. The 1 Br Suite has 2 X 42" flat screen TV. Bose Home theater. Ther's even a TV in the bathroom.

Mini bar is excellent with Champagne and lots of selection.

Welcome gift is red wine and a surprise gift I havent opened yet since last week since I am busy. Chocolates. Fruits. Local samplers. Cheese which are usually served in the Club Lounge though I wasn't able to sample Happy Hour as I am not at the hotel that time.

Breakfast not much choice unlike and compared to other SE Asia IC I stayed ( IC Manila and IC Singapore).

Nice staff as well. Beside a brand new small mall/boutique with Hard Rock Cafe bar/store.

Great value as an RA.

Sorry about that blank

Just a footnote to sayy - my partner and I stayed there for 6 nights odd in January - Plat Ambass gave up grade to top floor corner suite, absolutely terrific. Very new - air con broke down one evening - staff were brilliant kept in touch every 1/4 hour and maintanance came within 20min, we were still rung every 15 min until completed. Handy to walk in to city, IC appartments next door meant you could use their restauruants also. Pool was very large and glass ended - everything spotless. rgds Andrew

I stayed there last weekend with PB promotion for 4 nights, and got upgraded to a deluxe suite without club access (no complaints!). Before arrival, I emailed the hotel to see if I could get both room upgrade and club access (I’m greedy and it didn't cost any to ask:p), but here was the reply from the hotel "we are pleased to offer you an upgrade to a Suite room at the best location for your first stay, as also our appreciation for your choosing to stay with us. Should you need to have Club access, a charge of $70USD++ per night will be added to your account." If I had to choose either club access or suite again, I would definitely go for suite upgrade since the food in vietnam is relatively inexpensive, and there are a lot of nice french/vietnamese restaurants out there. For $70USD++, you can eat and drink like a king at most of the places in Ho Chi Minh City.:D

I arrived SGN airport at 10:30pm, and was the first guy who went to the visa collection counter to collect my visa. It took about 20 mins to get it. The visa sticker is so big; it occupies one full page of my passport!:mad: (make sure you have a free page for them put a visa sticker). In addition to the sticker, they did stamp on my passport as well with arrival & departure dates (that’s another half page of my passport!). After went through immigration, I went straight to money changer for some Vietnamese Dong (1USD=19,500VD) and bought the voucher for the taxi as well (right next to the money changer). I strongly suggest buying a taxi voucher especially for the first time visitor since it will save you a lot of trouble, worry and argument. The voucher cost $8, and the staff guided us to the taxi station and passed the voucher to the taxi driver. We arrived at the hotel 15 mins later.

I didn’t notice any check in counter for RA/AMB, but there was no Q, so check-in process was easy & short. The top couple of floors are club floors and my suite was on one them. The club lounge is on the top floor (20th floor). A bottle of red wine from Argentina, candle light (as RA gift), a small box of chocolate, fruit plate, cheese plate and a welcome card signed by guest relation manager was already in the room before I arrived.

The suite was just a right size, not so big and not too small neither. It overlooks northeast side with the view of IC Residence and Saigon River further away. I think the rooms on southwest side (overlook Notre Dame/Cathedral and historical Post office) should be even better. Huge plama TVs in the living room and the bedroom, and also a tiny one in front of the stand-alone bathtub in the bathroom, so you can still watch TV while soaking. There is an additional restroom in the livingroom near the main entrance. A sand-blasted see-through sliding plastic/glass door separates the living room and the bedroom. The design of the door looks cool, but it is useless since it is thin and it doesn’t block the light and TV sound/noise from the livingroom. In addition, there is a hole (at least 2 inches diameter) on the sliding door as a handle for you to slide the door. Stupid design ever! Beside the door issue, the TV in livingroom is mounted above eye level as you are sitting on the couch. It made me feel very uncomfortable after watching TV for a while. The bathing amenities are something like “we live like this” and I am not so fond of it.

Minibar was well-stocked with champagne (Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin), all kind of liquors, juice and soft drink. I called and asked the front desk if minibar was free for my stay and was given a green light for the drink:D, not snack though. I asked for his name and just in case if they denied it when I checked out. :D I didn't hammer the minibar throughly but just a bottle of champagne a day.:D

Internet access is not included for RA or AMB, but it is included if you buy the club lounge access package. The 24 hrs internet access cost me VD395,010 with tax included ($20). It is considered to be very expensive in HCM City. Later I noticed many coffee shops, bars, ice-cream shops & restaurants offered free internet access, it saved me some money.

The thing I like most about the hotel is the outdoor pool with see through glass wall (maybe not so cool for female swimmers:D) and the gym. The gym is huge and the equipments are top notch, compared with many tiny IC hotel gyms worldwide.

The hotel is centrally located in district 1, it is only 1-2 blocks away from the historical Post Office building and Notre Dame/Cathedral, and 10-15 mins walking distance to the Opera House and the famous Ben Thanh Market. Everything is in a walking distance, and taxi is very cheap in HCM City. I agree Park Hyatt & Sheraton are more convenience, especially for hanging out at night, but I prefer IC Asiana as it is located at the quieter side of the neighborhood. Security around IC Hotel area is not an issue since American and French consulates are around the corner, and I did feel safe all the time when browsing around most of the streets in district 1, except some people bugging me for massage or something. However, the security guard carrying the AK47 standing outside the French Consulate made me nervous though:D.

I didn't eat at the hotel restaurants at all since there are so many nice restuarants out there with easy access by taxi or even by a short walk. Couple of restaurants here I highly recommended:

Le Caprice - a very romantic french restaurant on the top floor of “The Landmark” building, 5B Ton Duc Thang Street
Temple Club - Vietnamese restaurant, at 29 Ton That Thiep Street. Nice food and atmosphere (save some room for dessert at Fanny next door)
Fanny Ice-cream - right next to Temple Club. Try the ice-cream all you can eat buffet on Fri for US$6 from 1830 to 2300.
Pho 2000 - Vietnamese cuisine. Located at the corner of Ben Thanh Market. They call it President’s restaurant since Bill Clinton once visited the restaurant and had meal there.
Quan An Ngon - Vietnamese cuisine, 160 Pasteur Street
Hai Lua - seafood restaurant at Ngo Van Nam street. Serving fresh, cheap (local price), tasty seafood and Vietmanese cuisine. Mostly local crowds, but a lot of tourists go there. You can select the seafood from the huge fish tanks, then they will cook it the way you want, like grill, steam, stir fry, deep fried, Chinese style, Vietnamese style, etc.

After all, IC Saigon Asiana is highly recommended!

My parents were in the same hotel just a week ago, also on PB. Being Platinum Ambassador he was denied any upgrade whatsoever... , but was also offered 70USD extra for Club access, without getting a club room.

I was also there myself in springtime. While it was nice hotel to use weekend voucher, I could also enjoy a nice hotel in the same city for mere 30USD incl brekkie.

I stayed there last weekend with PB promotion for 4 nights, and got upgraded to a deluxe suite

Thanks GordonGordon for your extensive report and great tips!!

I Booked the hotel on PB next week
My reservation now shows deluxe corner suite ^^

Thanks GordonGordon for your extensive report and great tips!!

I Booked the hotel on PB next week
My reservation now shows deluxe corner suite ^^

Nicolas, I'm sure you will have great time there in HCM City! Envy you that you are already pre-upgraded to the deluxe corner suite. I remember the deluxe corner suites are much bigger than the deluxe suite in the middle (where my suite was, room # XX07) as I could see it from the floor evacuation map at the back of the room door. The first 2 nights the hotel was full house, otherwise I could have given the delxue corner suite. Please report back here your stay as well! Happy travel!

Fims, you are right. I could see there are a lot of nice hotels in HCM City, and they merely cost more than $50, so $70 + 14.5% tax & service charge for club access is a rip off. The breakfast at the restaurant downstairs costs US$22/person, but we did not try. We ate like a king when we had our brunch at the nice restaurants outside for less than $25 for 2 persons.

More info to add:
If you need visa to enter Vietnam, make sure you have a passport size photo, the website says two (2 x 2 inches) photos, but they actually only need 1, and they do not care the size of the photo at all, so it can be a bit smaller or bigger.

The early morning we checked out the hotel, the taxi fare cost us only 82,000VD (US$4.20) from the hotel to the airport (without traffic). I gave the taxi driver another 10,000VD (US$0.5) tips and he was so happy and kept thanking me:D.

Many restaurants accept US dollars. When we went to Hai Lua Restaurant on the last night of my trip, I asked the waiter if they accepted US dollars since I did not exchange enough VD. He said no problem, they even accept Euro, other currencies and credit card as well. The exchange rate was same as the money changer at the airport (1USD=19,500VD).

Great report Gordon. Many Thanks for all the extremely useful info. I am there
for 6 nights in early December. Would I be right in thinking that saigon@interconti.com would be the correct email for the hotel?

Great report Gordon. Many Thanks for all the extremely useful info. I am there
for 6 nights in early December. Would I be right in thinking that saigon@interconti.com would be the correct email for the hotel?

boar, I've just sent you a PM with the email addresses of couple of the staff that you might want to talk to.

cheers!

Currently staying 10 days (6+4) on PB rate at the IC Saigon as Gold AMB. Got an upgrade with view of the Post Office/City. Received fruit plate + chocolates. Will travel to beach cities of Nha Trang and Phu Quoc in-between stays. Really nice hotel and centrally located (I would definitely stay again). Also very secure due to French and US consulate around the block. Everything in the room looks pretty new. Walkable to many sights and good restaurants. Food is not expensive at all. Love the French bakeries that make excellent Baguettes and my favorite Banh Mi (Vn sandwich made w/baguette). Some foods not to be missed are Pho, Banh Cuon, Bahn Xeo, Cha Gio, Bun Cha.

Internet @ Hotel is expensive, so try to get a SIM card with internet from the many telecom shops across the Hotel. I am using one and tethering it to my Laptop. In-room wifi signal is not good, so wired access is only way. Broadband speed @ 50Mb/s is not great, rather slow. I also noticed that the pic quality of all the TV channels was not clear/sharp only to discover that it was "streamed".

my report + video
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/15096456-post3813.html

boar, I've just sent you a PM with the email addresses of couple of the staff that you might want to talk to.

cheers!

I need to send an email. Could you let me know the addresses?

I need to send an email. Could you let me know the addresses?

Done. Thanks again Gordon.

Done. Thanks again Gordon.

Thank you so much.
I'll update my situation.

thanks for the reports I just booked the Hotel for Xmas.:D

Thanks for all the helpful tips. Looking at a Summer '11 stay. Looking very interesting.

I need to send an email. Could you let me know the addresses?


Yes i would be very appreciative if i have them too ....thanks very much

Yes i would be very appreciative if i have them too ....thanks very much

done! sent u a pm already.

done! sent u a pm already.

Cheers GG!



reply i got from a link earlier was as follows



Dear Mr. Docklander

Warmest greeting from InterContinental Asiana Saigon!

Thank you for choosing InterContinental as a venue for your upcoming stay in Saigon .

In our system we have your booking 12345678 is confirmed the Priority Club Reward Stay for Deluxe room.

Kindly be informed that when staying on Reward Nights, all Ambassadors and Royal Ambassador Privileges apply with the exception of upgrades, free Pay TV film per stay, 24 hour guaranteed room availability, 8:00am early check-in and complimentary mini bar beverages.

etc etc


Well at least i get the free gift:)

May just go for the 350 quid suite in Hua Hin i have sorted(including RA upgrade)as the other option ...and i quite like the IC HH.Chalk n cheese i know but just a deluxe room over Crimbo with a missus and child in toe is probably pushing my luck a bit-could try a cash sweetner i suppose.

May just go for the 350 quid suite in Hua Hin i have sorted(including RA upgrade)as the other option ...and i quite like the IC HH.Chalk n cheese i know but just a deluxe room over Crimbo with a missus and child in toe is probably pushing my luck a bit-could try a cash sweetner i suppose.

We booked two rooms on the PB and got adjoining rooms and put our kids in one. Plenty of room, but might be too late to get the second room on PB. Each room was an OK size, depending on how tight you are willing to live. I would think that Saigon's not a big Christmas destination (at least among expats, who mainly head for the beach), so the odds on a suite upgrade on check-in might not be too bad.

Another alternative would be to pay for the room at the IC, at least for the first night, to make sure you get a suite allocated to you- then they might not move you. Take a look to see if you can find the room cheaper on AsiaTravel/AsiaRooms, and IHG will give you 10% off of that as a part of their Low Price Guarantee.

One dining recommendation- we went around to the Italian place under the Intercontintal Residences, and the kids loved it. Good food, and much more reasonable than the restaurants in the main hotel.

Friendly

I've stayed here several times so far and found it to be a fantastic hotel. As an RA, I usually book a club room (only about $25 more per night) so I can take the free suite upgrade. Since the club access includes Wifi I look at the club room as only being about $5 a day at that point. Breakfast at the club is decent, but it was better when they first opened when you could take all the bacon you want - now you have to ask for it (yes, I know...you dont NEED all you can eat bacon).

I love the people in the club lounge. When you are 10000 miles away from home alone they make you fee very welcome and will converse with you.

One other note, there is a fantastic Pizza place called Pomodoros that is about a 5 minute walk. When you exit the hotel, make a left on that street and go until you just pass the opera house. It is on the right (past KFC). They do gourmet pizza and they do it right.

Had a paid 3 night stay here a couple of weeks ago - RA treatment appears the same as if it were a point stay, from the details above.

Was offered club or suite, but not both.
Took deluxe corner suite on 19th floor.
Good minibar. (Though the champagne was not re-stocked!)
Received fruit, water, place mats as gift, flowers, chees plate and bottle of red wine.

All staff very polite. Hotel very clean. Very quiet.. (no street noise audible).

A few weeks ago I stayed at the IC Asiana Saigon. I booked a King Deluxe Room on the F&F rate ($120). Upon arrival everything was prepared for me to check-in in a corner room on the 11th floor (don't remember the exact kind, but was an upgrade).
I asked about a suite upgrade for cash. A full upgrade to a suite would have been $150 per night so I declined and was immediately offered a club upgrade for $50. They said they would upgrade me to the suite anyway because that's part of the Ambassador program. For $50 including WiFi and breakfast it was a great deal.
I snapped a few photos of the room: http://gallery.wormulon.net/album.php?id=756

In a nutshell it was a top-floor Deluxe Suite with 66 sqm, separate living room, Bose 5.1 entertainment system, two 42" TVs, DVD, iPod dock and an amazing bathroom.

The location is great and I'll for sure stay at the IC again when I am in town.

Hi, I just read through this thread because I'm thinking about staying here July 15-18 while in Saigon.
What exactly is this "PB Rate" that everyone is mentioning? I looked up the the F&F Rate and it is $118/night excluding taxes and fees.

Thanks

EDIT: OOPS... just realized its the PointBreak Rate. Is this still available?

Hi, I just read through this thread because I'm thinking about staying here July 15-18 while in Saigon.
What exactly is this "PB Rate" that everyone is mentioning? I looked up the the F&F Rate and it is $118/night excluding taxes and fees.

Thanks

EDIT: OOPS... just realized its the PointBreak Rate. Is this still available?

Nope its gone ages back.

when they first opened when you could take all the bacon you want - now you have to ask for it (yes, I know...you dont NEED all you can eat bacon).


This must have been a mistake. I have stayed here 12 times over the last year or so and there have always been as much bacon as you could force down, at the buffet.

Has anyone stayed here recently? I've never been to an Intercontinental but I'm thinking of staying for three nights in March 2012. What is this F&F rate? Do you need a friend who works there, or are there any other tips to qualify? Thanks!