Saigon has its own character and in many aspects is similar to Bangkok, but much less sightseeing places. Good food, but not as flavorful/spice as thai. Traffic is more like Bangkok 20 yeas ago, no subway system etc. The airport is close to the city and taxis are chap, but even for te around 7 km from the airport to the city it sometimes can take almost one hour. Several nice hotels, i prefer the Hyatt and the intercontinental, next is the Sofitel (because of the less central location).
A lot of nationalities still need a visa for Vietnam btw.