You left out the excellent 2 level Club lounge at the Sheraton which is the best in town and the reason I will always stay there when in Saigon.

I love SGN. I have been there once before and I will return. I stayed at the Marriott Renaissance Riverside which has one of the best buffet breakfasts I have ever eaten. I had a view of the Mekong River and it was fascinating. For me one of the highlights was the beautiful French colonial architecture that is still very much intact in many places. The only difference now is that the chiefs of the communist party live there instead of the French colonalists!

I would never pay more than $20-$25 per night for a decent comfortable hotel with air conditioning and breakfast included. The rates quoted here are crazy tourists prices. I was just there a year ago so it could not have changed that much. Rex is stupid expensive. They were charging over $8 for a drink in the bar. The Vietnamese people I was with were completely offended by this.

Are you saying you wouldn't pay more than $25 for a room at one of the hotels mentioned or you wouldn't pay more than $25 for a room in Saigon full stop? If its the former then I would love to know how you can get a room for that price, if its the latter then I guess each to his own, I enjoy hostels when I'm travelling alone as they can be more fun but as I am only there a short period I would prefer something a bit better.

Its all "location location location". If you want plastic elephants on the roof then there's not much choice.

My first Rex experience was 1993. Then 1996. Then 1999. Then pretty much every year since I've been there for some reason. I've always found the service rude on the rooftop bar. Also if you're a western guy with a VN female they can be rather rude to the female assuming as a westerner you don't speak VN and that you'll be "paying for her".

I wonder if the Vietnamese people you refer to are local VN or are not resident overseas. There are different dynamics that go on - especially when going into "communist" places - a distinction that seems more important to visitors than locals.

Either way, most VN people I know aren't particularly offended by high prices. You only have to go to some of the "fashionable" clubs and observe the overpriced bottles of Remy Martin or Hennessy on the table to see the way that they'll happily pay over the odds if the location is right and being there gets them qudos. I suspect in the case of the Rex, most locals just can't understand why foreigners are so interested.

Things are getting better these days, but for the most part VN and foreigners don't mingle so well socially - they just have different tastes. That often leaves "tourist places" with poor service as proprietors assume they just won't come back anyway. One of the obvious exceptions to my non-mingling observation is the Highlands Cafe chain where there's often a good mix. I always seem to get good service there.

I too never stay in "big hotels", I've used the same friendly one for almost 10 years now. But for most visitors to VN its not practical. They want to book through a website/overseas agent into a well known chain with all the trappings. US$100/150 (or whatever) a night is no problem for a couple of nights if you've paid a multiple of that just for the flight ticket into VN - especially if its just another city on an itinerary which includes other cities which cost even more.

I have to say, I splurged for a night at the Park Hyatt, $189/night, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Other than the Park Hyatt (and perhaps the Sheraton), there's no way in hell I would pay more than $35-45 a night in Saigon. The key is to find a nice (perhaps newly constructed) mini-hotel... no pool, but clean comfortable rooms and usually breakfast in the morning is included.

Actually you had a view of the Sai Gon River
 

If you stay in a very central place like Continental, be ready for motorbike smoke and noise starting at 5am. For me, the Continental is too centrally located. (And yes, if you care about such things, all those big centrally located hotels are Party establishments.)

These $25 hotels were not hostels. They were full fledged hotels with two beds, free internet access and a hot breakfast in their restaurant. It was in Saigon near a big park and only a very short moped ride away from the center. For the OP, who will only be there one or two nights, it is not a big deal so the higher priced hotels is a better option, however, typically people go to SGN for over a week. I wanted to stay at the Hyatt at $120 for a night or two but was prevented by these VN people that were traveling with me who thought that was the craziest thing they had ever heard to pay for a hotel in SGN but they typically stay for at least one month. But they also get VERY angry at me for tipping as well as they say it is completely destroying the economics for the people that live there but this is another issue. I was not allowed to pay for anything by myself as I would have been charged higher than VN people and a tip may have been expected. They are still trying come to terms with the $25 rate as it was $10-$15 per night in 1999.

I do agree its best not to tip in VN. Tipping is not really part of the local culture and though well intended can be divisive in my opinion as locals can't always compete. Actually I think the resentment is highest amongst the growing number of relatively poor expats - ones that lost jobs or businesses but are staying on to try and make things work out.

In most cafes/restaurants staff are regarded as proper employees and paid reasonably by local standards. It would be a pity if tipping had the consequence of licensing establishments to underpay customer facing staff and we end up with a situation as in the US where I'm told its my responsibility to tip in order to make up the wages of poorly paid staff - and procuring a tip becomes part of the thinking in delivering a service. (Maybe I'm naive in believing that the best service is usually delivered by someone not motivated by money!)

My hobbyhorse was also discussed here:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...=633804&page=3

Whoops, you're right. Its another issue.... but I couldn't resist...!!

I just returned and was surprised to see that in most restaurants and bars where I paid with a credit card there was no line to add a tip. Of course, most places also already added a 5 percent service charge.

I did get a massage at one place in D1 where a 75 minute massage was $7. After the massage I gave a $3 tip. The manager then handed me a sign that said for very good massage I was to tip $5. The massage was good and I don't quite know why they didn't just have their rates as $12 as I would have felt better about that and would have returned. Their practice caused me to get the rest of my massages elsewhere.

A French expat I met there told me Vietnamese only tip by rounding up slightly and that it's done as a way of flaunting how much money you have as opposed to showing gratitude for good service.

Correction my hotel actually was $22 (not $25) per night and is located in a quiet downtown section at the center of Ho Chi Minh City, opposite a park and just 15 minutes from the airport but very close to the tourist center as well. The rooms are equipped with a private bathroom, air conditioning, telephone, internet line, satellite television, refrigerator, hair-dryer and an electronic safe. Other hotel facilities included a restaurant, room service, meeting room and a car rental service. They accepted credit card. The rates were all inclusive of:
* Includes government sale tax and service
* Free city calls
* Free pick up from the airport (never used it)
* Free daily fresh fruit (nothing special)
* Free daily newspaper (Vietnam News)
* Free regular laundry for monthly stay
* Swimming pool, sauna, gym (don't trust it is working - nothing great)

I think the funny cultural part is the Vietnamese person that negotiated for me before I arrived thought I would not want to spend just a couple of dollars more for a nicer room so got me the cheapest room possible.

For those out in the country there is a saying about the job opportunities in Saigon being so good that the roads must be paved with gold. For those that have seen online videos of traffic in India it does not even compare to the massive congestion and caos in Saigon yet because it is mostly mopeds it is always flowing, much better than places like Bangkok, even during rush hour.

Yeah sounds a bit odd, not to say rude. I don't really do the massage thing... I find it a stressful oscillation between tickle-torture and panic about impending total disablement. This coupled with general shyness....

When I have been to these places there's never been any pressure to tip. Maybe its a district 1 thing where alot of foreigners go. I have sometimes seen signs saying that "staff are not allowed to ask for tips" though this is not always in English. Sometimes you're asked to fill in a form giving feedback on the quality of the job - and sometimes there's a box asking whether you have a tip and even if so how much. I'm not sure what the purpose is - maybe the establishment gets a kickback? I'd suggest understating a tip if you give one and are asked how much. One girl told me that they get to keep pretty much the entire fee that the customer pays, but they get little salary - its almost as if they are self-employed within the establishment, except that they must show up everyday. This means they are just happy that you've walked through the door and pay the normal bill. Some days they get no customers at all. Alot of customers are regular... So I think if you like the massage its well worth getting the name/ref number and request the same person again. Then they get more cash...

Anyway, willing to stand corrected if anyone else chimes in with more info.

Westcoastman....

The park isn't "Cong Vien Le Van Tam" perchance?
The hotel isn't on Hai Ba Trung, perchance?

Just curious....

Will be visiting Vietnam for the first time, have only 2 nights in SGN (I imagine I'll want to go back, there's plenty to see, just not on this trip).

Since I have only one real full day, I'd love to be as efficient at seeing the city as possible. So would be great to have a guide take me around, make it painless.

Any suggestion of a guide who could take a day and show me the city?