sapguy

Wow, lots of negative reviews of LM Saigon, albeit from a while back! Any new updates?

We will be there in July for 2 nights and it will be the tail end of our trip to Vietnam, where we will be staying for the first 2 nights at our usual Park Hyatt Saigon, then take a short trip to Dalat before returning to Le Meridien. As a Lifetime Titanium member with Marriott (through Starwood), I am curious at how they are treating top level Elites.

Do they have still a decent club lounge with food and drinks in the afternoon? How is the complimentary breakfast for Titanium?

Also, does anyone know the email address for the GM or Bonvoy Elite Manager?

AsiaMission

Our family of four adults recently stayed at the LM Saigon for 3 nights. We booked one room with a Platinum account, and the other room for our kids was booked with Gold Elite account. When we arrived, they led us to the Club lounge for the check-in. Fairy is the name of the Associate that help us check-in. She is nice and recognized my Platinum status, but offered no suite upgrade. Only 1 level was upgraded, from a standard 1 King size bedroom to a king-size Club lounge access with a river view. The other room, booked with Gold's account was also granted Club lounge access. Their restaurant buffet breakfast ( I chose with my Plat Elite) is quite good with a large spread of Western and Asian-style breakfast. They have fresh coconut juice, which is delicious. We visit the club lounge during the afternoon and evening, I saw they serve wine and beer, but since we don't drink alcohol, we didn't really pay attention. Some sweets and cheese &crackers also serve there. One morning, during breakfast, a duty manager went around and chat with Elite members. She also offered me the number on her WhatsApp for any inquiries during our stay. Overall I would say, the LM Saigon is a fairly good hotel with good service, the staff is friendly and courteous, professional. We booked our stay with Points Savers, so it is a good deal. I would stay here again the next time.

sapguy

Mod pleae delete duplicate as replied to the wrong post

sapguy

Thanks for your review! So glad to hear that you got a positive experience.

Can you PM to me the name and WhatsApp number of that Duty Manager? Thanks

80proofGalleyCart

Le Meridien Saigon is easily my top pick among Ho Chi Minh City's three downtown Marriotts. But I have a hard time not adding some caveats to that statement. As evidenced by my last stay there (during the Q1 2023 Double ENC promo), much can be improved upon.
Here's what was dope and what was a complete nope.

Plat & Over Recognition: Upon arrival at the Club Lounge for check-in, was awkwardly informed (will revisit this later) I'd been upgraded to a suite as a Titanium. As I'd booked the cheapest room (a double bed) and hadn't reached out for an upgrade in advance, this was a nice surprise. My luck with suite upgrades hasn't been great (even in Asia), so this was DOPE.

The 1-br king river view suite was the same type of room I got my last stay here with SNAs. Was happy to see it again, this time on the building's southeast corner. I prefer this view, but that may have something to do with the Cau Ba Son (Thu Theim 2 Bridge) being finished this time and not the massive eyesore it was when under construction.

It's a real suite with a separated living room/bedroom/bath. May have been the 2nd or 3rd time this (mostly) Asia-based Plat&Over got upgraded to a proper suite in 7 years without using SNAs. As always, YMMV.


The two most important things to me about a hotel stay are the room and the food. Unfortunately, my enjoyment of both would be hindered by my stay being on a school night, so I could only enjoy the deliciousness (that bedding was truly divine) of this suit until 7am if there was any chance of enjoying the breakfast spread at Latest Recipe, which brings me to my three final DOPE points for LM Saigon.
- As it was Sunday, I had to see what the brunch spread at Latest Recipe. No pics (staff were busting to clear out and would have been *that guy* snapping pics). The F&B manager introduced himself, explained the brunch pricing tiers (add ons for free flow booze w/ sparkling wine, free flow champagne) and I found myself lost in reveries of oysters, mussels, GH Mumm's and chocolate fountains). Like most of us here, I'm mostly interested in free breakfast, but this is the kind of buffet what gets me excited enough get a Marriott credit card to rack up points for the splurge or even join Club Marriott to get a discount. No elite discounts on F&B here. It is what it is...
- After this, walked down the stairs to Bar Son, appreciating the gorgeous, classy lobby (I'd go so far to say it's prettier than LM Bangkok's lobby) and had a really nice fizzy gin cocktail. The drink was included in my rate, along with some scrumptious nutty chocolates. The chocolate and the Bar Son snack -- a sort of caramelized sweet and salty cashew -- was the best thing I would eat until breakfast at Latest Recipe the next morning.
And this is where things take a turn towards the NOPE...

Le Meridien Saigon Club Lounge Cocktail Hour: Lack of real food not withstanding, Le Meridien Bangkok's Club Lounge is the Gold Standard of LM Club Lounges in Southeast Asia for me. I had expectations that LM Saigon's club lounge (which re-opened in July '22 after being closed throughout COVID) was going to be number 2, knocking out LM KL, which I'm not as big a fan of as many other FTers. Sadly, it didn't. It's smallish and strangely laid out. Seating fills up completely by 5.45, so if one is keen on getting a good spot, show up at least 15 mins before the 5.30 start. With 20/20 hindsight, I should have grabbed the spot in the below 2nd pic with the same southeastern corner position as my suite. Despite that ghastly abandoned building, it is a very nice view of the Saigon River.



Seating secured, it's on to the booze. How does it look?

Beefeater. OK! Campari?!?! Whoa. Is that vermouth? Can we do an Americano or Negroni?!?! Ah, it's white vermouth... maybe not :]
Lunazul was a decent tequila once but is basically Two Fingers level rotgut now.
Now, to the wine. The sparkling is Charles Roux Blanc De Blancs, a Vivino 3.5 (which is fair, although it's what 80proof would call "mimosa grade bubbly"). Had a glass or three.
The whites are reds are Chilean and Italian and are both fairly insipid. But I stuck with wine because, unlike Sheraton Saigon's club lounge which allows self serve, LM's insists on pouring your drinks for you and the gentleman who mixed my very uncomplicated Beefeater and tonic f'd it ip somehow. Thought I could fix it by asking for a double, but he must have doubled the tonic.

From here, we have a lack of pictures, but overall, the food quality at the evening club lounge spread was not happening. There were some tasty spring rolls, but the hot food was such a let down. There was a lot of choices, but it all just tasted like sadness warmed up by a heating lamp. It fell short of the Sheraton's evening club lounge offering (which always has at least one freshly made hot food offering) and my previous experience at LM Saigon when the lounge was closed and the "Club Benefit" was served downstairs at Bar Son (pre renovation). The menu was a la carte and everything on it (from pho, to sliders, to pasta, to a Jameson boulevardier) was absolutely on point. More importantly, the staff (which then included the wonderful Sunny, who some of you may recall from JW Marriott Phu Quoc) were so kind, so attentive, so on the ball... That experience contrasted sharply with this Club Lounge cocktail hour. Never in Southeast Asia (anywhere really) have I experienced such a sharp disconnect between the lounge F&B and the main outlets. Almost feels as if they are under completely different management.
I retired to my room, supremely disappointed. Fortunately, I had those chocolates (later found out these are also made by Bar Son) and a 375ml bottle of Chilean plonk left over as a welcome gift from Fairfield Binh Duong. That the welcome amenity wine from a Fairfield was far better than anything served in LM's club lounge kinda says a lot.

Sunday Funday over with. Back to reality. Set the alarm for 6.15am in order to have an extra long shower with those grrrreeeaaattttt LM shower stuffs and try to not be totally rushed for breakfast at Latest Recipe. After the alarm went off, I had this odd compulsion to check the Bonvoy app and lo and behold, it was status refresh day. I'd literally checked in as Titanium and would be leaving as Platinum.

Platinum Breakfast: Is the single more important aspect of a stay, right? So how does Latest Recipe LM Saigon stack up? Will be brief here as there are no pics, but I'm going to outright say it is one of the best Marriott breakfasts in Southeast Asia and the only reason I rank LM Bangkok *slightly* higher is the Prosecco. Divine pastries. Outstanding cheese and charcuterie selection. It really feels like one has been transported to some of the best hotels in Europe, but with free-flow coconuts. I can't say enough good things about it and would stay here again in a flash (if the price were right) just for the breakfast. And I'd rock the brunch in a heartbeat, even if not an in-house guest.

Le Meridien Saigon Summary: EDIT: To re-iterate, LM Saigon is 1) hands down a better hotel than the Sheraton Saigon and Renaissance Riverside Saigon 2) has excellent elite recognition and one of my favorite Platinum breakfasts in Southeast Asia 3) my happy place, but one that I would be even happier to recommend if I saw some improvement on the uneven service quality.

My circumstances and agenda when staying at a Le Meridien are quite different than when I stay at other brands. I'm usually traveling solo, staying a single night, and have to take online meetings or even show up for office meetings the next am. So I'm generally not looking for that much in the way of service other than the bare minimum and generally want to be left to myself. But, I can't not mention what a mess the service culture of this hotel is and how disappointed I'd be if I came in as say, a first time visitor to Vietnam coming for a holiday. It's not JUST a comprehension or language problem, well, it is as well. For example at the Club Lounge check in, I swear I heard the FDA offer the suite as an upsell, rather than an upgrade and his nervous laughter when I asked him to repeat himself wasn't helping. Even down in Bar Son, which seems to have a slightly better management situation, my order for a single drink had to be verified by a second party. Only Latest Recipe seems to have their act together. It all just reeks of a complete abdication of leadership at the top that has created a situation where nobody other than management is trained properly. Probably what happens is they quickly get in over their head and eventually bounce due to the stress or, understandably, take whatever better offer that comes around. This is the absolute opposite of the service culture of the (otherwise mediocre) Sheraton, where you can feel the dedication, comprehension and professionalism of the staff at every step (and I have it on good authority that many who work there have been with the hotel for years if not decades). Regardless, I will stay at LM Saigon again and look forward to see how it adapts as competition within Marriott intensifies in the coming years.

ftrichard

Thanks for this review. It's timely because I will be there in two weeks for three nights over the weekend. I've stayed a few times before but before Covid when the Club Lounge was a great experience. At the time the British GM and I had a good old chat about the various hotels he'd opened and managed around Asia that I'd stayed at. Aside from the service communication problems (which don't tend to bother me having lived in China for four years so I have a monumentally high tolerance of poor English when I speak with people in their own country whose language I don't speak), it seems the main issue is the quality and variety of food in the Club Lounge which does tend to bother me because that's all I usually eat in the evening as I'll have a main meal at lunch time and I'm only after a small evening meal which needs to be edible and not drive me to go out foraging afterwards.

Did the hotel reach out to you in advance by email asking about your arrival time? This communication was in good English and they were responsive (though I think they were primarily trying to upsell an airport transfer which invariably goes to Klook).

Martin999

It seems like this property doesn't honor/understand platinum late-checkout benefits and is telling me late-checkout is based on hotel availability.
Does anyone know the gm email address or should I consider other Marriott properties in Saigon ?

sapguy

I will be at Le Meridien Saigon next weekend, and I have been forewarned about all these negative reviews! Let’s see what will happen

80proofGalleyCart

DELETE

80proofGalleyCart

Yes, they did. A couple times. It was also my impression this was all about an airport transfer upsell
But, and this is just a hunch, I think replying to that email, and then updating my ETA via the chat app on check-in day played some role in my (surprising) suite upgrade.
As a sidenote, I find written communication with Marriott hotels in Vietnam to to be excellent -- they CRUSH the chat app.

sapguy

They emailed me with the offer for the airport transfer upswell, which I don’t need.
But I will respond to their email to see if there will be any “surprise” suite upgrade for this Lifetime Titanium or not, LOL

ftrichard

80proofGalleyCart The hotel must have read your review. I'm here now. In the Club Lounge on the 22nd floor for the evening booze and canapés. At first, your pictures threw me because you clearly show some construction going on outside and there's just this windowed office block now but if I look up then I see cranes on top of the building so I guess that's the speed of construction in Saigon.

I was expecting the worst from the foods and had planned on going out for a meal afterwards but totally unnecessary. Among the highlights are: blinis with 2 types of "caviar"; seafood pies; mini shepherd's pies; soft shell crab; chicken satays; cheeses, paté, open sandwiches, salads, wraps, Sichuan seafood soup, cauliflower soup, fruits, desserts. Completely nothing to complain about unless you're the owner of the steak restaurant I'd planned on going to which I will now forgo.

Come back and give it another go. Probably the best food offering in a lounge I've had in years. The low tax on alcohol also helps this lounge as the French blanc de blanc sparkling is extremely drinkable and all the spirits are branded. I'll try some of the other wines later. This compares very favourably with lounges in high-tax countries in the region that understandably tend to serve whatever the cheapest wine is that they can get their hands on and it can show.

On the other hand, I, too, considered a Negroni with the white Martini and decided against it. They didn't read that part of your review and order in any Martini Rosso since you were here.

sapguy

Was in Saigon at the end of June and early July and stayed at the Park Hyatt Saigon with its amazing luxury (LOVED that hotel) but decided to spend our last night at Le Meridien Saigon for 1 night just to see how it's like! I was VERY pleasantly surprised and while Le Meridien Saigon is not to be confused with the Park Hyatt Saigon, it is a solid choice for a fine hotel in Saigon!

Upon checking in, I was informed that since I am a Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, that they need to escort me to the Club Lounge for a more proper check-in, LOL

So we were whisked to the Club Lounge and were asked to be comfortably seated while the lovely ladies traded our passports for glasses of Champagne (or was it sparkling wine, don't remember but it was delicious!). They did take a bit longer than expected to check us in, but they winked at me when they announced that our room is ready, and they handed us our keys.

We then went to the 16th floor and were delighted to see that we were upgraded to the gorgeous and spacious 1 Bedroom King suite with River view, and what an amazing view of the Saigon River, of Thu Duc and of the Ba Son bridge! My wife was delighted and that's saying a lot since we had just stayed in gorgeous suites at both the Park Hyatt Bangkok and the Park Hyatt Saigon before coming to Le Meridien Saigon. And the suite was absolutely gorgeous, with the huge bathroom complete with the fantastic view. Then after chilling a bit, we went back to the Club Lounge to feast on that fantastic spread that ftrichard described with free-flowing wines and sparkling wines! But we didn't want to eat too much since we also have a reservation at a nice restaurant!

The breakfast spread was also fantastic, and it could compete with the amazing breakfast spread at the Park Hyatt Saigon (both breakfasts were complimentary to me since i am a Titanium and a Globalist, so I have no idea how much it actually costs to people without status). The service was also excellent during our stay. It would appear that we will be back even though the Park Hyatt is our "home" in Saigon (that was our 3rd stay since 2018) but we really enjoyed Le Meridien Saigon.

BaconSF

Recent reviews are looking pretty positive, excited for our stay in January!

ftrichard

We just got back from our second stay in two months (5th stay overall including one stay during its soft opening phase) and there's a lot to like about this hotel and its elite service. I didn't think I'd made any impression on the lounge staff but as soon as we walked through the doors to check in I was greeted by a warm smile and a welcome back before I'd said my name. For the second time, I got upgraded to the studio suite facing the city rather than a normal suite facing the river. It's a decent large room but pre-plague, I'd got a normal river-facing suite three times. For some reason, the cheapest rooms in this hotel are twin rooms with two beds while the identical rooms with double beds are more expensive. So I book the twin room and let them know in the app chat I'm okay with a double bed if a better room is available as an elite upgrade at check in. Maybe my saving of a few thousand VND earmarks me for a studio suite. Who knows.

Apparently the hotel has changed hands recently. The bar downstairs is clearly trying to make itself into a destination for Saigon's young and rich. Cocktails were excellent. But for me the standout is the lounge service in the evening. Blinis and caviar and a good choice of high-quality hot and cold foods with three hours of booze. You can rely on it for your evening meal so I try other restaurants for lunch in Saigon.

Just be aware that the pool is covered so you cannot sunbathe here and the hotel is a short walk to the city centre. I don't mind it - quickest route is to turn left and immediately left and left again out of the hotel to take one of the roads behind the hotel - but some may prefer to be in the thick of it around the Sheraton location.