estnet

Does anyone have the current email? I'm getting an error message from the one listed in the wiki
Also MG - for cold dishes (that are supposed to be hot) - sometimes if I ask them to put it in the microwave (at various hotels that have one in the lounge kitchen) I can get it hot

margarita girl

estnet

Delivery has failed to these recipients or groups:

[email protected]
Your message wasn't delivered. Despite repeated attempts to deliver your message, the recipient's email system refused to accept a connection from your email system.

ARRRGH Thanks to MG I found that I had missed that I had mistyped the address!!! Better wear my reading glasses

Sam P. Goodman

Had a pleasant stay last week. Upgraded to a corner club room, which was spacious and comfortable. Breakfast was very nice....not the largest spread, but ver high quality and attentive service.

The only blemish on our stay was getting booted from the lounge during evening cocktail hour. We were told about the lounge at check in, made a midday visit on our first day, and came back during cocktail hour. Checked in with the agent, grabbed a seat, started contemplating what we would order, and one of the staff came over and said kids weren't allowed during cocktail hour. We, of course, obliged and left, but it was a rather embarrassing walk of shame. Had we been told this beforehand we would have avoided during these hours. They could have even said something when we checked in with the club agent.

I know the issue of kids in lounges comes up a lot. She's 7, isn't an angel, but we keep her entertained with coloring books, and have high expectations for her behavior, especially a place like a lounge. We also dont wear gym shorts or talk loudly on phones in the lounge.😁

Erasmus

Is this standard in Vietnam? I've never heard of this before at a SPG hotel, but just learned this is also the case at the Sheraton Saigon so was contemplating this property instead. Guess I'll have to move on to IHG--unless they also have such a policy?!

Sam P. Goodman

Not sure. We ran into this a couple of years ago in Singapore at the Sheraton (Westin had a policy too, though we didn't stay there). They posted the policies on their website and told us about it at check-in so we knew what to expect. While I don't agree with these blanket policies and would just prefer staff be empowered to address bad guest behavior regardless of who is engaging in it, I can roll with it if I know in advance. In this case, we were in a club room, told about lounge access at check-in, checked in to the lounge with our daughter, got seated, and then got booted, which was bad form. In comparison, we finished our trip at the Renaissance Wangfuging Beijing, which has a phenomenal lounge. During our visits, we observed a few families with children (all well behaved), a large table of loud, American business travelers making generalizations about Chinese people and joking about gender identity, and a couple of muscle bound guys in tank tops who had just come from the gym.

Lounge issues aside, we really liked LM Saigon. The breakfast spread was fantastic. Not huge, but everything seemed really high quality and breakfast service was very friendly and attentive. The pool area looks nice, but the water is very cold even on very hot days so probably a better place to sit than to swim for most.

Based on my online research, the LM looks to have the best hard product of the Bonvoy properties in Saigon. I'd still stay there if returning to Saigon.

estnet

I'm not sure the hard product at the LM is better than the Sheraton. I guess it's a matter of taste.

While both properties have good to great lounge I prefer the Sheraton lounge b/c they have 3 made to order dishes each night. I have a great distaste for hot food served lukewarm or not fresh (soggy fried food) - which is usually the case for pre-cooked food put out onto a hot(ish) plate. The LM does have the benefit that when you walk two steps out the door you are not surrounded by touts but it does have a major construction project going on next to it (which isn't too noisy now but I think will be soon).
As for children in the lounge - I believe the Sheraton allows children until 5 pm. My experience in SE Asia is that lounge access varies - the Sheraton in KL used to have circus like hordes of children running throughout the lounge (and staff standing by watching them and doing nothing) - happened too much so I haven't been back for years.
Many lounges in KL allow children until a specific time - some in Bangkok do too or provide an alternate site - guess if it's important best to contact the hotel and ask.

NoY

Interesting post. Would you mind expanding on Sheraton's Club Lounge offering versus LM. Particularly "cmade to order dishes" - never heard of this before except at breakfast. I currently have a res on hold at both properties & am wavering. Thanks.

estnet

Each night in the lounge they have a quite extensive buffet including two hot dishes (tonight was curry sea bass and a chicken in tomato sauce) in addition there was laksa made to order, dim sum (pork and shrimp) and tenderloin steak with a pepper (and to my taste teriyaki) sauce made to order. Typically they had a soup (sometimes pho) made to order (and having been cooked from fresh ingredients - eg whole chicken and veg in the afternoon), a chinese dim sum choice and a made to order dish (steak, fish or chicken).

Every night they have sushi (a variety) and my favorite tuna is often the first gone, but if I ask they always provide me with it (the refills are in a small drawer near the cooking chef.
There are another 10-20 assorted salads, finger sandwich, deserts, etc.
LM had fewer options, sushi which included lower level stuff (cream cheese and ham, etc. - not to my taste), two or three premade hot dishes set on a warming plate and a soup.
You won't go hungry at either but IMO the quality is much higher at the Sheraton.
I also have to say that the service here (Sheraton), at least for me, is beyond exceptional. Wonderful follow through for any issue and EVERYONE TALKS TO EVERYONE so if a problem involves more than 1 department everyone knows what the follow up and resolution is (never really experienced this level of communication before - eg a very small issue mentioned to lounge manager was reported to gym manager who consulted spa manager and was resolved in 10 minutes - when I thanked the lounge manager the next day she already knew and even the director of rooms knew about the issue and resolution! I am by no means any kind of VIP but was certainly impressed. This is the only hotel where I have experienced service that is beyond even the SGS (which had been my benchmark).
Now, the service at the LM was also good to excellent in general, but this is a step above.

NoY

Great post - thanks ^

Erasmus

Thanks for the heads up; seems to be a pretty standard policy in Saigon, although I've not previously run into it in SE Asia. For this trip, if we're going to be without lounge access, we decided to skip SPG/Marriott and go with the Park Hyatt, which seems a nicer property all around.

zzap

Nazdoom

I also had a rather disappointing stay. Room on check-in was filthy (think jelly on remote controls, nut shells on the floor, long female hairs under the sheet (I'm a short haired male), dust bunnies the size of quarters in the bed headstand next to your face). I got moved to a suite and they gave extra attention to cleaning it but still missed the previous guests' used shower gel container next to the bath. Ceiling leaked from floor above outside an adjacent room. AC was not very cold, turned out the reason was the filter hadn't been cleaned (sadly didn't raise this until the final night). Even someone in the lobby ran after a female friend I was taking to the lounge and insinuated she was a prostitute and needed to register her ID with front desk (even though we weren't going to the room and the relevant law is not applied to going to the restaurants or lounge). Honestly, overall, I was disappointed. I haven't yet written a full review, but youbarem't alone. My experience was within this month.

ftrichard

Anyone know if the management has changed at this hotel? I ask because I don't recognise these faults and negative observations based on my stay here in October (I also stayed during its soft opening but this isn't a fair comparison).

There used to be a British GM who has successfully managed many notable hotels in the region. He used to hold a GM reception in the lounge once a week with enhanced food though I found the regular lounge food to be perfectly fine. I was upgraded to the corner suite on the top floor opposite the lounge entrance. The whole experience was what I would expect from a Le Meridien in Asia. And I've stayed at many of them.

So, anyone know if there's been a management change?

estnet

Don't know if there's been a change but this experience is nothing like mine last month. When I mentioned a minor issue with something in the lounge I was provided with a prompt and generous gesture to make me happy. People in the lounge who were vegetarian were provided special food b/c there were no hot veg options.
There were some issues about ug, but it was b/c of the new Marriott system not showing any previous stays and it was handled appropriately. No issues about cleanliness of AC in either of the 2 rooms I occupied.
The food shown was shortly before the changeover to cocktail hour (based on the time reported- when they typically offer some sandwiches and pastries and fruit (many hotels don't offer anything to eat except cookies between breakfast and cocktail hour). they had sparkling water when I was there.