Saigon Hanoi Hotel

Nice staff

No windows in room

The location was excellent. We could walk to most places of interest and restaurants.

We payed for a suite but it turned out to be a large room with a small settee. There was no hot water in the mornings of our stay.

Friendly staff

There is no toilet paper

The location is pretty good, a short walk from the theater/opera house and lots of restaurants and cafés, and it will be even better once all the road and metro construction work has been completed.

Caveat: This was my first time in Vietnam, but I have traveled a lot through SE Asia. So, this review may be unfairly critical in the context of Vietnam hotels, as I am really comparing here with hotels of the same category in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Taiwan, Philippines, etc. The hotel feels a little run down. From the lobby and dining room to the furniture, lots of things have a distinct 70-80s feel. I don't know what the plans of management are (apparently the hotel has been fairly recently renamed: all stationery and towels still carry the old name "Hotel Ho Sen"), but it might actually be cool to cultivate the "Iron curtain nostalgia" retro look. :-) The breakfast buffet was repetitive (I stayed > 5 nights) but adequate. Just don't wait for someone to show up at the "egg station." Grab the guy hiding behind the coffee pots to leave his cell phone aside for a minute and cook your eggs. In general, the desk and dining room staff were mostly gloomy and indifferent, and only the cleaning staff and doormen were smiling and friendly as I am used to in SE Asia. In summary, although I don't completely exclude ever returning to this hotel, I will try another one if I return to Saigon, would it be only to establish a point of comparison.