Hi everyone... I am looking for suggestions for a 5 star hotel close to the shopping / entertainment part of Ho Chi Minh City. I've just decided to go and am not quite sure yet of what area I should be staying in.

If you can help out with suggestions and let me know if you have stayed there. Thanks.

I LOVED the Park Hyatt. Great location ( their restuarants are fab too) if we go back to HCMC we would DEFINITLY stay here again.

I thought the historic Majestic, overlooking the river, was great.

http://www.majesticsaigon.com.vn/

For more info see

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...heast-asia.cfm

If money is no object then i second smeagol's suggestion of the Park Hyatt and marija's for a bit of history.. The Caravalle is also good, if a bit bland ( although it does have a great rooftop bar) . District 1 is where you need to be for the main sights and shopping. From any of these hotels is the main points of interest are walkable.

I second the vote for the Majestic-semi luxe rooms, wonderful and atmospheric rooftop bar and breakfast area with views of the river, and walkable to most everything. I did go look at the Caravelle and the Park Hyatt, but still was happy with my choice of the Majestic for history and comfort.

Historic Hotel Continental, or Park Hyatt.

I stayed at the Intercontinental Asiana in February and give it high marks. My room was quietly elegant, the bed very comfortable, the service terrific. Nice pool. The breakfast was a tasty mix of French, Asian, American cuisines, you could mix and match as you pleased. Other things I liked -- it was connected to a small shopping mall with a sundries store to buy water, snacks or anything you might have forgotten (toothpaste, etc). There was also a sushi bar/Japanese restaurant where we had some excellent sushi. The hotel is right behind the post office. Wifi was included in my rate; the Park Hyatt would have charged extra.

Nonetheless, the Park Hyatt looked very appealing and for our next trip, we are going to split out time between the PH and the Intercontinental.

The Majestic's pool is much smaller than the InterContinental's or the Park Hyatt's (which is the nicest of the three). On this particular trip, I really wanted to have a good pool with the hotel. For others, that's not a consideration.

Thank you all. District 1 it seems. I read about the Park Hyatt and Intercontinental but have not heard of the Majestic. I'll google it now. I was hoping for something with a bit of an Eastern influence so it wasn't like waking up in a Sydney Hote. Much appreciated everyone.

We stayed in the Rex Hotel in January, and we recommend it.
It has a very nice rooftop bar where we enjoyed drinks at sunset and a great view.

We had drinks at the Rex (fun and beautiful views, funny entertainment --- mostly bar mitzvah band quality).

The lobby area of the Majestic is gorgeous (think The Willard in DC), and friends stayed there and loved it.

We walked through the public areas of the Park Hyatt and thought it was fabulous.

You'd be fine with any of those three. There's also the Legend, which is very lovely, but I think it caters to Japanese business people.

We stayed t The New World Hotel in February. The rooms were great near Ben Then market

The Legend is owned by Lotte now (Korean company).

I always stay at the Sheraton, but that's because I get a good rate there. The Grand Towers rooms and lounge are excellent.

The Grand Tower rooms are all suites.