I have been trying to find out about Rennaisance Riverside hotel. However, I would also any info on Saigon- places to see, restaurants etc. We are going next April.

Hi, I was just in Saigon a few weeks ago. I stayed at the Majestic (which I thought was wonderful), so can't give you any feedback on the Renaissance.

I visited the Reunification Palace and the War Remnants museum, both of which were worthwhile (especially the latter). We also went to a few temples and spent some time in the Chinatown market as my Saigon guide lives in that neighborhood so that was interesting.

The restaurant I particularly liked in Saigon was the Lemongrass.

I did a day trip to the Mekong Delta but on my next visit I would definitely want to get further out so I'd recommend at least an overnight if you have the time.

thanks! I wouldn't mind some feedback on the Majestic- we have considered that as well.

Have just read your trip report- excellent!

I second Lemongrass, it's a beautiful restaurant with wonderful good. A few years ago, my husband and I ate there. We had appetizers, 2 main meals, rice, desert, 2 Heinekins each and it set us back $20.00 for both of us. It's at 4 Nguyen Thiep St- Dist.1

Another one we loved was Vietnam House, which is in a beautiful restored house. That one set up back about $24.00 for both of us for about the same amount of food. It's at 93-95 Dong Khoi St.

my goodness- that is really cheap. However, I have already noticed that with hotel prices!Far cheaper than Bangkok- where hotels are great prices anyway!

fiona, you will find VN to be incredibly cheap. It is possible to spend much more on food but you really don't have to. If you order wine instead of beer, it will add a lot to your bill. This is true in most of Asia. Eating at 5 star hotels will cost you more than eating in restaurants. As I wrote in a different post, my husband and I spent more on laundry at the Peninsular Hotel in Bangkok than we did for a week's food in VN. We didn't have to buy breakfast though, it was included, and for lunch we generally ate in small restaurants that didn't look like much but were recommended and had great food. We went out fancier for dinners.

Although I am looking at a Marriott hotel I don't usually eat in hotels but like to go to restaurants around them. The restaurant recs are great.
Laurie
know what you mean about laundry prices in Bangkok hotels!
Anyone able to tell me about the Cu Chi tunnels? Are they really claustrophic? I will be going going them anyway but better to be prepared!
One more question- We plan to spend a full 4 days there. Is that enough?

I wish there was an edit function! I meant to say I will be going DOWN the tunnels!

The cu chi tunnels are very narrow. Our guide told us some bigger tourists have gotten stuck. The one they opened to tourists has been widened but it's still quite narrow. I don't like small enclosed places either but I went down and the only time I was uncomfortable was actually going in. Once you make it down, if you're tall you'll probably have ro crouch down a bit but otherwise, you shouldn't feel claustrophobic. It's very interesting and you can see how ingenius the Viet Cong were. When we left there, my husband and I knew why we lost the war!

thanks Laurie!

Fiona, I have some pictures of Vietnam up. I was just fooling around with them and the photos themselves don't have captions yet but you can take a look at them. They're not great, they were taken with my first digital camera (I'm on my fourth now) and the quality wasn't all that good. But, for what it's worth, here's the site:

http://lcohen.photosite.com/Album1/

photos make me wish that we could manage more than Saigon!

Fiona, we spent 4 nights at the Majestic in Saigon and wish we had stayed longer! That hotel was wonderful and centrally located! Just walk a few blocks and you are at the Lemongrass & Vietnam House restaurant recommended here. I made a point of walking into all the other hotels mentioned, The Grand, Rex etc. but Majestic was definitely my favorite especially their humongous breakfast buffets. Incredibly inexpensive. I don't care for large western hotels as that's where I can stay here. This place was Excellent. Your search is over. By the way there are a couple of bars in the hotel where you can sit on the roof and look over the city. Can't say enough good things about it.

Thanks Wanda.

Fiona, you should be able to book a day trip that takes in both the Cu Chi Tunnels and the Cao Dai temple at Tay Ninh, which is further along the road toward the Cambodian border. The Cao Dai religion is a unique product of Vietnam, and you can observe the colourful assembly of the faithful chanting to a traditional orchestra from the gallery - at least, when we visited you could. Great videocam material.

The Cu Chi Tunnels site is interesting and informative enough without having to enter the short length of tunnel specially widened for us Western fatties ("Speak for yourself", I hear you say, but it's a sobering experience to spend time in a country in which almost everybody is small, slim, tanned and healthy-looking.) Incidentally, I believe that the massive tunnel network stretched all the way to the outskirts of Saigon.

laurieco, it's ironic and tragic that after their humiliating defeat at Dien Bien Phu the French could have told anyone who was prepared to listen what can (and usually does) happen when you mess with the Vietnamese - maybe a case of "those who don't study history are condemned to repeat it", although the repeat was on a far more wasteful and tragic scale. To add to the irony, the US was up against the same brilliant general who thrashed the Foreign Legion, Vo Nguyen Giap.

I spent a few days in Saigon this past November. The Rennaisance Riverside hotel was the meeting place for our cruise up the Mekong River--I was only in the lobby, but it was nice.
We also ate at a restaurant called Mandarin that was very good. Tried to get into Lemongrass, but they were booked up!

Thanks Neil and Florida1. I am tending towards the Renaiassance now and have a great deal on it.( Still have the Majestic in the running though Wanda!)Thanks for the tip about the day trip Neil- I only have 4 or 5 days there so I want to make the most of them!

Neil, you're so right. Unfortunately, history seems to repeat itself over and over and over again. Don't want to get too political on a travel board but I think you can guess what I mean.

I second NWWanderer's suggestion of a side trip to the Mekong, preferably overnight. We enjoyed our day trip (to My Tho, from memory, which isn't far from HCMC), but would have liked more time. I believe that any travel agency in HCMC will offer a selection of Mekong tours at very reasonable rates.