Our Recommended Ho Chi Minh City Hotels
- Duxton Hotel
- Lavender Hotel
- Renaissance Riverside
- Majestic Saigon
- Park Hyatt
Saigon Information
Nightlife in Saigon
During the Vietnam War, Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon as it was known then) was notorious for its nightlife but this changed dramatically after 1975 and venues were forced to close their doors. Now, however, the city is once again awash with clubs and bars, varying from tiny, gloomy establishments to some very upmarket venues. Most of the nightlife is concentrated in District 1, particularly on the streets around Dong Khoi and Hai Ba Trung, although a few good restaurants and bars are found in District 3 and Phu Nhuan District.
Bars and clubs should close at midnight but many are open into the early hours of the morning or until the last client leaves. Imported drinks are considerably more expensive than local ones and alcohol sold in the more upmarket places is even more expensive again. There is never any entrance fee to the bars but nightclubs generally charge around US$5. The dress code is generally very relaxed with no restrictions on jeans or trainers.
Bars: Perhaps one of the most famous bars is Apocalypse Now, 2C Thi Sach. Be warned it only gets going around midnight. For a quiet drink with great views over the Saigon River, try the rooftop bar at the Majestic Hotel. The Q Bar, Lam Son Square, has made a welcome return after several years' absence and it is still stylish, sophisticated and cool but larger than before.
Casinos: Gambling in Vietnam is illegal for Vietnamese people, however, it is allowed by foreign passport-holders. There is only one casino in the north of the country but now gaming centres with slot machines are making an appearance in Ho Chi Minh City.
Bars: Perhaps one of the most famous bars is Apocalypse Now, 2C Thi Sach. Be warned it only gets going around midnight. For a quiet drink with great views over the Saigon River, try the rooftop bar at the Majestic Hotel. The Q Bar, Lam Son Square, has made a welcome return after several years' absence and it is still stylish, sophisticated and cool but larger than before.
Casinos: Gambling in Vietnam is illegal for Vietnamese people, however, it is allowed by foreign passport-holders. There is only one casino in the north of the country but now gaming centres with slot machines are making an appearance in Ho Chi Minh City.
Clubs: Clubs were slow in appearing in the city but now there is a choice, although they all play a wide variety of music, including techno, pop and retro. The Catwalk disco and karaoke bar, in the New World Hotel on Le Lai, is well established. Popular with young Saigonese and ex-pats alike are the techno clubs, Hazzards on Hai Ba Trung and Speed on Tran Hung Dao, with its great sound system, and Mua Rung on Ho Huan Nghiep, which is decorated as an Amazonian rainforest. The largest and most hi-tech club in Vietnam, Spaceship on Ham Nghi continues to draw the crowds with its spectacular light shows.
Live Music: The Wild Horse Saloon has regular live music nights from jazz to blues and country. Several of the international hotels stage nightly performances by local and international bands. These include Caravelle Hotel on Lam Son Square (in the stylish Saigon Saigon Bar with stunning views over the rooftops), the New World Hotel, Le Lai, the Equatorial Hotel, Tran Binh Trong, and Sofitel Plaza Saigon, Le Duan. It is even possible to find gypsy and flamenco music being performed at the Carmen Bar.
Eating out
Saigon is not a place where you will easily go hungry, regardless of your budget. Most of the Vietnamese restaurants which cater to the business community are quite Westernised. If you like your restaurants with a white table cloth, the best of these is Blue Ginger, at 37 Nam Ky Khai Nghia.
Viet Nam House upstairs at 4 Nguyen Thiep Street is under the same ownership. Both are magnificently decorated. You can expect fabulous service and live music.
Lemon Grass, at 93-95 Dong Khai Street, is a bit more modest and relaxed, but still fairly good. On most nights, a string quartet entertains diners.
But for those who want to enjoy real Vietnamese food and contemporary Saigon living, forget about all the tourist restaurants with their white linens and higher prices, and instead dine where the Vietnamese do. Thanks to cheap food and local whisky everyone makes merry in Saigon every night. Two blocks behind the National Theater (sometimes called the Opera House) is a street called Thi Sach. Although only two blocks long, it is lined with little restaurants which are packed nightly. All the restaurants are quite good and very cheap. Many specialize in seafood, though you will probably find unusual fare on the menus, like sparrows, wild deer and steamed silk worms.
Don't leave Ho Chi Minh City without trying one of the banh xeo (pancake) places on Dinh Cong Trang Street, one of the most unusual eating experiences in the city. About one block down this little alley you will find hundreds of people eating outdoors around an open-air kitchen. While you may receive a menu which includes a variety of banh xeo and other specialties, it's just as easy to look at what other people are having and point. Except for some seafood dishes, the food is very cheap. Just keep ordering one dish at a time until you have had enough.
The small and sumptuously decorated Phu Xuan offers the traditional culinary specialties of Hue, Vietnamese cookings equivalent of Imperial court cuisine. Unlike most Saigon, flavors are rich and subtle, and dishes are beautifully presented. Although more expensive than street food, Phu Xuan is a wonderful and relaxing place for a romantic supper or a small party. In District 3 at 128 Dinh Tien Hoang.
Shopping in Saigon
Visitors to Ho Chi Minh City are spoilt for choice for shops and most of them are within easy walking distance of each other. Many shops are found along Dong Khoi, which used to be the trendy Rue Catinat in French colonial times. Close by are Hai Ba Trung and Le Loi, which are also worth a look. Off-the-peg clothing is always a good buy but even better is to have clothes made up by one of the many tailors. There is always a good range of coloured silk to choose from. Hand-embroidered tablecloths and napkins are very popular. Items such as boxes and vases made from lacquerware are extremely good value. The hill tribes of the Central Highlands and the north of the country now sell colourful woven bags and clothing in the city. Good souvenirs are marble figurines and vases and silk paintings and greetings cards. Busy Ben Thanh Market on Le Loi is crammed with items of interest to the visitor, such as clothes and souvenirs, as well as more general household items, food and flowers. It is open from early morning until 1700.
Shops are generally open seven days a week from around 0800 until between 2000 and 2200. All shops tend to be on the small side and so far there are no major department stores represented in the city. VAT is structured on a four-tiered system (at 0%, 5%, 10% AND 20%). It is included on most items sold and 10% is the standard, but there is no system for foreign visitors to be able to claim this back at the moment. However, the duty-free shop on the corner of Nguyen Hue and Le Loi in the centre of downtown Saigon will allow foreigners to make tax-free purchases of their stock (up to the value of US$315). A passport and stamped yellow entry customs form must be shown. During the first five days of your visit, you can take goods away, otherwise they will be delivered to the international airport for you.
Shops are generally open seven days a week from around 0800 until between 2000 and 2200. All shops tend to be on the small side and so far there are no major department stores represented in the city. VAT is structured on a four-tiered system (at 0%, 5%, 10% AND 20%). It is included on most items sold and 10% is the standard, but there is no system for foreign visitors to be able to claim this back at the moment. However, the duty-free shop on the corner of Nguyen Hue and Le Loi in the centre of downtown Saigon will allow foreigners to make tax-free purchases of their stock (up to the value of US$315). A passport and stamped yellow entry customs form must be shown. During the first five days of your visit, you can take goods away, otherwise they will be delivered to the international airport for you.
