Calista Sai Gon Hotel — Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City

First of all this was the worse experience we have had for a 3 star hotel, this should be altered to a 1 star, as our experience here was unbearable. We planned to stay within distance of main attractions of the Saigon district with my partner and I along with a friend. On the first day of arrival, everything seemed fine until we stepped inside our rooms. We were told to wait 30 minutes while our rooms were being prepared and cleaned which seemed normal, however we discovered dirty towels in the bathroom and drain blockage with the last guests hair, along with a leaking toilet for the first two days we stayed which I almost slipped and fell upon entry of the bathroom. Setting these issues aside we dealt with it during the time we stayed at Cititel however the occurrence of issues still arises. On day one our safe was not functioning properly so we called the reception to fix the safe along with the leaking toilet, this was a burden, as we had to call three times to the reception to help get this issue fixed as they forgot until we called for a third time in a span of 20min wait each call.

During our early morning we decided to try the included morning breakfast upstairs, however the food seemed decent enough and above average the fruits and drink station of the breakfast table was infested with ants and fruits were exposed and not covered like the other foods. I found this revolting to see ants in my watermelon juice and was not happy with this standard. We decided to try again as sometime first impression can’t be judged upon due to circumstances, but the same situation exists, very disappointing and unsanitary. In addition to this the staff of the hotel were not capable of basic English speaking capabilities as only the manager and one staff were capable with decent communication skill as for the rest had no idea what we asked or said and used mostly hand signals. Along side this we had plan to go to Vung Tau a two hour trip from Saigon and decided to trust the nice staff called Kelvin who arranged a limousine to pick us up and drop us off for 440,000VND but coming to a realisation we were scammed by him as our friends had the same offer for only 280,000VND from the hotel manger. The following days we wanted to confront him on this issue but he was a no show at work and unfortunately we had to depart before we could complain about this issue. Please steer away from this guy.

Other minor issues we had were no mention of additional charges when using the fridge, usually hotel staff would go through the conditions of use along with fees but ours didn't mention anything. Seeing as other hotels offer complementary water we decided to drink water from the mini fridge provided but was then later charged USD for each bottle the following day. Although they offered the bottles as complementary if they weren’t from the fridge but on the table instead. We had no warning regarding this and were confused to why they charged for fringed bottle water and not the ones on the table? In addition to this the previous guest had left their drinks and food in the fridge and maintainer did not clear and clean properly. We had countless problems with Cititel and were surprised they didn't meet even the standard and basic necessities a standard hotel should provide for their guest. We had no available door signage to hang on our doors to left other to clean our rooms or not to disturb us. We asked about this and were simply told they don't provide such a thing but our friend who stayed in another room had one provided, how does this make sense? Not to mention he was provided a set of instructions on how to set up a safe as for our room had no instructions and need to call reception again! Lastly we the rooms don't have any windows nor did our friends room so if you want to know if its night or day good luck if you decide to stay here. For a 3 star hotel it lacks...

We stayed in this hotel for 4 nights, and the location was perfect, and not too far from the Ben Nghe street food market and lots of decent bars and restaurants. The staff on reception and at breakfast were welcoming and very friendly and created a relaxed atmosphere, and the standard of cleanliness in this hotel was good. We felt the quality of the hotel was commensurate with what we paid. ||The room was spacious with a good sized bathroom, and we had a kettle with free teabags, free bottled water, a mini bar and a safe, and some random toiletries. The bed was comfortable, and the linen and towels were clean. The tv in the room also enabled us to connect to Netflix which was helpful and the Wi-Fi was consistently good. We also had a fan and air con. We stayed in room 3004 overlooking the street. ||A couple of negative points to mention which we experienced as part of our stay: ||The sound proofing in this hotel was very poor. The windows are single paned, and as we had a street view, we could hear people in the street below throughout the night. You could also hear people in the corridor rustling about, even when they were being quiet. The noise seems to echo and amplify within the hotel. We could hear our neighbours in the room directly above us walking around. They had active children with them who were running around in the room late at night, and it was so loud and noisy and very annoying when trying to get to sleep. We also heard our neighbours in the room next to us showering and flushing their toilet at 1:45am to such and extend that it sounded like they were in the room with us! If you are a light sleeper or sensitive to sound, consider bringing ear plugs as there is absolutely no sound proofing in this hotel. ||The breakfast was average, and if you prefer western food, the options were very limited compared to other hotels we stayed in. The sliced bread was sweet and stale. If you prefer Vietnamese breakfasts, there were a lot more options available. ||One other point to mention is the mini gym. We are away travelling for a while and I was keen to have a workout. Both treadmills didn’t work, the air conditioning also didn’t work, and the water machine had an empty water bottle. ||We noticed that the water machines in reception and in the breakfast area were also empty. From a sustainability perspective, this encourages people to rely on single bottled water. Other hotels in vietnam where we have stayed provide water coolers with fresh water and it was disappointing that they didn’t do this. It looked like the empty bottles had been left on the water machines a long time. ||There was also work going on in the building next door during our stay, and we returned early from sight seeing one day at 4pm to rest after an early start, and we heard loud, intermittent drilling for over an hour. This isn’t great if you are wanting to sleep or rest and there were no notices about any inconvenience this may cause. In fairness they stopped at 5:30pm but that’s not the point. ||One final point: we got the impression from the marketing material and from the murals in the reception that there is a bar in reception, but the bar was not in operation. We would suggest that this is updated on the marketing materials as this is misleading. ||In spite of these negative points, we did have a good stay and this is a nice hotel with so much potential. I would suggest to the hotel to make some improvements as set our above to improve the stay for other...

I recently stayed here with my wife while travelling around Asia. The hotel is in a great location for restaurants, bars and convenience stores. ||The hotel is kept very clean and tidy. The staff are very attentive and are always making sure you’re good and enjoying your stay. A lovely member of staff on the front desk (I can’t remember his name) was very efficient on check in and letting us know what was available to us in the hotel. We added one more nights stay but had to leave that morning to do a tour. When we arrived back late that evening he had our room sorted, cases moved and the key handed straight to us as we walked in. Very nice service.||The food at breakfast was of good quality and plenty to have. A typical buffet breakfast with the option of having eggs made fresh (any style). ||We ate in the hotel also and the food was really good. A little minimal with portions but very tasty.||The rooms are nicely decorated and the bed was comfy. It was a nice stay.||The order eliminator in the lift was a little overpowering. The gym was adequate but a drainage smell was present when we were there. The pool is oddly placed and there was only one lounging piece of furniture next to it. The others are across the hall through the gym below the stairs leading up to where you have breakfast on...