Le Méridien Saigon — Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City

GOT FOOD POISONED AT THE HOTEL! Disclosure: A loyal Platinum Elite member with Marriott for 11 years. I have been a regular with Le Méridien Saigon since ~2017. I'm not here to scam! Reservation 10/10/2024 - 10/11/2024

Background/timeline: I booked 1 night on this return to Saigon to be close to my friend's hotel to see him flying out then I continue with my travels. ~11am: lunch in Vũng Tàu ~1230pm: transit Vũng Tàu - Sài Gòn ~4pm: checked into Le Méridien hotel ~445pm: my partner and I starving = we split 6 snack pieces (savory and sweet) welcome platter ~6pm: we had soup and snacks before 730pm dinner reservation. My stomach started feeling uncomfortable, but I didn’t think much ~8pm: finally sat and had our first bite at Hai Di Lao, my stomach started churning, became bloated, and having cold sweat. I thought it was from being overly hungry and tired from car transit. ~930pm: short walk & arrived at the Hilton for drinks as planned. I felt really uncomfortable & went #2, thought it'd solve the issue. We then placed an order for a round of drinks, seconds after I ran into the restroom for a long vomiting session. I had 2 agonizing vomiting sessions, didn't even touch my drink, and my friend had to book Grab taxi to take me back to my room. Meanwhile my partner ran to pick up food poisoned meds at PharmaCity ~1030pm: a 3rd vomit session took place once I got in my room. I had thrown up everything and curled up like a snail seeking comfort, on the couch. Then my partner and friend started picking apart the food consumption and timing for the day, and the only food items that I ATE ALL ALONE were the 2 savory (1 shrimp and 1 chicken) and 1 sweet mini snack.

Exchanges with hotel management: Next morning I notified the hotel via the app of this food poison incident, then went to speak with the Lounge manager (Lan Nguyen) in person later to tell her the entire timeline and our primary suspects, the savory snacks. She honestly and calmly told me that the snacks (a smoke salmon, a shrimp, a chicken croquette, and 3 sweets -see pictures of 1 on this stay & 1 close up from 9/5/24 that I didn't eat) were made 11am, then delivered to my room at some point where it sat on the coffee table not preserved/refrigerated at room temperature until 445pm (in my case ~5 hours or whenever the guest(s) gets in and consume the snacks, for other cases). I was shocked and asked her “You don’t see any issue with the food controls?” , she simply replied “that has been our processes and no negative feedback yet”. I further questioned their food & beverages’ procedures for controls & handling (I’m not an expert on this matter), and her genuine responses of their operations at a “supposedly 5 stars hotel” lead me to feel extremely unsafe and I don’t ever want to eat foods at this hotel establishment again. I urged that they stopped sending savory snacks as welcome gifts, so others won’t have to suffer like I did, her response “We’ll look into it, but we haven’t had negative feedback”. Even though Lan didn’t seem like she’d adopt food preservation as part of their general food & beverage safety requirements, I have to admit that she was genuine and receptive (not to the point of admitting wrong doing) of the incident. So, I asked that the hotel comp my room for an additional night since I’m in no condition to continue on and had to canceled & delayed travel plans, and Bonvoy points added to my account for this incident. She nodded with agreement, then said “let me see what I can do and will get back to you”. We walked away thinking that was straightforward and comfortable for a confrontation… About 30 minutes after my 4pm late checkout time, Lan called to tell me that upper management cannot accommodate either of my requests and they had sent “samples of the snacks out for testing” (what a load of BS they’re trying to feed to customers, this place is starting to sound like a giant drug laboratory or something). Sigh, I told her my Grab taxi is waiting to take me to late lunch for I couldn’t eat all day due to feeling...

I really enjoyed my visit at this ultra modern, contemporary hotel located in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City. The rooms facing the river have phenomenal views. It's nice to sit by the window in your room to watch the boats ride by and look out at the partial skyline views.

My favorite part of the hotel was the pool located on the 9th floor. I appreciated the open-air design where most of the area is covered. There is a smaller section for those who would like to sunbathe in the direct sun.

Right next to the pool area is the fitness center and the Bamboo restaurant. I worked out a few times. It's of average size with a variety of cardiovascular equipment, free weights, and strength machines. For those who like to meditate, stretch, or simply have some quiet time, there's a separate group workout room. I went inside so I can finish up my routine with stretching and abdominals. They offer two different size towels and water bottles for your workout. For those guests who like to work out in the morning, the sun faces directly into the gym but they do have shades you can pull down to block the rays.

The Bamboo restaurant is a great place for dinner. I'm not sure if they're open for lunch, however, we enjoyed three meals as we overlooked the skyline at night. The restaurant offers a variety of Asian entrees and a full bar. The food was great and the service was awesome for two out of the three nights. The first night we had horrible service but the second and third night was great. I'd like to mention "Van," who was our server for two of the three nights. He had an incredible smile and an awesome attitude. He seemed to really love what he does.

As you can see, I'm saying all these great things about this hotel and I rated it 4 out of 5 stars. What brought this rating down was the food and service during the morning buffet at the Latest Recipe restaurant. I felt the restaurant was understaffed. During the work week, it felt like a free-for-all and disorganized. The servers did their best to accommodate the needs of the guests and managed to keep a smile on their face. However, I can tell they were stressed out. As for me and observing other guests, anytime we needed something we had to approach a server who was in the middle of cleaning up a table or fulfilling the needs of someone else. I couldn't find anyone walking around offering coffee or being proactive. There were dirty dishes left on the tables. Over the weekend, when there were less guests in the restaurant, I still felt the service was slow. The restaurant didn't seem chaotic and I saw the servers standing around not offering coffee or being proactive. The breakfast buffet offers a mix of eastern and western options. On the positive side, I really enjoyed the egg and omelet ordering station. I routinely ordered a well-done egg white omelette with vegetables. They made it exactly how I liked it so I have to say that was excellent. There were freshly cut fruit, juices, and yogurts. There were other prepared foods I tried that sat under a light warmer to keep the food warm, but it didn't seem to work. When I tried some of these entrees they were barely warm. I also think someone from the staff needs to go around on a more regular basis to clean up the food droppings around the food stations and utensils. It didn't look appealing.

The rooms are spacious. There's a fair amount of storage, a safe, refrigerator, and the bed is really comfortable. I found the lighting and air conditioning system easy to navigate. The bathroom is separated by glass and inside is a separate shower and tub. They have a window shade you can pull down that will offer privacy between the bathroom and the rest of the room.

In terms of convenience, there's a Family Mart around the corner and within a 5 to 10 minute walk you'll find a variety of cafes, restaurants, spas, and a high-end grocery store. And if we were to return to Ho Chi Minh City, we would definitely consider this...

I stayed at the Le Meridien hotel for one night: the night of the 29th of June 2025. Below are my views on good (+) and not-good (-) about this hotel. In the end, my final evaluation (the number of stars) is heavily based on the quality of my interactions with staffs as a guest and a loyal member.

Good things: The staff members from the outside door to the inside were super friendly, hospitable, and polite. I immediately felt welcome as soon as I stepped to the front door at 2am in the morning after a long flight. The hospitability, the welcome, and politeness that is typically seen in Asia. I was checked in with a big smile from a front desk staff (feel bad to forget her name now: sorry it was 28 hours flight from US and landed there at 2am) and she walked me through every details of the hotel including an upgrade to a grand suite for me. It was a happy surprise to get into my room: the welcome gift with sweets and a bottle of wine, and the bed decorated with flowers were stunning and I really loved it. The big (as its name “grand”) suite occupies the entire corner with the view directly to the river and broad view to the city. Though my stay was super short, I really had a pleasant and relaxed time in the suite. The breakfast restaurant is very nicely organized with an island in the middle serving juice, yogurt, cheerios, vegies, cheese, and etc. It is surrounded by continental breakfast items with many local items (including whole coconuts). The view looking over the river is very pleasant. The gym is very clean with many equipment and, unlike many hotel, they have both dry and wet sauna. I didn’t use it but the pool is on the same floor overlooking the river, which is very nice. The hotel is about 20 minutes to Tan Son Nhat airport, but be careful with the traffic, which could make your trip much longer: better check with the hotel. I thought that I forgot my pillow at the hotel when I got to Hanoi, and it was already night time of the day that I checked out and the app was still live. I thus contacted through messages. They immediately responded to me and was trying to help to find the pillow. Jolie (Thu), the lobby ambassador, sent me an email a day after I checked out. Such a small thing is super important as it gives the guest the feeling that the hotel actually care for them even after checking out. I have been in many Marriott hotels brands (funny that this was my first time a Le Meridien and they exceeded my expectations) and this hotel really made me feel home and that they really care about their guests (all hotels should as, by definition, you should treat all of your guests well).

Not-good things: The staff at the breakfast is not as friendly and welcoming as I would expect: especially the front desk people. My gut feeling told me that they heard me speaking Vietnamese and thus treating me differently (in a negative sense of course), which is hurting if...