Sheraton Saigon Grand Opera Hotel — Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City

I work as a designer and travel very frequently to Ho Chi Minh City and other Southeast Asia countries. During my trips I usually stay where my clients put me but in this case I chose to stay at the Sheraton with my co-worker that was already going to be there. During my booking where I made multiply reservations for southern China, Hong Kong, and Ho Chi Minh I made it very clear that I was going to be staying with my co-worker but needed to check out a day later than he was going to be. On my arrival they did not have me booked in the same room as my co-worker (brother) but instead another room on the older side of the hotel. After quite a few efforts of explaining to the front desk that I did not need another room but just a key for the room my co-worker (brother) was in. My name was on the reservation and my brother (co-worker) had told them I would be arriving and they still didn’t understand. I understand the difficulty in the language barrier between English and Vietnamese and I’m not upset at this. I’m quite use to it actually but my troubles didn’t really start there.

Once I was in the room I went to take a shower after the long day of traveling and did not have hot water. I went ahead and let the front desk know my problem and they sent someone to fix it. The next day the hot water was out again. Overall I took 3 cold showers during my visit. Not something I enjoy doing after a 10 to 12 hour work day inside a hot factory. Once they did get it fixed it was just warm enough not to be cold. My co-worker didn’t have this problem before I arrived and never did quite understand why they couldn’t fix it.

Also upon my arrival I revived a call after the cold shower from the front desk saying there was something wrong with my booking and they had me in another room and I needed to come down to the front desk to check in and change this. After another long discussion with the manager they had the problem fixed or at least I thought they had it fixed. On the day my brother was going to be leaving I walked to the front desk with him. Luckily I did because they had me checking out on the same day and moving to another room. Why and how is this happening again? This was about 20 minuets before a car was supposed to pick me up. During my very frustrated discussion the front desk asked me if it would be ok for them to move my belongings to another room while I was gone and if I could pack them up before I left. At this moment I was already late and they new this. I asked to speak to the manager and things started to get straightened out. But then the question of the room rate came up. At this point I really did not care, I travel for business and this is all a business expensive but when they gave me the new rate at almost 25 percent more I was shocked. I asked why and they told me that I was not under the special rate that my co-worker was under. I asked why and they said because we were not with the same people. I very politely told them we were and they asked to see a business card like I was trying to make this whole story up just to get a better rate. After having to make 2 phone calls with my US number I was able to reach the person that they needed to speak to. I probable spent more money on the phone calls then I saved on the room. Finally we got it all worked out and I arrived an hour late to my meeting.

This was a first for me during my travels overseas. I was gone for 18 days on this trip and traveled to Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, and Vietnam, stayed in 7 different hotels 2 of which were Sheratons. This kind of treatment and service has never happened to me in any hotel overseas and I travel 4 to 6 times a year to the Far East. I am a very understanding and patient person when it comes to traveling, if you’re not things can get very upsetting and frustrating fast because of the language barrier and difference’s in culture. I was very shocked this happened. Some of colleagues were in a hotel 2 blocks away and paid 30 percent less then what I was paying here and was more than happy with there stay. Unfortunately I will probable never be staying here again and I really hate this because as a SPG American express card holder I always preferred to stay at any Starwoods hotel. They have always treated me well and in a very professional manor and usually goes above and beyond to make sure my stay is as stress free as possible. I wish this was the case for the Sheraton in...

We came to HCM City during the Lunar New Year, and were extremely delighted to be celebrating Tet (most important festival for the Vietnamese) with the locals. Before the trip, with only 30 mins of online research, I immediately booked a 5D4N family vacation (for 15 to 19 Feb 2018). And I am very glad that I was spot-on with my Sheraton choice!

Arriving by taxi, we were warmly greeted and welcomed by 2 members of the front concierge staff. We were then ushered by a check-in counter staff all the way to the Sheraton Club Lounge on the 5th floor for check-in, as I am SPG Platinum. We were invited to sit at a nice corner of this very cozy lounge where we were served drinks and invited to help ourselves to the extensive spread of snacks, pastries and canapes. Here, I asked for my very first Vietnamese coffee and wow, this coffee is the best I've ever enjoyed (I had eversince slurped 2 glasses everyday from this Club Lounge). Please take your time to relax with the food and drinks in the lounge during check-in (don't hurry), and then receive your keys to the room. Lugguage was already delivered to the room when I first stepped in.

The suite was big, clean and came with a lovely view of District 1. The bed and the pillows were great, giving us good comfortable sleep for all our nights. The shower was good, with the heater working well, strong water pressure, and came with a soothing 3-way water jet (1 overhead and 2 side torso jets). I say Sheraton is THE ONLY hotel to stay while in HCM, simply because Sheraton is within walking distance to ALL popular and famous landmarks, attractions, authentic food, shopping, shows, nightlife, local crafts, convenience stores, trendy cafes, local markets, upmarket malls and EVERYTHING! During Tet, a beautiful flower park was just a 50-metre walk, and we can view the fireworks display above the Saigon river, from our room.

Special mention to all the butlers and staff at the Sheraton Club lounge. They are simply awesome. They are the gems of the hotel. Though it was Tet - their most important festival, on which they had to turn up for work, they put up their best show and served with their biggest hearts. We had breakfast and evening cocktails at the lounge for 5 days and we enjoyed every session. As we see these young and capable staff members daily, we chatted and found out that many of them are university graduates (hospitality majors) and they are most motivated to provide the best service and top quality in their work. We would like to thank Vinh, Thu, Tien, Huong and the whole team. They are indeed the Stars!

Overall, we enjoyed our stay, especially the relaxing time at the Club Lounge. The food spread there is extensive, with lots of variety on the menu (including al dente and 'live' cooking) which changes everyday. We tasted all the different food items daily and we are all-praise for the food which are all good and tasty, especially the pho bo. Good spread of drinks, beers, wines and hard liquor, with daily free flow from 5pm to 8pm. The Sheraton Club is newly renovated and it looks very cozy and classy too. Nicely designed. In all, great hotel staff, good food, brilliant Sheraton Club, superb location and wonderful stay. When in HCM, stay...

Had an 3 night stay in a club studio (with kitchenette) booked using Bonvoy points. |Club lounge access was nice especially the evening food which saved me going out for dinner. ||Room on the 19th floor was good. Comfy bed. Although I did find the humidity high in the room. I travel with a humidity and temperature gauge and it was varying between 55-80%. I could smell a slight dampness in the room every time I entered it. Nothing terrible but I prefer a room in the low 50s %. I guess July is rainy season and humid on Vietnam. ||The room was quiet and had a partially blocked view of the river. Nice view at night. ||Areas that need addressing:|A couple of issues with the room - The wifi was very patchy in the evenings from 7-11pm. Very annoying not to be able to stream a sports game on my iPad. The lag sorts itself out in quieter times in the day. ||The curtains were hard to pull. They definitely need some silicone furniture spray on the tracks or the mechanisms are going to get damaged. ||Hotel is very centrally located near the opera house. Also a 7-8 minute walk to the Saigon Centre shopping mall which has great eateries on the upper floors. ||I also enjoyed a couple of massages at nearby Saigon Heritage massage centre. Take cash. I couldn't get the money machine in the hotel to work but the one across the road next to the circle k shop did work. ||The hotel is somewhat cavernous and huge, especially the reception area. Staff were polite and helpful to a T. Can't complain about any of them. ||Breakfast buffet was good and plentiful. ||It's about 20 mins drive from the airport, on a quiet day. ||All in all an ok stay. They said my club studio was upgraded to a club studio with kitchenette. I think I would have preferred a suite upgrade. I didn't use the kitchenette. There is a western style grocery store, Annan Gourmet, at the end of the street which could be quite handy. ||No umbrellas in pool area: |One other thing, I sat down and put my feet up on the outdoor lounge sofa, accessed via the club lounge. There was a sun umbrella and nearby fan which made it bearable in the heat and humidity. |I was told promptly not to do that, even though there was absolutely no one else in the area. ||The reason I did that is because the pool area loungers have absolutely no umbrellas over the loungers, thus rendering them unusable during the day as it's too hot. This is despite the Sheraton Saigon site showing the pool areas WITH sun umbrellas. The management need to either provide umbrellas near the pool or else remove those photos of the pool areas with umbrellas. ||So to summarise the hotel stay grew on me on the back of the club lounge offering and outdoor areas. You have to get away from the action of the streets and as a solo traveller you don't always want to sit in your room. So the club lounge is a nice option. ||Footnote: the hotel bent over backwards to try and fix the wifi lag once I reported it on the second evening. It required a reboot of the modem. This seemed to remedy the problem for the remaining night. Thanks to Kiet from IT for trying...