Five-star Nguyen Hue, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
Rex Hotel Saigon
A 1920s car showroom on Nguyen Hue that became the press room of the Vietnam War, with the rooftop bar where correspondents once gathered still open above the boulevard.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.
- Rooms
- 286 rooms and suites
- Building
- A garage of 1927, a hotel since the 1960s
- Classed five-star
- 2008
- From the airport
- About 30 minutes from SGN
The hotel
From Citroën garage to press room.
The building went up in 1927 as the Bainier Auto Hall, a two-storey showroom and garage selling Citroëns. From 1959 it grew to six floors as a trading centre, and in 1960 the American Cultural Center leased it, opening the Abraham Lincoln Library on the ground floor. Through the war years American officers gathered here, and the daily briefings for foreign correspondents earned the name the five o'clock follies.
After 1975 the state tourism company Saigontourist took it over and named it Ben Thanh; the Rex name returned in 1986. A large renovation followed in 2003, and in 2008 it was classed as an international five-star hotel. Today the ground floor holds the Rex Arcade of fashion houses, and the hotel looks onto the pedestrian Nguyen Hue boulevard. Patricia Schultz put its rooftop bar in her book 1,000 Places to See Before You Die.
- Rooftop Garden Bar Named by Newsweek in 1996 among the best bars in South East Asia, and listed in Patricia Schultz's 1,000 Places to See Before You Die.
- On Nguyen Hue The hotel stands on the pedestrian boulevard in District 1, beside an entrance to the Opera House metro station.
- Rex Havana Cigar Club A cigar room among the hotel's bars, alongside the coffee lounge and the Vertical Garden.
Rooms & suites
Two wings and a suite on top.
The 286 rooms and suites run from Deluxe rooms in the East Wing to suites on the upper floors of the Executive Wing.
- Rooms Deluxe About 28 square metres in the East Wing, with a king or twin beds and a bath or walk-in shower.
- Suites Rex, Governor and Imperial Suites The suite categories run from the Rex Suite through the Governor and Executive Suites to the Imperial Suite.
- The largest Presidential Suite About 200 square metres at the top of the Executive Wing, with two king bedrooms, a kitchen and a view over the centre.
Dining
A rooftop with a past.
Restaurants and bars as listed by the hotel. Shown for information.
- Rooftop Garden Bar Cocktails and light meals Over Nguyen Hue
- Hoa Mai Restaurant Restaurant In the hotel
- Cung Dinh Restaurant Restaurant Entrance on Pasteur Street
- Paradise Coffee Lounge Coffee lounge In the hotel
- Vertical Garden Coffee and meals A tropical garden setting
- Rex Havana Cigar Club Cigars In the hotel
Good to know
Before you go.
- Pool and gym Outdoor pools and the Rex Health Club, with a gym and beauty treatments.
- Shopping The Rex Arcade on the ground floor, between Nguyen Hue, Le Loi and Le Thanh Ton, holds Chanel, Burberry, Rolex and other houses.
Getting there
Flying to Ho Chi Minh City.
Tan Son Nhat International, about 7 kilometres north-west of the centre, takes both scheduled flights and private jets. Allow about 30 minutes by car, our estimate, longer in traffic. Long Thanh, the new airport in Dong Nai, is due to open on 1 December 2026 and to take long-haul routes from late March 2027; the drive from there will be longer.
- Bangkok 1 h 20
- Singapore 1 h 45
- Hong Kong 2 h 20
- Bali 3 h 25
- Tokyo 6 h 00
Questions
What guests ask first.
- What was the Rex Hotel during the Vietnam War?
- A base for the American information services, where the daily briefings for foreign correspondents, the five o'clock follies, took place and officers met in the rooftop bar.
- How far is the Rex Hotel from the airport?
- Tan Son Nhat is about 7 kilometres away, roughly 30 minutes by car by our estimate, depending on traffic.
- Can SkyCourtage arrange the flight to Ho Chi Minh City?
- Yes. We arrange Business and First Class seats on scheduled airlines and private jet charter to Ho Chi Minh City, with one final price, our margin included. The hotel is booked with the hotel or through our booking partner.
Also in Ho Chi Minh City
Other hotels worth the trip.
- Park Hyatt Saigon A colonnaded front facing the Opera House, opened in 2005, with 245 rooms and a MICHELIN Key.
- Hôtel des Arts Saigon – MGallery Opened in 2015 with 168 rooms, a 1930s French mood and the Social Club bar on the 24th floor.
- Caravelle Saigon A 335-room landmark beside the Opera House, its bar looking straight across at the theatre.
- Mia Saigon A boutique hotel east of the river in the old District 2, given its first MICHELIN Key in 2026.
- The Reverie Saigon Italian furniture by Visionnaire, Colombostile and Giorgetti in 286 rooms high in the Times Square tower.
- Mai House Saigon Hotel French Indochinese rooms, 224 of them, a rooftop bar over the skyline, and a first MICHELIN Key in 2026.
- Hotel Majestic Saigon At the river end of Dong Khoi since 1925, with 175 rooms and M Bar on the roof.
- Sofitel Saigon Plaza On Le Duan Boulevard, with a pool on the roof and ST25 by KOTO among its kitchens.
- Vinpearl Landmark 81, Autograph Collection Inside the 81-storey Landmark 81 tower, with 223 rooms and an infinity pool on the 47th floor.
Staying at Rex Hotel Saigon?
Book the room, then the flight.
Rates and availability come from the hotel itself. For the journey to Ho Chi Minh City, a Business or First Class seat or an aircraft of your own: tell us the date and we come back with one final price, our margin included.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.