マジェスティックはベトナム最古のホテルですか？

違います。現存するサイゴン最古のホテルは1880年開業のコンチネンタル・サイゴンで、マジェスティックの開業は1925年です。ホテル自身も公式サイトで「最古」とは名乗っておらず、掲げているのは2007年にベトナム運営のホテルとして初めて5つ星に認定された、という実績のほうです。

リバービューの部屋は取る価値がありますか？

あります。バルコニーからサイゴン川と橋が見えて、夜景がとくによかったです。ただし建物と水面のあいだにはトンドゥックタン通りと遊歩道が挟まるので、「窓の下がすぐ川」という景色ではありません。

前の道路がうるさくて眠れませんか？

交通量は多く、部屋にも耳栓が用意されています。ただ、夜11時を境にバイクが減って静かになるので、私は耳栓なしで眠れました。夜中はバスやトラックのクラクションが響きますが、眠れないほどではありませんでした。

朝食はどうでしたか？

この滞在でいちばん満足した部分でした。フォーやバインミーの定番に加えてサラダが豊富で、料理が毎日入れ替わるので連泊しても飽きません。味噌汁もありました。コーヒーやベトナムコーヒーの種類が多く、川を見ながらカフェのように使えます。

立地の不便な点はありますか？

ホテル前の道路が混んでいて、配車アプリで車をつかまえにくいことです。少し歩いて別のエリアから呼ぶほうが早く着きました。それ以外は、コンビニが徒歩3分、メトロのオペラハウス駅まで徒歩5分ほどで、不便はありません。

The rooms at Hotel Majestic Saigon were honestly nothing special. So where is the value in staying there?

Lodging Travel History & heritage

August 1, 2026

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Dong Khoi Street in Ho Chi Minh City begins at the bank of the Saigon River. Standing at number 1 is Hotel Majestic Saigon. I pass it every time I go into town, and I had wanted to stay there for a while.

I recently booked a river-view room facing the water and spent a couple of nights there. This is my record of the stay.

Let me start with the conclusion. The room was, honestly, ordinary. Even so, if someone asked me, I think I would tell them it is worth a stay. I will go through my reasons one by one.

TOC

One thing I had wrong before I checked in

I had assumed this was the oldest hotel in Saigon. Nobody told me that; I had simply decided it was true. When I looked it up after my stay, it turned out to be wrong.

The oldest surviving hotel in Saigon is the Continental, on the same Dong Khoi Street. It opened in 1880. Hotel Majestic Saigon opened in 1925, so there are 45 years between them. The third, Grand Hotel Saigon, dates from 1930, and the three are usually talked about together as Saigon's historic trio.

Hotel	Opened	Street
Hotel Continental Saigon	1880	Dong Khoi Street
Majestic Saigon	1925	Dong Khoi Street (the river-side starting point)
Grand Hotel Saigon	1930	Dong Khoi Street

What I find interesting is that the Majestic doesn't call itself the oldest either. Read through its official site and you get words like heritage, historic and landmark; the word oldest never appears.

What the hotel does clearly claim as a first is one specific achievement: in 2007 it became the first Vietnamese-owned, Vietnamese-run hotel to be certified five-star. That, rather than age, seems to be what it takes pride in.

It was originally built in 1925 by a Chinese businessman who was then the wealthiest man in Saigon. At opening it had three floors and 44 rooms. After later extensions it now has 175. In 2025 it had just marked its 100th year.

One thing I should say up front is that realizing my mistake did not change how I felt about the stay. What I got here was not a ranking but the time I spent drinking coffee while looking at the river in the morning, and the sense of being inside a building that has stood on this corner since 1925. This article is about whether those two things are worth paying for.

On the corner of Dong Khoi Street and Ton Duc Thang Street. With the 2025 administrative reorganization, the "District 1" in the address became Sai Gon Ward

The room was, honestly, ordinary

What I booked was a river-view room with a balcony facing the water. Officially it goes by the name Century River Deluxe. Japanese travel sites sometimes still list it under the older name "Colonial River Deluxe," but this is what it is called now.

My first impression on walking into the room was: ordinary. In size and in fittings, nothing falls short of five-star. But if you showed me only a photo and asked me to name the hotel, I do not think I could have. A bed, a desk, a sofa, all neatly arranged. The bedroom itself was the kind you find anywhere.

Only two spots in the room tell you where you are. One is the bathroom, which keeps its old fittings and is kept clean; here I did feel I was staying in an old hotel. The other is the balcony. In other words, the character of this room sits in the plumbing and in the space outside, not in the interior.

The bed, and the small touches

Better than the room itself was what had been laid on for sleeping. The bed was on the soft side and comfortable. Two kinds of pillow were provided, so you can take whichever you prefer.

Fruit was set out in the room, and cookies arrived during the stay. Gestures like this are often just going through the motions, but because the room itself was plain, this kind of attention stayed with me more.

Room layout	Nothing falls short of five-star, but the interiors have no strong character
Bathroom	Older design details remain, and it is clean. This part has atmosphere
Bed	On the soft side. Comfortable to sleep on
Pillows	Two types to choose from
In-room service	Fruit set out, plus a plate of cookies

The view is a reason to choose this room

Taking the river view clearly paid off. The balcony looks out over the Saigon River, as far as the bridge crossing it. The view after dark was especially good, and that alone was reason enough to have picked this room.

One thing to add: the hotel does not sit directly on the river. Ton Duc Thang Street and the promenade along Bach Dang Wharf run between the building and the water. If you are picturing the river right below your window, it is a little different.

The traffic is heavy. But it bothered me less than I expected

What worried me most before the stay was noise. Ton Duc Thang Street, which runs in front of the hotel, is a main road cutting through the city center along the river, and the traffic is heavy. Earplugs were in fact provided in the room. I take that to mean the hotel knows.

In practice, though, it didn't bother me much. Around 11 p.m. the motorbikes thin out noticeably and things go quiet. Buses and trucks pass through the night, so horns carry accordingly. Even so, it was never enough to keep me awake.

If you are sensitive to noise, one option is to take a room that does not face the river, but then you give up the biggest advantage, which is the view. I slept without the earplugs, so I am glad I was on the river side.

The best part was breakfast

What satisfied me most about this stay was neither the room nor the view, but breakfast.

Two nights, and a different set of dishes each time

The standards, pho and banh mi, were there of course. On top of that the salads were plentiful, which helps on a day when you do not want anything heavy in the morning.

What impressed me was that the dishes changed between the two breakfasts. Sautéed tomato on the first morning had been swapped for eggplant on the second. The Western items like bacon and potatoes moved around in the same way as the Vietnamese dishes. Two nights isn't enough to state it as fact, but it looks put together so that a longer stay doesn't get monotonous.

The miso soup on the buffet also stood out. I take it as a sign that a fair number of the guests are Japanese.

It works as a café

The other thing I liked was the range of drinks. Coffee, juice, and even Vietnamese coffee were all available, so the breakfast table doubled as a café.

Sitting with the river in view, drinking coffee without watching the clock. That is something only guests here can do. The value of the Majestic lay in that hour rather than in the room.

The hotel itself is surprisingly plain

At check-in they brought out juice in the lobby. The staff were unhurried, and I had nothing to complain about.

That said, there are not many facilities inside. There is a single pool in the courtyard on the first floor, and it is on the small side. It is enclosed by the building, so it is not the sort of pool where you take in a view while you swim.

The food and drink outlets are split by floor. I only used breakfast and the lobby floor, but there is a bar upstairs, and if I stay again I want to try it.

Facility	Location	Hours
Catinat Lounge	Lobby floor	7:00-22:00
Breeze Sky Bar	5th floor	24 hours
Saigon House (Vietnamese cuisine)	7th floor	6:00〜14:00
M Bar	New wing, 8th floor	15:00-24:00 (live music from 20:00)

I didn't come across anything like a shop while walking around, either. Checking the official site afterwards, there was a page offering original T-shirts and porcelain tea sets, with orders placed through the front desk. It seems they don't keep a sales floor as such.

There is one clear inconvenience

This isn't about the stay itself but about heading out. The road in front of the hotel is always congested, and I had trouble getting a car through Grab and other ride-hailing apps.

Cars rarely turned up if I just waited, so I concluded it was faster to walk a little into another area and call from there. This was over the two nights I stayed, and it may differ by day of the week or time of day. Still, at least when you call a car, it is worth allowing for that extra step. For how to use the app itself, seeA Guide to Using Ride-Hailing Apps in Vietnamcovers that.

The location itself is good: a convenience store is about three minutes on foot, and Opera House station on Metro Line 1 is about five minutes down Dong Khoi Street. Calling a car was the only inconvenience.

Editor's comment

While researching for this article, I realized I had it wrong. I went to stay at the Majestic thinking it was the oldest hotel in Vietnam, but the oldest is the Continental, 45 years earlier. The hotel itself has never once called itself the oldest. I was the one adding a story to it.

Learning that didn't change my view, though. Sitting over coffee in the morning with the river in front of me, the question of where this place ranks by age never once entered my head. What mattered was that I was inside a building that has stood on this corner since 1925.

The room is ordinary. The pool is small, and there is no shop. Count up the facilities and there are plenty of hotels in the city that are more comfortable for the same money. What still makes me want to recommend it is that on both days I could not get up from the table after breakfast. I topped up my coffee and sat there a while, looking at the river. That much time, at least, I do not think you can buy elsewhere.

So where is the value in staying here?

On the whole, this is not a place you go to for a lavish experience. Honestly, nothing surprising happened.

Put plainly, it comes down to this. The morning hours spent looking at the river, and sleeping inside a building that has stood on this corner since 1925. If those two things are worth paying for, I'd recommend it. If you choose a hotel on the luxury of the room or how new the facilities are, there are plenty of places in the city that will satisfy you more for the same money. I'll say that honestly.

What you can count on	Where not to raise your expectations
A balcony overlooking the Saigon River, and the view at night	The guest room interiors themselves
A breakfast that changes daily and does not get old, and the range of drinks	The pool (a small one in the ground-floor courtyard)
The location at the start of Dong Khoi Street	Shops and entertainment facilities inside the hotel
A comfortable bed and a choice of pillows	Getting a ride-hailing app car in front of the hotel

I am glad I went. What I remember most is not the room but the time on both days when I topped up my coffee after breakfast and sat for a while, looking at the river.

As for what this stay cost, I wrote the actual figure inColumn on prices in Ho Chi Minh City. For how to choose where to stay by area, seeHotels in Ho Chi Minh City: which area should you stay in?sums it up.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Majestic the oldest hotel in Vietnam?: No. The oldest surviving hotel in Saigon is Hotel Continental Saigon, which opened in 1880, while Hotel Majestic Saigon opened in 1925. The hotel doesn't claim to be the oldest on its own site either; what it points to instead is that in 2007 it became the first Vietnamese-run hotel to be certified five-star.
Is a river-view room worth booking?: Yes. The balcony looks out on the Saigon River and the bridge, and the view after dark was especially good. That said, Ton Duc Thang Street and a riverside promenade sit between the building and the water, so it isn't a view where the river begins right below your window.
Is the road out front too noisy to sleep?: The traffic is heavy, and earplugs are provided in the room. But the motorbikes thin out around 11 p.m. and it goes quiet, so I slept without them. Buses and trucks sound their horns through the night, though never enough to keep me awake.
How was the breakfast?: This was the part of the stay I was happiest with. Alongside the standards like pho and banh mi there is a wide choice of salads, and the dishes change day to day, so a longer stay doesn't get monotonous. There was miso soup as well. They pour a good range of coffee, Vietnamese coffee included, and you can sit with the river in view and use it like a café.
Are there any downsides to the location?: The road in front of the hotel is congested, which makes it hard to catch a car with a ride-hailing app. Walking a little and calling from another area got me picked up faster. Beyond that there is nothing inconvenient: a convenience store is three minutes on foot and the metro's Opera House station about five.

Author of this article

Rei Kojima

In my third year living in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. I launched this specialist Vietnam travel information site hoping to share local knowledge you simply can’t get by visiting as a tourist — the kind of thing you only understand by being here.

The rooms at Hotel Majestic Saigon were honestly nothing special. So where is the value in staying there?

One thing I had wrong before I checked in

The room was, honestly, ordinary

The bed, and the small touches

The view is a reason to choose this room

The traffic is heavy. But it bothered me less than I expected

The best part was breakfast

Two nights, and a different set of dishes each time

It works as a café

The hotel itself is surprisingly plain

There is one clear inconvenience

So where is the value in staying here?

Frequently asked questions

Related reading

Author of this article

The latest updates, and your questions too.CONTACT

Subscribe to the newsletter

Contact

The rooms at Hotel Majestic Saigon were honestly nothing special. So where is the value in staying there?

One thing I had wrong before I checked in

The room was, honestly, ordinary

The bed, and the small touches

The view is a reason to choose this room

The traffic is heavy. But it bothered me less than I expected

The best part was breakfast

Two nights, and a different set of dishes each time

It works as a café

The hotel itself is surprisingly plain

There is one clear inconvenience

So where is the value in staying here?

Frequently asked questions

Related reading

Author of this article

Related articles

The latest updates, and your questions too.CONTACT

Subscribe to the newsletter

Contact