I haven’t seen the White Lotus TV series yet so I can’t really make a comparison of this hotel to the show. What I can say with confidence is that the White Lotus Saigon was a great place to stay in a convenient location in the center of District 1.
Expedia shows hotels in District 1 starting in the low $30 range. You can check the current rates here for the White Lotus.
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White Lotus Location
The hotel is just to the west of where it says Saigon Waterbus on the map. District 1 is a very busy section of central Saigon. It’s the historical center of the city. A Park Hyatt and a Renaissance are nearby so that should give you some idea that this is around the downtown luxury district. Designer boutiques and high end watch stores abound. The Nguyen Hue Walking Street is a large plaza that serves as a big town square with a lot of locals coming out nightly to spend time there.
Despite all the activity and traffic nearby the street that White Lotus Saigon is in is not too big and relatively quiet. There are some street food operations and a convenience store in the same block, and you are never far from coffee in Saigon, with several options including a Starbucks nearby.
The famous bar Apocalypse Now used to be on the next block in this street but it has closed its doors. While there is plenty of nightlife an easy walk from here the hotel’s location is quiet and a bit removed from it.
White Lotus Saigon Property
This is a pretty small hotel. As you can see in the photo it is essentially just a Five Over One style building but inside it doesn’t feel cramped or poorly designed. There is only a small lobby that is staffed around the clock, although the person at the front desk may be asleep if you are coming back later at night.
There is a restaurant area behind the elevator where the included breakfast buffet is served each morning. Like other buffet breakfasts in Asia this one is not particularly good. When I seated myself at 9:30 one of the staff tried to tell me that breakfast had just ended, which was a total lie because it runs until 10:00. All the food was out and another staffer made me an omelet, but I found this to be pretty rude and didn’t bother returning for breakfast on subsequent days. The restaurant didn’t seem to be operating after breakfast although the room did feature a lunch and dinner menu.
There is not much else to talk about here. Lobby and restaurant. They are both pretty clean and nice.
White Lotus Guest Rooms
The rooms here are typically very budget friendly. I reserved a suite at a rate that was around $45 US a night. Not a true suite, the room is larger than the base rooms and worth the small price to upgrade. The armchairs are not very comfortable to sit on for long periods. Although they’re certainly better than sitting on the bed in a smaller room.
Two bottles of water a day, some instant noodles and two cans of beer were provided in the room. I enjoyed having shelf space above the fridge for stocking items from the Circle K across the street. Like many Asian hotels there is no ice. It can be found cheaply at a 7-Eleven about 3 blocks away near the Japan Town district.
The wide windows are nice and the TV works well with a handful of English channels. The safe wasn’t bolted down and was not very easy to operate. It was also too small to fit a MacBook.
The real feature of this room is the large bathroom with its own room for bathing and showering. It isn’t a stretch to call it spa-like. A shade hides the shower from the bedroom, but the sink and toilet are protected only by frosted glass. The amount of privacy afforded is less than ideal. Daily housekeeping was provided.
Overview
This was a great hotel for the money and probably worth much more than the nightly room rate. There are many small or medium sized hotels in this street and the blocks surrounding it and they all appear to be very similar in nature and quality. You should feel good about booking a refundable rate online at any one of them.
Is the Sheraton a few blocks away nicer? Probably. But at 4 Million dongs a night there is no way that it is $140 nicer than the White Lotus or one of its neighbors. White Lotus Saigon really does provide quality and atmosphere comparable to a US based chain hotel at a fraction of the price.
