Caravelle Hotel

The Caravelle Hotel is located in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The hotel was opened to the public on Christmas Eve 1959, when the city was known as Saigon. Contemporary journalists noted its use of Italian marble, bullet-proof glass and a “state-of-the-art air-conditioning system and a Berliet private generator.”

The hotel’s modern design was the work of a Vietnamese architect, Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa, a graduate of Ecole Superieure des Beaux Arts in Hanoi. (Ref: "Caravelle-Saigon, A History" by VHSG, Saigon Culture Publishing House, 2009) The original ten-story building is now adjoined to a 24-story tower that forms the bulk of the new property. However, the iconic Saigon Bar has changed little since 1959.

Caravelle Hotel is owned by the state-owned Saigon Tourist Co.