Three New Luxury Hotels For HCM City

An artist's impression of the live-star Pullman Saigon Center Hotel

On November 29, 2010, Saigontourist will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for its five-star Pullman Saigon Center Hotel, complete the foundation for its four-star Novotel Saigon Center Hotel and inaugurate its four-star Liberty Central Hotel.

The total investment capital for the three hotels is about US$113 million. These three hotels belong to Que Huong Liberty Joint Stock Co., under the umbrella of Saigontourist Holding Company.

Nguyen Huu Tho, general director of Saigontourist, said: “Regarding the development strategy for the period 2010-2015 and the vision for 2010, Saigontourist aims to become the biggest tourism corporation in Vietnam and the region in the fields of accommodation, tourism, gastronomy and other services. The company strives for a total turnover of over US$1 billion in 2015, making tourism a key industry of HCM City and Vietnam. The three hotels, Pullman Saigon Center, Novotel Saigon Center and Liberty Central of Que Huong Liberty Joint Stock Co., are among the tens of key investment projects of Saigontourist in HCM City.”

Pullman Saigon Center Hotel

The five-star Pullman Saigon Center Hotel, on the site of the former three-star Metropole (at 148 Tran Hung Dao St., Dist. 1), will be built with a three-level underground car park, 24 floors, with 300 bedrooms, restaurants, meeting rooms and fitness clubs. It has an investment capital of US$60 million and is due to be completed in 2013.
Pullman — a prestigious upscale five-star hotel brand of Accor group — will manage the Pullman Saigon Center Hotel. Currently, the Pullman network has 46 hotels around the world, and in the future Accor plans to develop 150 hotels under this brand.

Novotel Saigon Center Hotel

Work on Novotel Saigon Center Hotel, on the site of the former QueHuong 1 Hotel (at 165-167 Hai Ba Trung St., Dist. 1), started in April, and to date the foundation has been completed. The four-star hotel is due to commence operation in 2012, with three-level underground parking, 18 floors of hotel space, 250 bedrooms, restaurants, meeting rooms, leisure and entertainment rooms. The project’s investment capital is about US$38 million.

Liberty Central Hotel

Que Huong Liberty Co. started building Liberty Central Hotel (formerly Que Huong Liberty 6 at 177-179 Le Thanh Ton St., Dist. 1), with the design by Ong & Ong Company (Singapore) and construction by CotecCons.
In February 2010, the company put part of Liberty Central Hotel into operation, consisting of one-level underground parking, 12 floors of hotel space, 139 bedrooms and other international four-star standard services, capitalized at US$15 million.

Central Restaurant can host up to 150 guests, serving breakfast and Vietnamese specialties in a Fusion style. LIO Coffee Lounge on the ground floor is a relaxing area for welcoming guests.

To meet the demand for meetings and parties, there are the luxurious Apollo conference room hosting up to 150 people, with modern equipment and two small meeting rooms, holding from 20-40 guests.
There are two private dining rooms on the second floor and the Executive Lounge on the 11th floor serving business guests.

In addition, staff at the Business Center and Concierge are ready to answer any questions. Guests can relax with services such as spa, massage, an outdoor swimming pool on the 12th floor and a gym on the top floor.
Liberty Central Hotel is managed by Saigontourist. Pullman Saigon Center and Novotel Saigon Center hotels will be under Accor’s management.

“The combination of Saigontourist and Accor will help increase international tourists, diversify and upgrade product and service quality as well as professionalism. The cooperation between Saigontourist and Accor will also contribute to perfecting management techniques of Saigontourist in line with international standards,” Nguyen Huu Tho said.

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Dalat’s Hung King Temples

One of the Hung Kings Temples at the site

Ten kilometers from Dalat City on the road to HCMC is the beautiful Prenn Waterfall and a temple site to commemorate the Hung Kings. The temples by skilled artisans from Hue in 2004 for local people that can’t travel to Phu Tho Province in the lunar March for the Hung King’s death anniversary.

A tourist looks at the stone carving of hero Nguyen Trai - Photos: Duy Anh

The temples are one of the1,420 relic sites related to Hung Kings from the north to the south of Vietnam. On the Hung King day, people walk up the 500 meter path to the site, with lower, middle and upper temples which are replicas of the original temples in Phu Tho.

In front of the Upper Temple is Lac Long Quan-Au Co Park which has the six-meter high statues of Lac Long Quan and Au Co, the father and mother of Vietnamese people. A hundred rocks symbolize the eggs of Au Co Mother from the legend. The park also contains 18 large stones that are carved with the faces of national heroes such as Hai Ba Trung, Ba Trieu, Ngo Quyen, Tran Hung Dao, Le Loi, Ho Chi Minh.

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Dalat’s Hung King Temples

One of the Hung Kings Temples at the site

Ten kilometers from Dalat City on the road to HCMC is the beautiful Prenn Waterfall and a temple site to commemorate the Hung Kings. The temples by skilled artisans from Hue in 2004 for local people that can’t travel to Phu Tho Province in the lunar March for the Hung King’s death anniversary.

A tourist looks at the stone carving of hero Nguyen Trai - Photos: Duy Anh

The temples are one of the1,420 relic sites related to Hung Kings from the north to the south of Vietnam. On the Hung King day, people walk up the 500 meter path to the site, with lower, middle and upper temples which are replicas of the original temples in Phu Tho.

In front of the Upper Temple is Lac Long Quan-Au Co Park which has the six-meter high statues of Lac Long Quan and Au Co, the father and mother of Vietnamese people. A hundred rocks symbolize the eggs of Au Co Mother from the legend. The park also contains 18 large stones that are carved with the faces of national heroes such as Hai Ba Trung, Ba Trieu, Ngo Quyen, Tran Hung Dao, Le Loi, Ho Chi Minh.

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Dalat’s Hung King Temples

One of the Hung Kings Temples at the site

Ten kilometers from Dalat City on the road to HCMC is the beautiful Prenn Waterfall and a temple site to commemorate the Hung Kings. The temples by skilled artisans from Hue in 2004 for local people that can’t travel to Phu Tho Province in the lunar March for the Hung King’s death anniversary.

A tourist looks at the stone carving of hero Nguyen Trai - Photos: Duy Anh

The temples are one of the1,420 relic sites related to Hung Kings from the north to the south of Vietnam. On the Hung King day, people walk up the 500 meter path to the site, with lower, middle and upper temples which are replicas of the original temples in Phu Tho.

In front of the Upper Temple is Lac Long Quan-Au Co Park which has the six-meter high statues of Lac Long Quan and Au Co, the father and mother of Vietnamese people. A hundred rocks symbolize the eggs of Au Co Mother from the legend. The park also contains 18 large stones that are carved with the faces of national heroes such as Hai Ba Trung, Ba Trieu, Ngo Quyen, Tran Hung Dao, Le Loi, Ho Chi Minh.

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Dalat’s Hung King Temples

One of the Hung Kings Temples at the site

Ten kilometers from Dalat City on the road to HCMC is the beautiful Prenn Waterfall and a temple site to commemorate the Hung Kings. The temples by skilled artisans from Hue in 2004 for local people that can’t travel to Phu Tho Province in the lunar March for the Hung King’s death anniversary.

A tourist looks at the stone carving of hero Nguyen Trai - Photos: Duy Anh

The temples are one of the1,420 relic sites related to Hung Kings from the north to the south of Vietnam. On the Hung King day, people walk up the 500 meter path to the site, with lower, middle and upper temples which are replicas of the original temples in Phu Tho.

In front of the Upper Temple is Lac Long Quan-Au Co Park which has the six-meter high statues of Lac Long Quan and Au Co, the father and mother of Vietnamese people. A hundred rocks symbolize the eggs of Au Co Mother from the legend. The park also contains 18 large stones that are carved with the faces of national heroes such as Hai Ba Trung, Ba Trieu, Ngo Quyen, Tran Hung Dao, Le Loi, Ho Chi Minh.

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Con Dao, Ha Long among top ten tourist destinations

Vietnam’s Con Dao island in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau
has been listed among top ten the world’s best and romantic destinations
for 2011 by the UK’s Lonely Planet magazine.

Other islands in the list are Socotra from Yemen, Torres Strait from
Australia, Yacyana from Japan, Iles du Salut from Guiana (France),
Ulleungdo from the Republic of Korea, San Blas archipelago from Panama,
Penghu from Taiwan (China), Bay archipelago and Hog island from Honduras
and Ssese from Uganda.

According to the Saigon
Travel Service Company (Saigontourist), in the wedding season this year,
Con Dao also became one of the most popular honeymoon destinations for
young couples.

The magazine also listed Ha Long Bay,
in the northern province of Quang Ninh, as one of the 10 most
outstanding coastal destinations for tourists.

The other
nine locations are the Norwegian Fjords, the Amazon River, the Franklin
River in Australia, the Quetico Provincial Park in Canada, the Kerala
backwaters in India, New Zealand's Milford Sound Bay, the Greek islands,
Disco Bay in Greenland, and the Galapagos Archipelago off the coast of
Ecuador.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism
reported that about 500 ships ply the waters of Ha Long Bay, carrying
millions of tourists every year. Quang Ninh has attracted 5.3 million
visitors so far this year, 2.5 million of whom visited Ha Long Bay./.

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Adventure hike in Cat Tien

The Viet Adventure crew climb to the top of Green Hill Photo: Thai Hang

Only 170 kilometers from HCMC, Cat Tien is an ideal piece of the wild for an adventure trip.

At more than 71,000 hectares, Cat Tien National Park has plenty of untamed places that are off the beaten track.

Hiking or biking are the best ways to travel on the forest tracks. The park has important conservation value because of the rainforest, mountains, river and rich biodiversity that attracts thousands of tourists and scientists from all over the world.

Instead of risking it alone, the team at Viet Adventure, organizes hiking and biking trips into the Cat Tien jungle with a back-up crew to make sure nothing goes wrong.

Catch the bus from HCMC in the afternoon to the national park in Tan Phu Commune, Dong Nai Province, arriving in plenty of time for a good night’s sleep in accommodation at the park headquarters. The hike starts early the next day to avoid the mid-day heat and jungle humidity.

The destination is Green Hill; to get there the track goes past ethnic
minority Ma and S’Tieng villages then continues through a thick bamboo jungle following one of the local tribe’s tracks. It’s likely to pass some of the minorities as they go about their business in the forest and see some deer and birdlife but the going is not easy. The tour arrives at the top of Green Hill, an inactive volcano over 300 meters above sea level in time for lunch. Before getting to the top, there’s a cave containing thousands of bats.

Another village path is taken for the trip down, which is a scramble over the loose red basalt soil. The scenery is different with streams, tall grass and bamboo.

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