Sleepover: A bed for the night in Vietnam

Hotel Continental

Where is it?

In the heart of downtown Saigon, next to the Opera House and convenient for the main tourist shopping area.

What's it like?

Part colonial splendour (Graham Greene stayed here and was inspired to write The Quiet American) and part Communism-tries-its-hand-at-luxury (it is government-run by Saigon Tourism). The result is a delightful stay, though not always for reasons the hotel management may have intended. Officially, the Continental offers three-star accommodation, but it's generally excellent and probably worth an extra star. Still retaining (just) a flavour of the days when Greene was in residence, it has art nouveau décor, a Japanese garden and a pleasant, palm-fringed patio where guests can enjoy a gin and tonic or a bottle of 333 beer. The hotel also has its own art gallery, displaying watercolours of rural Vietnam.

What's its USP?

History. Past guests include not only Graham Greene but the many soldiers, VIPs, spies and journalists who stayed here during the Vietnam War, swapping stories and rumours. Photos from those epoch-making days dot the walls of the lobby. On a slightly less historic note, each floor has a video store, the pick of which were bootleg copies of Life of Brian and Fawlty Towers, taped by customs officers at Saigon airport and sold on the black market.

Service?

That state-owned wariness of people enjoying themselves bubbles under the surface: no oversleeping is allowed, as breakfast finishes at 9am sharp and the chef starts packing up from 8.45am. Older staff can be rude and inflexible but younger staff and cleaners are unfailingly charming and always laughing.

Rooms?

Large and spacious with cherry-stained furniture and balconies with ornate railings. Some distinguishing features of state-owned hotels, such as giant cracks in the plaster, are refreshingly absent; others, such as a hot-water tank too small to fill the bath and an incongruously large green fridge made in Minsk, are reassuringly present. Walk-in rates start from £75 but drop to £40 if you book through a website such as www.asiatravel.com, making the Continental extremely good value.

Food?

Don't have breakfast in bed unless you like raw frankfurters and want to share one cup of orange juice between two. The Italian restaurant, however, is outstanding. Dishes cost around £3.50, expensive by Vietnamese standards.

Clientele?

Mostly Western tourists with a good eye for a bargain and the odd visiting official from Hanoi. In true state-owned style, the second rule in the dos-and-don'ts literature is a prohibition on prostitutes.

Things to do?

Despite the cachet of being here, there isn't a great deal to do in Saigon. If you're feeling brave you could try crossing the roads around the hotel, dodging the manic scooters that whiz about. The hotel will organise an excursion to the Cu Chi tunnels, where the Viet Cong hid out during the war.

Address?

Hotel Continental, 132-134 Dong Khoi Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (00 848 829 9252; www.continentalvietnam.com).