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Photographs of Downtown Saigon
Copyright © 1998-2008  Vietnam Venture Group, Inc. All rights reserved.   Updated August 28, 2008

Saigon Trade Center (1997) Vietnam's still tallest building at 33 stories, seen from a small side street with the Saigon General Post Office just out of view on the right.

Saigon General Post Office  (1893) Renovated in 1996. For interior, see http://www.privatetravel.ch/vietnam/hochiminh.html 

Renaissance Riverside Hotel (2000) On the left & Me Linh Plaza (1999) on the right.

Super Bowl Mall (1997) Seen from along Truong Son Street as it approaches Tan Son Nhat Airport. Vietnam’s first shopping mall, it features approximately 25 shops on the lower level (prime tenants: Jolly Bee; Kentucky Fried Chicken; and on the second level: Planet Europe Disco; Video Arcade; and the 32 lane Super Bowl bowling.

Sofitel Plaza (1998) Hotel on the left and Office tower on Le Duan; up the road to the left is the Saigon Zoo; down the road to the right is the Presidential Palace. 

Majestic Hotel  (1923) Constructed in and renovated in 1996. On the waterfront, at the intersection of Dong Khoi (formerly rue Cattenat, later, Tu Du) Street and Ton Duc Thang Street.

New World Hotel Saigon (1995)  at Le Lai, Nguyen Thi Nghia, and Pham Hong Thai Streets.   Now owned and operated by Marriott, that also owns the Renaissance Hotel. A new, low-rise multi-use building (2002) has replaced the originally planned 24-story office center.

Regency Chancellor (1997) Serviced Apartments  on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, this view is of the back side, taken  from Le Duan near the American Consulate, which it overlooks.

Diamond Plaza (1999)  View from the intersection of Le Duan and Pham Ngoc Thach. In the foreground, Diamond Shopping Center (2001) is the city's first stand-alone, 4 story mall. The city's first Cineplex is on the top floor.

Ben Thanh Market  Seen from 23 September Park.

Saigon Centre (1996) On Le Loi, off screen on the right is the Rex Hotel.  in the foreground is the  renovated (2000), four story shopping center that is now the Tax Center. 

Old Opera House (renovated 1999) Formerly used as the Senate pre-1975, now extensively renovated and restored as a fine arts performance center, seen at the extension of Le Loi at Dong Khoi.

OSIC Building (1994)  Freshly painted in 2000, seen along Nguyen Hue at its waterfront intersection with Ton Duc Thang.

U.S. Consulate (1999) Fronting on Le Duan Street.  To the left (off screen) is the French Consulate. To the right (off screen) is where the former US Embassy stood. Plans are being considered to use the empty space for a park, or to build a commercial building when the market improves.

Royal City Hotel (2000) The hotel is seen on the left and the new Tax & Trade Center is shown on the right. The view is from Nguyen Hue just below its intersection with Le Loi. 

IDC Office Tower (1998) First occupied in 2000, this is Hai Ba Trung near its intersection with Dien Bien Phu. 

Thuan Kieu Plaza (2000) Massive, three block long, shopping center, residential apartments, and office towers in District 5 (Cholon)  located on Hung Vuong. 

Saigon Port Building (1998) Located at the head of the long row of container ports found along  Nguyen Tat Thanh street, District 4. If the new City planners have their way, all container facilities will be removed from the City and relocated in Vung Tau.

The Saigon Riverside Office (1998)  This is located off the road on Ton Duc Thang between the Landmark Building and the Legend Hotel. 

Sun Wah Tower (1999)  On Nguyen Hue street with its "Citibank" sign blazing forth.

Legend Hotel (2001) Completed as the Marriott and standing since 1998 but not opened for three years. Along the Saigon River waterfront street on Ton Duc Thang.

Twenty-Three September Park  All cleaned up, the park is now the site of Saigon's annual Tet flower market.

Twenty-Three September Park As seen from the 10th floor of the New World Hotel Saigon.

Rex Hotel (c1920s)  During French colonial times, the Rex began as a two-story garage located in the heart of commercial center of Saigon. Between 1959 and April 1975, Mr. and Mrs. Ung Thi, a Vietnamese couple purchased and renovated it into a six-story building with 100 guestrooms and renamed it as Rex Trading Center.  The US Information services rented much of the premises for office and residential use. The remaining space housed three cinemas, a cafeteria, a dance hall and a library. A more recent development is a 3,000sq.m expansion to build more facilities and upgrade the Rex into a five-star hotel.

Presidential (Reunification) Palace Looking in from Nguyen Thi Minh  Khai. In 1962, two pilots of the RVN Air Forces bombed part of the palace. A new, larger mansion was built on the site within the year (designed by a Vietnamese architect) and named the Independence Palace. Following 1975, it has been renamed the Reunification Palace. Architecturally looking modern, this site first held the Norodom Palace, a name harkening back to Khemer times.  It was built as a residence for the French Cochinchina's General Governor. Photo copyrighted and courtesy of: www.farofflands.com/avpa/0hcmc.html  

Harbor View Tower (1998) As seen looking down along Nguyen Hue Street towards the river. Developed as a hotel, this was the first casualty of the 1997 regional financial melt-down.  Wisely, the developers recognized the danger and were able to quickly convert the structure to office use.

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