Caravelle 1961 Think of all the great places that are verboten when it comes to travel these days. Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, all lands of great, exotic appeal, and all off-limits to people who put a premium on safety.I was thinking of this last week when I happened upon a tourist brochure from 1961 touting the allure of Saigon, Nha Trang, Dalat and the “ultimate in Saigon Viet - Nam,” the Hotel Caravelle. There we were on the back page of the Visit Fascinating Vietnam brochure... [More]

Chef Le Xuan Tam, 38 years old Whatever the country was famous for in the past, these days the word ‘Vietnamese’ brings up images of steaming beef pho, fresh spring rolls, crispy banh xeo, caramelized claypot fish and grilled pork belly. Vietnamese are passionate about their food and make time for it at all hours of the day, on every corner of the street. In an environment where good food is given such status, cooking competitions like Iron Chef Vietnam take on a whole new dim... [More]

Caravelle Kara Spa Fifty-three years after the Caravelle opened its doors on Lam Son Square, we're opening the doors on the first in-house spa to be managed by the hotel. Why did we wait so long? Well, the short is answer is we were focused on other things. There was the war, of course, back in the day. And then there were the privations of running a hotel in a post-war economy 1975-1985. And then there was the gearing up for the return of foreign visitors after doi moi opened the door to Vie... [More]

Timo Reuss Food is an important component in every holiday, meeting and special occasion the Caravelle hosts. For several years now, German-native Timo Reuss has been at the head of the hotel's F&B operations, helping us reach our current reputation as a destination for sophisticated and dynamic culinary experiences. In his own words, Timo lets us in on life as the Caravelle's executive chef. How did you happen to enter the world of cooking?  I got a taste of life in the kit... [More]

Lobby of Caravelle Hotel Back when the Caravelle opened its doors on Christmas Eve of 1959, it was not only the tallest hotel the city, it was the only one boasting bulletproof glass windows, a backup generator and air-conditioning. All very avant-garde inventions at the time. Last month, the Caravelle brought another first to Vietnam.If you check into the hotel today, you’ll see we’ve abandoned the old “sign-here-and-here” sheet for a digital tablet and stylus. As... [More]

Bryce Seator This month we're welcoming a new director of rooms, Bryce Seator. Before I tell you a bit about him, I’ve got to bid a fond farewell to Linton Borthwick, who did a fine job managing our rooms for the past three-and-a-half years. Linton, as many of you who've visited the Caravelle know, was a visible presence around the hotel. He’s moving on in his career to the J.W. Marriott in Hanoi, so do look for him there if you make a move in that direction. Bryce joined us a... [More]

Raising awareness about the need to be environmentally sensitive is not easy. We all know, on one level, that we shouldn’t litter, shouldn’t pollute, should conserve, should recycle and so on, but it’s hard to generate awareness for that message.One of the most famous game-changers in the history of environmental stewardship comes from the United States where the Crying Indian television commercial in the early 1970s proved to be a major watershed, at least in the United States... [More]

Every day hundreds of tourists stroll along Dong Khoi -- the tree-lined artery that runs along the southwest side of the Caravelle Hotel -- oblivious to the stories contained within its buildings.   Many of the landmark structures in Graham Greene’s novel, ‘The Quiet American’, the historical reference points we associate with the country’s notorious war, and the best signs of emerging Vietnamese enterprise are clustered side-by-side on Dong Khoi’s pic... [More]

Every day on this job, guests come to me asking what are the must-try experiences in Ho Chi Minh City. I sometimes point them to one of the city’s grandly conceived buildings – you know the type; vaulted ceiling, entrance fee, souvenir shop – but more often than not, my recommendation runs along much humbler lines, or should I say, wheels. Saigon Cyclo Challenge 2012 Practical, eco-friendly and as Vietnamese as any conical hat or a bowl of pho, the simple cyclo is... [More]

As a centrally located, service-oriented hotel, a large number of the Caravelle’s clientele arrives carrying briefcases, rather than beach bags. Watch the way they walk, and you’ll soon pick out who’s still trying to makes heads and tails of things; and who’s in step with the city’s erratic tempo.For the benefit of both, we recently sat down with Herb Cochran, executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (AmCham) to talk 2012, tips for first tim... [More]