The luxury hotel scene in Saigon is getting wider with the opening of the newest member of the Accor group, the Pullman Saigon Centre on September 24.
The largest hotel and resort group in Vietnam has now 17 properties scattered all over the country.
This 31-floors high, ultra modern hotel is the only 5-star hotel opening in 2013 in Saigon. No matter what the purpose of the visit to Saigon, the newest technological facilities and the refined, fashionable design will certainly surprise its guests.
“Every hotel of our chain has something special, we like to adapt the design to the context”, said Ms Ngo Minh Nguyet Khanh, marketing and communications manager at Pullman. “Our hotels are designed internally and we try to produce everything locally. Here in Saigon we wanted to recreate the vibrant and cosmopolitan feel that this city has gained in the last years.”
Pullman Saigon Centre offers a smart accommodation both for business and leisure; a marvellous swimming pool and Internet Protocol TV, IP TV, which makes it possible for example to download movies, in at least 5-7 languages to an Ipad or a lap top. These are just some of the features on offer.
Pullman Saigon Centre also has two top class restaurants, offering creative contemporary cuisine.
“It has been challenging to get to this point, especially for our GM, Mr Thierry Le Ponner. But he is an expert in bringing to completion hotel openings in the group; it is a matter of trying to be very diplomatic but getting things done, balancing between the holding company and the contractors I believe,” said Ms Khanh.
Local personnel is trained in house: “We have Accor staff coming in from different locations training the new staff. We also offer trainings on line, we try to do that as much as possible, so to use technology in an intelligent way”, said Ms Khanh. “Some of us, like me, just moved from another Accor-group hotel to Pullman. We also have some international staff, for example our chefs will be from Korea, New Zealand and France.”
One of Pullman Saigon Centre’s key selling points is its location, not right in downtown Saigon, hence able to offer accommodation at competitive rates. The hotel also offers very well equipped and spacious conference and meeting rooms. But the newest technology in a newly built environment is hard to beat: “Needless to say that free Wi-Fi is available everywhere, even in the swimming pool if needed”, said Ms Khanh.