A&EM Phan Boi Chau

My friends and I stayed at A&EM Ben Thanh Hotel a few days ago. All the staff from the door man to the room cleaners were very helpful, friendly and one of the room cleaners went out of the way to help me fixed my sandals by gluing and stitching it. Another staff worth to mention was the counter staff i.e. Kelly who went out of her way in evening to get me a ang pow (red packet) so that i could give it to a birthday friend. She declined when i offered to get something to thank her, adding that it was part of her job to make the guest to want to stay in the hotel longer and hopefully can return and stay in the hotel. The room i.e. VIP i stayed was very spacious and nice and I particularly liked the king size bed as it was quite hard and it was good for my bad back, as well as it was brightly lit, nice smell and I enjoyed staying in the room. On the whole, i will recommend my friends to stay at the hotel should they decide to visit HCM in the near future. Last but not least, the hotel location was very ideal to those shoppers and food lovers, as it is near Takashimya, Saigon Centre, Ben Thanh market (directly opposite the hotel), Pizza 4, numerous well known massage shops and Michelin restaurants. You won't regret if you stay there as it is not expensive to pay for a VIP room.

Make sure NOT TO BOOK HERE. tourist trap! did not use the mini bar but at check out, staff insisted we did and basically forced us to pay for something that we did not use. Horrible attitude. The fridge did not have those amounts of items that they claimed! For $2 scam. Would not stay again... not worth the price. Booked executive room. Got a corner tiny room with a window that literally blocked by a brick wall. Shower is old and dirty, almost slipped when I got in. Staff made offensive comments about our appearance. Location is OK but other than that, everything is so meh. Might as well pay a little more and go somewhere else better.

I have booked a VIP room costed about SGD 100 per nite for 2 nites. The photo shows a jacuzzi in the room! Upon check-in the room, I found the room a bit dark with dark walls, even with the curtains of the doors to the balcony opened. I have to repaired the right bedside light to make it lit. The TV remote has run out of batteries & the hair dryer is not working. I have to ask the house keeping to change it. The room is spacious with a outdoor balcony for smokers, as there is an ashtray there despite of my booking request for a non-smoking room. The balcony is facing a white wall of the next building!?! So no nice view from the balcony. Double basins are good but the jacuzzi is not working! Just treat it as an oversized bathtub. Feedback to the front counter & the answer is all jacuzzis in the hotel are all not working!?! This should be stated at the point of booking. I felt like being scammed to book a non-working jacuzzi VIP room! There are no face towels, just a medium sized towel & 2 large bath towels. The white floor towel is already stained & wet when I checked in. The aircon is weak even I have set it to full blast. However, the room is quiet without the infamous Vietnam traffic noise. There is no nite light leading to the bathroom in the nite, I have to switch on & off the lights when using it during sleep. The toilet bowl is located in the dark corner without lights. Do avoid throwing toilet paper into the bowl which would choked it. I learn it the hard way! The digital lock of the door sometimes refuses to lock. So do check if the door is lock when going out. The location of the hotel is perfect facing the famous Ben Thanh market. Shopping, eating & money changing are not a problem. There’s is a pharmacy in the left of the hotel & jewellers at the right for money changing. Most jewellers are unofficial moneychangers. This would be my first & last stay with this hotel,as there are plenty of other hotels nearby if I wanted to stay near the Ben Thanh market for my future trips. I do not mind paying but do not scam me.