Quite far from Ben Tahn. Very good breakfast buffet! Clean, and ample room space. Nice small lobby. Very comfortable stay with basic amenities.

My wife and I have had breakfast at the 2nd floor (up the long stairway) restaurant a few times with no problems except for the consistently poor services. Recently (about July 11th) we went there with a friend for dinner. I had pork with a brown sauce that was described as something like a pork chop. 2 hours after eating I contracted food poisoning and had to take antibiotics for a week. This is too coincidental. No one else ate from my plate. Also, the Empress should turn this restaurant into a buffett since the service is lousy... and with a bad attitude.

There really isn't anything NOT to like about this hotel. For one, it is centrally located on Bui Thi Xuan in District 1, within walking distance of the thriving, busy, and, of course, overpriced Ben Thanh market and all the famous sights of colonial Saigon (post office, opera house, Notre Dame Cathedral, city hall). There are also eateries and restaurants galore if you'd only turn the corner, not to mention a major supermarket at the end of the road. Then, there's the upkeep. When you first walk in, there are marble floors, chandeliers, all spic-and-span, and when you go upstairs to your room, the cleanliness is extended there as well. The room itself is not carpeted but tiled, the first I have ever seen from an urban hotel. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, for it makes it that much easier to clean, and as a first time visitor, it helps to know what you are stepping in or on, for god only knows what's lurking in the carpet after HOW many people have been in and out. Room amenities might seem a bit jejeune or even lacking to some, but this was a minor thing for me, especially considering the price I paid. Yeah, nothing really to write home about, but at least it was all well functioning. I was especially appreciative of this fact after having been in hotels with much higher star ratings but with showers, sinks, and AC's not even working properly. At least everything was here. Then, there is the food. When you first arrive, you are greeted with a welcome drink in the cafe, which I found interesting because though it was technically under the hotel's administration, it was not physically attached to the hotel. Instead, you had to walk out of the hotel to get to it, which usually means braving 120+ degree heat. Fortunately, it really was just a few steps. But here was also where you could have breakfast everyday. Unlike in the United States where breakfast typically means bread and if you're lucky bagels, here, breakfast always entails hot food. There is Western food (eggs, bacon, sausage, ham) as well as Eastern food (noodles, dim sum, you tiao). While in the States, you could easily pay $10+ for this, here, you get all this for free with your room. Best of all, if booked at the right time, I suppose, your room can be under $20! I think the total price came out to a little under $20 a night! (This is because you can actually book a single room with a single bed. Very good for singles!) Not to mention the stellar, PHENOMENAL service. Unlike in other Asian country scenarios, where staff tends to be unhelpful, rude, and even unethical, the staff at the Empress was nothing but outstanding. They helped us out everyday, always asking where we were going and ensuring that we knew how to get there. They kept giving us maps with all the locations we wanted to go to circled, and, of course, as careless as we were, we kept losing them. On the last day, when we were headed out to the airport, the bell man called a taxi for us and kept repeating, to the point of becoming a broken record, right in front of the taxi driver, NOT to give more than 100000 dong under any circumstances. He was just SOOO afraid of us getting cheated! Just shows how much honesty and integrity the staff at Empress have, which, per my experience, is not universal throughout Vietnam.

The hotel itself is fine, with comfortable rooms, good air conditioning and a fair priced bar/restaurant attached.  The backpacking area is only a ten minute walk and has lots of lively bars and restaurants.  Our personal favourite was the Bread and Butter which has friendly staff and a does a cracking Sausage and Mash, albeit with German style bratwurst.  We would also suggest the good value happy hour cocktails at Cheeky Monkey bar.  I would have given the hotel a fairly positive review aside from what happened when we tried to check-out.

We were called at about ten to nine to say our taxi had arrived and proceeded to the reception desk to check out.  We were then asked to wait whilst they checked the room.  We asked what they were going to check, and were told it was in case we'd "left anything".  The receptionist, her name-badge said "Lucy", made a phone call which wasn't answered and then shouted at the bell boy who got in the lift.  I asked if we could pay whilst the room was checked, but I got no response from Lucy who seemed to be filling time by shuffling paperwork.  It was obvious they were checking for THEIR own protection, which is highly irregular and I have never experienced anywhere else in the world, and even more baffling given that they had taken a pre-authorisation of my credit card at check in.

A few minutes later the bell boy reappeared and asked us to sit down whilst we waited.  I pointed out that we had a taxi waiting outside, we'd had enough of waiting, and just wanted to pay.  Lucy, who had now become quite surly, finally gave us the bill and we paid by card before leaving, during which time a maid appeared and headed to the elevator, presumably to check our room.

Just as we'd got into the taxi the bell boy came running out to say there was "a problem".  Upon returning inside I was told that "wine" was missing from the mini bar, and shown a slip on which Lucy highlighted the whisky, vodka and cognac.  I was by now pretty frustrated and made very clear that we'd not had those drinks, and infact had only had the free bottles of drinking water replenished in our room for two out of the four days so clearly the maid wasn't checking the mini bar properly.  After the accusation was made and countered a number of times, and Lucy had made yet another phone call, I was told I could go.

Vietnam is known for it's scams, and most tourists know to be wary of taxi drivers, but you don't expect unscrupulous behaviour from hotels.  This is quite obviously a scam to try and increase hotel takings by about $15, which perhaps some people feel pressured into giving in and paying.  My suggestion would to be avoid the Empress Hotel.  Despite being a fine hotel, the attempted scam by the staff was insulting and left a really sour taste.  Find another of the many good value hotels in HCMC, but preferably one with integrity.

Also, be careful to watch out for taxi scams.  We were picked up from the bus station by a taxi and driven 5 minutes to our hotel whilst watching the meter rocket up.  When we got there we were asked for 288,000d ($15), which is outrageous compared to standard metered price.  We refused and only gave 50,000d, which he accepted after I took photos of his registration and said I would phone his office.  We later found out the bus stop was just around the corner and the taxi should have cost only around 10,000d.  We also heard of another couple paying $30 from the airport when it should cost no more than $9 including all fees.