A&Em Art Hotel

Location & getting around — on the Ben Thanh side

The hotel is on Le Anh Xuan Street in the Ben Thanh ward of District 1. Ben Thanh Market is 340m away, the Reunification Palace 640m and Ho Chi Minh City Hall 840m. Saigon Railway Station is 2.3km off and Tan Son Nhat Airport 6.5km straight-line, about 26 minutes by road.

Within District 1 this sits firmly on the Ben Thanh side. 840m to City Hall is a ten-minute walk rather than an impossibility, but compared with the City Hall properties at 160–700m the evening looks different. The market and the food lanes, on the other hand, are straight out of the door. Reviews describe getting nearly everywhere on foot and finding a convenience store easily — it is 70m away.

Several bars are listed nearby, along with popular restaurants. The location rating is 8.8.

Airport transfers are chargeable — listed at 500,000 VND on request. Worth comparing against a Grab.

Rooms & occupancy — what 55 rooms produces

Renovated in 2017, with 55 rooms. Check-in is 2pm and check-out is noon. Listed types are the Deluxe Room, Executive Double, Executive Twin, and a Deluxe Room (no window). The average stay is listed as two nights.

Your room number decides your route

This is the most specific complaint in the reviews. Rooms numbered 1, 2, 3 and 5 use the lift to the right of reception; rooms 7 and 8 require going down one floor via the staircase to the left of reception before taking a lift.

It reads as a consequence of the building’s size. Alone or as a pair you learn it once. Split across rooms as a group, everyone takes a different route — and it is not unrelated to groups rating this 7.8 against an overall 7.9, the lowest segment here. Couples, by contrast, rate it 8.1, above the overall.

The no-window type

One Deluxe Room carries “no window” in its name. On a results page the eye stops at “Deluxe Room” and skips the parenthesis — and that is where the price difference sits.

The same labelling appears at Cochin Zen Hotel 20m up the road. It is a normal feature of mid-range District 1 hotels, so if a window matters, confirm an Executive type.

Room and bathroom

Reviews run positive. Clean rooms with a bathtub, good water pressure and drainage, and relatively good soundproofing. One guest notes a king bed considerably larger than six feet. Attractive furniture, a warm atmosphere and a comfortable bed come up repeatedly.

One thing to know in advance: a review mentions a bellhop offering to recommend a massage in the evening. It is not described as unpleasant, but it is easier if you are expecting it.

Facilities — a pool and breakfast

The facility list covers a pool, a restaurant and buffet service.

The pool is small but quiet. Reviews describe it as rarely busy — effectively available by reservation — with a view over the city, and note children enjoyed it. One review asks for better cleaning. Treat it as somewhere to cool off between sightseeing trips.

Breakfast reviews well — described as generous and good, with one guest noting the view alongside it.

Service comments are consistently positive: staff described as very friendly and welcoming, with good service throughout. Note that staff are listed as speaking two languages including English — narrower than the three to five at District 1’s larger hotels, which is fine if English works for you and worth knowing if not.

Overall the hotel scores 7.9 with a location rating of 8.8 across 1,989 reviews, with couples at 8.1 and groups at 7.8.

Compared & alternatives — 20m apart on the Ben Thanh side

The two District 1 hotels closest to Ben Thanh Market are 320m and 340m out — effectively the same spot.

Hotel	To Ben Thanh	Location	Overall	Size
Cochin Zen Hotel	320m	9.2	8.5	100 rooms
A&Em Art Hotel	340m	8.8	7.9	55 rooms

20m decides nothing; the buildings do. Cochin Zen has 100 rooms with a sauna, spa and gym, and sits 360m from the Reunification Palace, closer than here. A&Em Art is 55 rooms, which buys closer attention at the cost of facilities beyond the pool and restaurant — and splits its floor routes. Both attach “no window” to a Deluxe type.

For facilities you will use, Lotte Hotel Saigon is a five-star with 283 rooms, a pool, sauna, spa and kids’ zone, with ages 4–11 free. For the City Hall side, Rex Hotel Saigon is 160m from it and Liberty Central Citypoint 220m.

For the whole district see where to stay in District 1; for a late arrival or dawn departure see hotels near Tan Son Nhat Airport.

Bottom line — sized for two

55 rooms explains most of this hotel. Attention is close, the pool is never crowded, and couples rate it above the overall score. At 340m from Ben Thanh with a convenience store at 70m, the walking is short too.

The same size works against it elsewhere. Your room number decides your route to the lift, and groups rate it lowest. Splitting a party across rooms, factor that in.

Check one thing before booking: whether the Deluxe Room you are looking at says “no window”.