Continental Saigon

1880: The project to build the Hotel Continental Palace was realized by Pierre Cazeau, a home-appliance and construction material manufacturer. It was completely transformed in 1892 by Mr Grosstephan, the ex-director and owner of Chevet, the oldest and best reputed restaurant in Paris situated near the Palais Royal. All the guest-rooms are furnished in the greatest possible comfort and each one possesses its own bath and shower room, which guests can use at any time day or night. A first-class chef has been appointed recently. An excellent French patissier produces fine patisseries, ice creams and sorbets on a daily basis. The wine cellar set up by Mr Grosstephan is one of the best-stocked in the Orient. Since 26 March 1898 electricity has been working in the restaurant and in all the guest-rooms and adjoining rooms. The management has installed telephones in the reading room where one can find major French and foreign newspapers, as well as the illustrated press. The official daily telegraph, arriving from France, is shown every day. The list of passengers arriving in the port of Saigon from each steamer is even listed in the news room. 1911: The Hotel was bought by Duke Monpensier. 1920s: Catinat street, where the Hotel Continental Palace located, was Saigon's "Canebière" - the name of a street in the city of Marseille, France. 1924-1925: The famous French writer André Malreaux and his wife Clara were among the hotel''s permanent clients. 1930: Mathieu Franchini bought the hotel and ran it successfully for 30 years. After the defeat at Dien Bien Phu, the French colonial regime came to an end, and together with the withdraw of the French troop from Vietnam was the departure of Mathieu Franchini. During the World War II, many an American weekly magazine had its bureau installed at the Continental hotel; the Times on the first floor while the Newsweek the second. 1964-1975: Philippe, Mathieu Franchini's son, who had run the hotel until 1964, left Vietnam like his father before him. Then came the time when "Newsmen covering the Vietnam War measured the ups and downs of its course by the fortunes of the hotel, "according to Martin Meade, Joseph Fitchett and Anthony Lawrence in their book "Great oriented Hotels". Or as William Tuohy, Newsweek magazine''s Saigon bureau chief, wrote in his book "Dangerous Company": "After writing our stories, we would gather around the Continental Hotel for dinner and drinks. Many drinks.". The reason for these newsmen to choose the Hotel Continental to gather was simple: it is located in the heart of Saigon, adjacent to the National Assembly (now the Municipal Theater) where the press circle would gather around for collecting the information and discussing political issues and all. The Hotel Continental was then called by a very typical name: "Radio Catinat". Guests calling the Continental home have included French writer Andre Malreaux and Briton Graham Greene (Room 214), who wrote "The Quiet American", a book about the warning days of French Indochina and the beginning of the American presence in Vietnam. 1975: Some weeks after April 30, 1975, the hotel was closed. 1986: The Hotel Continental was officially under the management of the Saigon Tourist Holding Company. 1989 (September) a new Hotel Continental was re-born, yet its original French colonial architecture remained almost unchanged and once again the Hotel Continental becomes a great place of rendezvous to the business travelers as well as the tourists, who wish both to breathe the romantic and elegant air and to enjoy the luxurious and modern facilities at the same time, a unique experience that no other hotels in HoChiMinh City, or Saigon, can offer.