The Reverie Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City

TRIED AND TESTED HOTEL

BACKGROUND The Reverie occupies the upper floors of a 39-storey mixed-use building - Times Square - containing luxury showrooms and offices. It opened in 2015.

WHERE IS IT? On Dong Khoi Street and Nguyen Hue Boulevard in Ho Chi Minh City's central urban area - District 1.

WHAT'S IT LIKE? From reception on the ground floor you are quickly whisked to the seventh floor lobby for check-in. It's an opulent space created almost exclusively by Italian designers. Reception has pale blue carpeting, walls of white-grey marble with multicoloured mosaics, and a five-metre 'Esmeralda' sofa designed by Colombostile upholstered in purple ostrich leather with amethyst detailing. There's a malachite and gold-plated clock weighing 1,000 kilograms by Florentine company, Baldi. There are crystal chandeliers, liveried staff and a baby grand piano in the corner with a live pianist. It's a level of ostentatiousness that will either beguile or amuse, depending on your taste.