Sketch corner: Continental - the oldest luxury hotel in Vietnam

To serve the French when they came to Saigon, in 1878, the manufacturer of household appliances and construction materials Pierre Cazeaux invested in building the Continental - the first luxury hotel in Vietnam, inaugurated in 1880.

Sketch by Architect Bui Hoang Bao

Sketch by Architect Phan Dinh Trung

According to the book Urban Architecture and Landscape of Saigon - Cho Lon Past and Present (by 3 authors Tim Doling, Nguyen Duc Hiep and Vo Chi Mai), this place was used as the city hall before the city hall (now the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City) was built. In 1908, the first person to "travel" by car from Saigon to Nam Vang (Cambodia) was Duke Montpensier (owner of Ong Hoang Palace in Phan Thiet) who departed from the Continental Hotel. 3 years later, he bought this hotel.

Sketch by Architect Linh Hoang

Aerial view - sketch by architect Linh Hoang

In 1933, the hotel was sold to a French gangster named Mathieu Franchini. He and his son, Philippe Franchini, managed the hotel until 1975.

Sketch by Architect Ton Quoc Cam Nghi

Sketch by Architect Phung The Huy

The building consists of a ground floor and three upper floors, designed in a classical style, similar to luxury hotels in France at that time with crystal chandeliers, large columns and intricately carved winding staircases... The tiled roof, 4 m high ceiling, thick brick walls so it is good at heat resistance. The courtyard is large, there are still 3 frangipani trees that are said to have been planted since the construction of the building, that is, about 150 years old.

Sketch by Architect Tran Thai Nguyen

Sketch by designer Le Quang Khanh

The Continental Hotel is a familiar meeting place for politicians , journalists, businessmen... and appeared in the film Indochina (directed by Régis Wargnier, winner of the Oscar for best foreign language film and the Golden Globe).

Large inner garden with ancient frangipani trees - sketch by architect Linh Hoang

Continental Hotel Garden - sketch by Architect Tran Xuan Hong

This place has also welcomed many famous people such as: Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore - Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913; former French President Jacques Chirac; former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad; writer Graham Greene - author of The Quiet American (later adapted into a famous film of the same name by director Phillip Noyce); intelligence general Pham Xuan An...

After nearly 150 years, the Continental Hotel remains almost intact.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/goc-ky-hoa-continental-khach-san-hang-sang-co-nhat-viet-nam-185250111212432967.htm