Vietnam: A look inside Ho Chi Minh City’s lavish Reverie Saigon hotel

What’s over-the-top Italian opulence doing in a hotel in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City? The new Reverie Saigon hotel courted Italy’s top designers to create its eye-popping interiors.

An announcement describes the Reverie Saigon’s design as “unapologetic splendor� and its rooms “ranging from sophisticated modern and classical European to whimsically sassy.�

The photos released with the announcement bear out such lavish promises. Some rooms are open now, but parts of the hotel are still under construction. A grand opening (one can only imagine) is planned later this summer.

Each of the 286 rooms features floor-to-ceiling windows, and there are 12 categories and sizes of rooms, the hotel announcement says. Furnishings have been designed by Visionnaire, Provasi, Giorgetti and Colombo Stile.

And the room extras? You can request a butler or private chef at this hotel and get a lift in a Bentley or Rolls-Royce, which are among the house cars. (Note that dedicated butlers come with Reverie and Saigon level suites.)

In-house restaurants include R&J Italian restaurant and lounge, named for Romeo and Juliet, which serves traditional Italian food, and a design-heavy Royal Pavilion with classic Asian decor. It serves Cantonese fare.

The Long @ Times Square serves as a casual dining and gathering place, with as many as 10 bartenders mixing it up at a 157-foot bar, which stretches from Dong Khoi Street to Nguyen Hue Boulevard.

Rooms range from $450 to $550 a night; suites are priced at $800 to $15,000 a night. Some rooms this summer start at $263 a night.

Info: Reverie Saigon, 22-36 Nguyen Hue Blvd., District 1, Ho Chi Minh City