The Continental Hotel is located in District 1, the central area of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The hotel is situated at the corner of Dong Khoi Street and Lam Son Square, near the Saigon Municipal Theatre. It was built in 1880 during the French colonial period and named after the Continental Hotel in Paris. Over the years, the hotel has undergone renovations while preserving the essence of its original architecture and style. The hotel is owned by the state company Saigon Tourist.

In the old days, Saigon’s roads were simply named by ordinal numbers. Starting from the Saigon riverbank, Dong Khoi was the Sixth Road. In 1865, the French commander Admiral De La Grandière renamed these roads, and Sixth Road became Catina Street, a bustling place. Across the street from the future site of the Continental, the first foundations and floors for factories were built, the first being for Deny Frères. Next was the first pharmacy in Saigon – Solinere Pharmaceutical, which opened in 1865.

In 1878, Pierre Cazaux, a manufacturer of household appliances and building materials, began construction of the Continental Hotel with the aim of providing French travelers with luxurious rooms in the French style after a long cruise on the new continent. This project took 2 years, and in 1880 the Continental Hotel was officially opened.

During the same period, many major colonial buildings of Saigon were constructed, including the Notre-Dame Cathedral on Catina Street, completed in 1880; the post and telecommunications office on Catina Street, completed in 1891; and the Hôtel de Ville, completed in 1898.

The hotel was renovated in 1892 by Mr. Grosstephan. In 1911, the hotel was sold to the Duke of Montpensier. In 1930, the hotel got a new owner, Mathieu Franchini, a notorious gangster from Corsica, and later his son Philippe, who managed the hotel until the communists came to power in April 1975.

The Continental played a notable role in the social and political life of Saigon during the era of French colonialism.

During the First Indochina War, the Continental Hotel was often called Radio Catinat, as it was a meeting place for correspondents, journalists, politicians, and businessmen where they discussed politics, business news, and current events.

After the division of Vietnam in 1955, Catina Street was renamed Tu Do Street, and Garnier Square was renamed Lam Son Square.

During the Vietnam War, the hotel was renamed Continental Palace and became popular among journalists, who nicknamed the bar on the first floor the Continental Shelf. Newsweek and Time magazines had their offices in Saigon on the hotel’s second floor.

After the fall of Saigon in April 1975, ownership of the hotel passed to the government of Ho Chi Minh City, and Tu Do Street was renamed Dong Khoi Street.

The hotel was closed in 1976 and reopened in 1986 as the Dong Khoi Hotel. The hotel was fully restored in 1988-89 and reopened in 1989 as the Continental Hotel.

Among its famous guests: Rabindranath Tagore, André Malraux, Graham Greene, a regular guest in room 214, who conceived the work "The Quiet American" about the consequences of the French colonial period; Jacques Chirac; Mahathir Mohamad; Hubert Marchat; Tiziano Terzani; Anthony Bourdain; Hunter S. Thompson, who stayed in room 37 while documenting the last days of Saigon in 1975.

The hotel holds a prominent place in Graham Greene’s novel "The Quiet American" and in its two film adaptations in 1958 and 2002. It also appears in Don Winslow’s novel "Satori."

The Continental is also a central location in the film "Indochine."

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Continental_Saigon