Transmenu powered by JoomlArt.com - Mambo Joomla Professional Templates Club

The Q Bar is almost legendary in Saigon (and now in Bangkok), the favourite watering hole for many expatriates and visitors to the city now named Ho Chi Minh Ville. The bar originally opened its doors to a style-starved public in 1992, one of the first foreign-invested bars in Vietnam, and certainly setting new standards for the few that existed at the time.

July 2002 witnessed the welcome opening of La Cantina, a traditional, no-nonsense Tex-Mex restaurant in the heart of Saigon's backpacker-ville, Pham Ngu Lao.

The Sailing Club Mui Ne Resort is the latest addition to Phan Thiet/Mui Ne's ever expanding resort scene along the glorious Mui Ne beach. I had been invited to stay for a couple of nights by the partners in the venture - Peter Vidotto, Thanh Charles and Rod Quinton - to experience the Sailing Club concept and provide a review for ElephantGuide. 

Entering Chao Thai from a busy Saigon street is to enter a different world -- a world of classic Thai charm, informal elegance, subdued luxury and refined comfort. Thai carvings adorn the walls and ledges along with other objets d'art, antiques and artefacts.

Elka Ray loses herself in folds of luxury and romantic reverie as she experiences the magic that is the Sofitel Dalat Palace in the "Honeymoon Capital of the World" - Dalat, Vietnam.

The Sofitel Dalat Palace celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2002, highlighting a colourful and dramatic history that traces its roots from a colonial past to the present unified Vietnam. 

One of Asia's most renowned colonial-era hotels, the Sofitel Metropole Hanoi, celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2001, a remarkable achievement given Vietnam's turbulent history over the past century.

In less than a decade, Vietnam's hotels have gone from dreary hovels to dreams come true. Elka Ray enjoys unexpected levels of luxury at the country's best resort hotels.