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HomeAsia TravelWink Lodge Saigon Centre is disrupting us...however in a great way

Wink Lodge Saigon Centre is disrupting us…however in a great way


This may occasionally come throughout as foolhardy, even a contact insane, however I’m checking into the brand new Wink Lodge Saigon Centre in Ho Chi Minh Metropolis throughout a pandemic.

And I’m not doing it for quarantine causes.

I’m right here for a two-night weekend staycation not lengthy after Vietnam’s largest metropolis eased lockdown restrictions for folks with proof of vaccinations towards, or restoration from, Covid-19.

And to be sincere, I actually don’t know what to anticipate and the way I’ll spend my time with no pool, spa or room service.

The 237-room Wink Lodge Saigon Centre opened in March 2021 within the central Da Kao neighbourhood – one of many metropolis’s oldest enclaves in District 1 identified for its eclectic mixture of the outdated and the brand new. 

Till just lately, the resort had solely been capable of welcome company from industries permitted to function throughout Ho Chi Minh Metropolis’s lockdown. 

However with restrictions easing, Wink has flung open its doorways once more to native travellers like me. 

Conserving it native

Within the space, issues to see and do are ample.

A brief stroll away, discover a buzzing beer bar packed of a night with raucous younger 20-somethings slugging down towers of native lager. 

Whereas just some blocks from there, worshippers at one of many metropolis’s most peaceable and atmospheric pagodas kneel earlier than the Jade Emperor clasping choices deep in prayer.  

On the close by native market, one of many metropolis’s oldest, there are tasty alternatives to pattern avenue meals, together with dishes like bun bo Hue – a beefy bowl of noodle soup ubiquitous throughout the town.

And for one thing much less hectic, slide into an egg espresso at one of many many quaint cafes lining the well-known Thi Nghe Canal simply minutes away from the resort foyer on foot.

WATCH: Matt takes a stroll close by Wink

Wink will get me

Wink Lodge Saigon Centre is the primary in a collection of properties set to open all through Vietnam within the coming years and guarantees company “the right launchpad for exploring” and “the right crash pad for recharging.”

Whereas this promise might have you ever considering this hip new post-Covid resort expertise isn’t for anybody who can bear in mind reserving recorded wake-up calls with a dial-up cellphone, you’d be fallacious.

For this Gen-Xer, time is of the essence.

Wink will get that I might relatively spend extra of my time on exploring the native space or making ready within the resort’s co-working area for an vital pitch than losing it on perennial bugbears like drawn out check-ins or ready for housekeeping to tally up my mini-bar invoice on check-out.

“The trendy traveller, that’s, folks of any age who journey typically and wish to discover cities, wish to verify in rapidly, they don’t need all of the stuff that slows them down,” explains Wink Motels model director David Kaye once I seize him for a fast chat within the foyer.

He explains that after Wink’s system is fully-operational, company will have the ability to reserve and pay for rooms through Wink’s cellular app and use their telephones because the room key, eliminating the necessity for shut contact with resort workers and different company. 

It’s an vital consideration given the occasions we dwell in.

Funds for issues within the foyer “comfort retailer” are 24/7 pay-as-you-go as nicely, together with breakfast and lunch from early until 1pm, which is ordered and paid for at kiosk machines that settle for debit and bank cards or your room card that’s been charged up with funds prematurely. 

Seize and Go!

The identical goes for the usage of the laundromat and the merchandising machines on every ground promoting objects from condoms to bottled Korean concoctions that miraculously remedy hangovers. 

Wink is for company with locations to go and folks to fulfill.

“A number of inns will attempt to hold company inside spending on their F&B retailers,” Kaye says. “Whereas, we’re all in favour of giving our company native insights and sending them out to spots we like.”

My room

Household Room

Though not fully-automated, my check-in is seamless, because of my effervescent “Wink Information” guaranteeing I carry on observe till she’s sure my carry is destined for the twelfth ground the place my room awaits. 

The household room (27sqm) has a king-size mattress, a settee that might be used to sleep on, and a second mattress accessed by a small set of steps. 

It’s like a comfortable up right here, though I match comfortably. Good to know ought to I be banished from the marital mattress.

A household of 4 might get away with staying right here.

See Additionally


There are magnificent ground to ceiling vertigo-inducing home windows throughout your entire city-facing wall which offer superb mild throughout the day and provide beautiful views of a night. 

Metropolis views

The factor that strikes me concerning the room is that it seems primary, nevertheless, on shut inspection, it’s evident the standard of supplies and workmanship are of remarkable high quality.

The bathe is an instance.

It’s easy, however spacious and does the job spectacularly. I really feel responsible for letting it run so lengthy. 

I additionally love how the toilet door swings to turn into the bathe door permitting a number of folks to make use of the toilet on the similar time. 

It doesn’t really feel cramped nor does it go away you waltzing the two-step with a door on every arm transferring from rest room to bathe to self-importance.

Because the resort professes, it’s a crash pad of kinds, however an aesthetic one at that. 

Imagine me, it’s good to know that on the finish of an extended day exploring the slender alleyways of the neighbourhood, there’s one thing like this ready for me once I return. 

And by the point I regain consciousness within the morning, I do know I’ll be able to launch into one other day of exploration.

If solely I might “waste” some extra time right here.

All images courtesy of Wink Lodge Saigon Centre

Wink Lodge Saigon Centre Web site

This text first appeared on travelandleisureasia.com

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