Keith. Yes definitley worth a visit. A combination of Asian charm and fast life style, still at budget prices. (A steaming bowl of Pho noodles $1 , 30 min taxi ride to airport $7)
HCM city has been described as being like BKK 30 years ago (without the "Boy-bars") and some are forecasting VN will overtake Thailand as the newest Asian Dragon.
Curiouser The last time I visited HCM, I stayed at the Continental Hotel (.. no, not Intercontinetal.) and had big problems getting my friend in during day time, let alone overnight.
This time I checked the Purple Dragon list of Gay Friendly hotels and chose the venerable old Caravelle, across the square from the Continental . The hotel policy states no guests in room after 23.00 and during the day any VN guests must be registered with the hotel. I walked in through the front door with my 21 y.o. friend at 6 pm and although security definitely saw him they let us pass.
There's actually a side entrance with access to elevators that dont pass the front desk . It takes you to the 9th floor from where non residents can enter the famous "Saigon Saigon " bar. There's access from there to other floors, but from about 9pm a security card is in place so that would be out.
This hotel is on the edge of the red light (straight) sauna/massage bar scene and during my 2 night stay I saw plenty of female call girls around, some at the hotel reception getting their id cards back.
The official line in VN is that there's no need for special rules for gays, as homosexulity does not exist in this socialist utopia. Ha! Unofficially I think most hotels turn a blind eye during the day, but control overnight entry (gay and straight) due to communist laws requiring all guests to be registered and security concerns.
In HCM, as elsewhere in the world, I rely on the probability that most of the reception staff are gay - my problem at the Continental was that it was staffed by Gestapo trained bitches ! Elsewhere (like the big department stores) you still come across communist era staff who completely lack a service mentality , but with 70% of the VN population below 30 y .o. that's now the exception.
Just go and have a great time!
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