Lonely Planet Review
Right in the heart of lively Ð De Tham and the backpacker area, Art Hotel is cheap and simple but has something many around here don't - character. The entrance is through Pham Ngoc Dai's tiny art studio-cum-shop, crammed with skilful reproductions spanning Monet, Dali, Warhol and faces of Cambodia's Jayavarman VII.
You'll be greeted by the artist-cum-hotelier and the smell of oil paint as he busily copies a master or two. Upstairs there are four rooms - one for each level - all of which are surprisingly large considering the building is only 2.5m wide. And it's this narrowness that makes this hotel experience especially Vietnamese - many Saigon residents live in homes no wider than this. There are no frills at all in the rooms, which have ceiling fans (no air-con), simple bathrooms and could be cleaner. But the balconies overlooking Ð De Tham are great. The first floor room in particular has a great Asian view through dozens of power lines and strings of Vietnamese flags. The Art Hotel is not, however, for light sleepers.
Review by author
Andrew Burke