12 August 2008

Sweet dreams at the Caravelle

HO CHI MINH CITY - The prospects for sweet dreaming have improved considerably at the Caravelle Hotel when the landmark property in the heart of Saigon finished moving new beds into all 335 rooms and suites.

The hotel has swapped 428 mattresses and their attendant pillows, linens, comforters, duvets and silks. The 33cm Posturepedic mattresses, manufactured by the US-based company, Sealy, Inc., are eight inches deeper than the old Caravelle mattresses and now boast pillow tops.

Each bed offers a 10cm feather comforter, a duvet cover with a 350-400 thread count and both synthetic and feather pillows.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœAt the most fundamental level, a hotel is a place to sleep,Ã¢â¬~ said John Gardner, the hotelÃ¢â¬â¢s general manager. Ã¢â¬ÅâœWith these Posturepedic beds, and these linens, youÃ¢â¬â¢d be hard-pressed to find a better nightÃ¢â¬â¢s rest in Vietnam.Ã¢â¬~

The new beds at the Caravelle are part of a two-year refurbishment throughout the hotel, which next year celebrates its 50th anniversary.

Opened on Christmas Eve in 1959, the Caravelle won enduring fame during the American War (known as the Vietnam War in the West) when correspondents watched the conflict erupt on the fringes of the city from the hotelÃ¢â¬â¢s rooftop terrace and filed stories from bureaus located within and around the hotel.

In 1998, after more than two decades of operation on a shoestring budget, the landmark was resuscitated with a complete renovation and a complementary, 24-storey tower.