Vietnam: The Continental Hotel, Saigon, c. 1958

The Hôtel Continental is a hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It was named after the prestigious Hôtel Continental in Paris, and is located in District 1, the central business district of the city (Saigon). The hotel is situated by the Saigon Opera House and was built in 1880 by the French. The hotel has undergone a few refurbishments over the years, whilst still maintaining the essence of its original architecture and style.

The Ho Chi Minh City Hotel Continental has also been featured in the Hollywood movie The Quiet American, an adaptation of Graham Greene's novel with the same name. Another movie in which it was featured was Indochine. This film and Greene's Quiet American illustrate the central place the Continental had in the social and political life of Saigon during the French Colonial Era. It is located near the City Post Office, built in 1891, the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City Building (1898, formerly the Hotel De Ville) and Notre Dame Cathedral (1880).

Graham Greene lived in the Continental while writing 'The Quiet American' and working as a journalist during the latter days of the French Colonial period. It is located on the intersection of Le Loi street and the bustling Dong Khoi Street, Rue Catinat during the days of the French.

The Continental was also home to the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore (1913 Nobel Prize for Literature) and Andre Malraux (1933 Prix Goncourt for 'Man's Fate'), as well as other journalists, celebrities, politicians and heads of state.

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Pictures From History

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GRAHAM GREENE IN SAIGON