Discover the Cafe Apartment in Ho Chi Minh City | Travel Guide, Stories, and Reviews | The Broad Life

Maybe you have known that Vietnam is one of the biggest coffee exporting nations in the world. However, have you ever heard that we do have a cool, unique apartment that gathers all the fantastic cafes you can not miss in Ho Chi Minh City? Evenly, you can take a lot of beautiful pics of yourself and the coffee shops there. Yes, there is a place called – the Cafe Apartment in Saigon or Nguyen Hue Coffee Apartment.

So, why don’t you come and enjoy this marvelous place? It definitely will not disappoint you.

History

Nguyen Hue Blvd, Saigon, Vietnam in 1964.
Image source: manhhai’s Flickr.

Go back to the past, the apartment, at first, was used for American military officers and high-ranking officials who worked for the South Vietnam government lived.

After the Reunification, some parts of the apartment were handed to shipyard workers. Over time, the city has witnessed the skyrocketing growth of Saigon. Therefore, the Government reconstructed, expanded Nguyen Hue street for the purpose of turning it into a tourist attraction of Ho Chi Minh City. And, The tenants began renting out apartments. Of course, it is illegal but people did it anyway. This results in the existence of many shops in the apartments until today. 

Nowadays, Nguyen Hue Coffee Apartment is one of the big hit of tourists in Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City today. Not only is it in the hub of a city, but also the unique vibe it brings to visitors. 

Cafe Apartment’s Address?

The Cafe Apartment in NYE 2019.

As the name that many people call – Nguyen Hue Coffee Apartment, it is situated at No. 42 Nguyen Hue, District 1. The Cafe Apartment is right of your side when you enter Nguyen Hue. To come there, you can use a taxi, bus no. 3, or Grab, Go Jek, Be.

For people who ride scooters or motorbike to the apartment, it is super crucial to find a parking lot there. Because Nguyen Hue is acknowledged as a civilized area, so it doesn’t have many parking lots. My advice is that you can park your scooters at the cross of Ho Tung Mau – Huynh Thuc Khang, Ho Tung Mau – Ton That Hiep, or Mac Thi Buoi – Nguyen Hue. The cost for 1 slot is around VND 10,000.

Getting Inside to the Floors

The whole Cafe Apartment at 42 Nguyen Hue street, District 1, HCMC.Inside Nguyen Hue Coffee Apartment, at the corner of Thinkers & Dreamers cafe.

Before you enter the area of Nguyen Hue Coffee Apartment, the first thing you need to do is taking a selfie with this building, right in front of its facade! It is one of the must-do habits people always have when visiting Nguyen Hue walking street and the Cafe Apartment also looks very nice and stunning from the facade, especially at night.

About the way to go upstairs, there is a small entrance next to the Fahasa bookstore on the ground floor. There is a directory board on the right-wing so you can easily navigate the cafe you want to visit.

The building also provides an elevator in order to help you move back and forth floors. Nevertheless, it might cost you a little bit. The price for 2 times of going up and down is VND 5,000. To me, if you just want to come to a certain coffee shop in the building, you should use the elevator. In case you are a new visitor, it is good to climb each stair on your own to explore both the view, the environment, and the coffee shops, restaurants there.

My 5 Coffee Shops Recommendation in Cafe Apartment

1. Thinker & Dreamer

This shop might be very familiar to anyone coming to the Cafe Apartment. Also, I mentioned it before in 10 Beautiful Coffee Shops in Saigon You Need to Know.

It is an artistic coffee shop where decoration is put on top with the mainstream color is dark. In my opinion, this cafe is very suitable for people who want to have cool pics.

Location: 4th floor.

2. Let’s Partea

It is a version of remaking a British-styled tea party. The whole cafe, or tea shop, is decorated with English pattern wall color, round tables, and sophisticated royal chairs.

The shop sells its products in sets, which means you can buy a set of teapot with a mini tower of cookies & snacks to enjoy evenings with your friends. The price for each set goes around VND 200,000. In my opinion, this price is a little bit expensive but worth any pence! From the quality of tea, sweets to the way tea served are very good and bring the vibe “royal” to the customers.

This cafe is definitely an ideal choice for those who want to get chilled while viewing the whole city right under your shoes!

Location: 4th floor.

3. Saigon Ơi

Bitexco view from Saigon Ơi cafe.The balcony of Saigon Ơi.

The coffee shop I’ve chosen when I came to the cafe apartment for the first time! Initially, the decoration of this coffee shop may not draw your attention like other stylish ones. However, Saigon Ơi has an airy architecture. It even owns a nice and large balcony which is enough for 3-4 people to enjoy a chill and gentle afternoon among noise brought from the hubbub city.

About the menu, Saigon Ơi is popular with tropical drinks such as bubble mango tea, peach tea, and so on. They also serve cakes for customers to savor. The price of drinks and cakes are quite reasonable.

Location: 5th floor.

4. The Letter

The Letter in the Indochina theme on the 8th floor.Drinks at The Letter cafe.

Not as the name, The Letter is a coffee shop designed in Indochine style with a lot of white lanterns hung on the ceiling. When visiting there, you’re gonna say “wow” by its brown-orange wall color which is against the brilliant white tables and chairs.

To make the shop more green, the staffs decorate their shop with flowers and tree pots in different positions and styles. This not only complements the whole pattern but also creates beautiful corners to take pictures. Indeed, The Letter’s Indochine-styled cafe is on the 8th floor.

The Hoi An styled The Letter on the 6th floor in Cafe Apartment.

In addition, The Letter also earns a balcony with red lanterns, birdcages combining stunning yellow walls. This balcony, honestly, reminds me of my visit to Hoi An. Yes, it’s the actual style that the cafe has for themselves on the 6th floor, which is Hoi An Ancient Town theme.

About the drinks in The Letter, its menu varies with common drinks such as black coffee, brown coffee, fruit tea, etc. As I think, a plus point for drinks of The Letter is that they are put in unique, attractive glasses that might be used to be a part of your pictures.

Location: 6th and 8th floors.

5. Boo

This coffee shop became a trend back in the days of 2016. People called its name along with the bubble tea in lightbulb. Yes, their best-seller was the bubble tea that you could drink in a lightbulb, which extremely interested people in those days.

The cafe is on the 8th floor. It’s also the last floor of the cafe apartment so you might get tired a little bit of climbing up there. However, it absolutely worth your time! At the moment, the decoration of Boo Coffee will definitely charm you right the first time you enter the cafe. All I can describe to the style that Boo follows is “vintage”. Indeed, the whole coffee shop’s color is mainly white, complemented by a warm tone from wooden tables and chairs. Definitely, Boo is on top of the places that you would look for to take beautiful photos or selfies.

Location: 8th floor.

Final Say

Well, Nguyen Hue Coffee Apartment is really a nice place to take a visit when you have free time and want to use it for chilling and enjoy this city. What is more interesting to see a whole hub of the city right from this special cafe apartment?

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EXPLORE MORE ATTRACTIONS IN HO CHI MINH CITY

Besides the Cafe Apartment, there are more tourist destinations around Ho Chi Minh City that I believe you will find interesting to visit. Here they are:

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