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Art Deco & 1930s Buildings
Curved facades, geometric ironwork, terrazzo floors and the confident design language of the 1930s and 1940s.
Explore Art Deco Stays →Collection · Grand Colonial Hotels
Grand Colonial Hotels of Indochina
The landmark hotels of the French Indochina period. Wide facades, garden courtyards, high-ceilinged lobbies and more than a century of guests.
Browse Grand Colonial Hotels by Destination
The Landmarks of the Period
The hotels that were famous before you were born.
The grand colonial hotels were the largest, most formal and most ambitious hotels of their day. Built between the 1880s and the 1940s, they were designed for arriving ships, diplomatic receptions and long stays by well-heeled travellers. Their lobbies were ballrooms. Their bars were where the history of the period was made.
A handful of them survive, and they remain the most storied hotels in the region. The Metropole in Hanoi, the Majestic in Saigon, Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh. Each has been restored with care, and each still carries the ceremonial weight of the era that built it. This collection brings together the grand colonial hotels across Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos that are still receiving guests today.
Best For
Travellers who want to stay inside a piece of history. Also for honeymooners, special occasions and anyone who values the weight of a building that has lived through the century.
What Makes a Grand Colonial Hotel?
Purpose-built for arrival.
Grand colonial hotels share a set of characteristics that distinguish them from smaller period properties and from modern hotels styled with colonial motifs.
Purpose-Built as a Hotel
The building was designed and constructed as a hotel from the beginning, not converted from another use.
A Wide, Formal Facade
Wide frontages, shuttered windows, ironwork balconies and a formal entrance designed to receive guests.
Garden Courtyards
Palm-shaded gardens, swimming pools from the 1930s, and courtyards that separate the hotel from the street.
High-Ceilinged Public Rooms
Lobbies, bars and dining rooms with the proportions of a bygone era. Ceiling fans, dark wood, brass.
A Documented History
Named guests, famous events, continuous operation. Many of these hotels have been open for over a century.
Original Architecture
Tiled floors, timber shutters, brass fittings and staircases that survive from the original construction.
A Restored Present
Modern plumbing, air conditioning, soundproofing and Wi-Fi, added discreetly behind the period facade.
Full Service
Several restaurants, a bar with a story, a pool, and the service standards of a full grand hotel.
Explore by Style
Not every grand colonial hotel is the same kind of stay.
Some are formal, some relaxed, some at the heart of the city and some on the water. Each sibling collection gives you a different entry point.
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Government & Official Residences
Former governors’ houses, administrative buildings and official residences converted into hotels, especially in Vientiane and Phnom Penh.
Explore Former Residences →03
Riverfront & Port Hotels
Hotels built for the river trade. On the Saigon River, the Mekong, and the ports that connected Indochina to the world.
Explore Riverfront Hotels →04
Street-Front Colonial Buildings
Narrow colonial buildings in the old quarters of Hanoi and Phnom Penh, where the period architecture continues at street level.
Explore Street-Front Stays →05
Colonial Villas & Boutique Conversions
Private villas and merchant houses of the period, restored into small hotels with courtyards, gardens and original details.
Explore Villa Conversions →06
Colonial-Era Hotels
All period hotels across Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Grand hotels, art deco residences, government houses and riverfront landmarks.
View Parent Collection →Three Cities
Where the grand colonial hotels are.
The grand colonial hotels cluster in the great cities of the period, each one still at the centre of its city today.
Hanoi
Vietnam’s capital holds the strongest collection of grand colonial hotels, with the Metropole and the Hotel de l’Opera both a short walk from Hoan Kiem Lake.
Explore Hanoi Grand Hotels →Saigon & Phnom Penh
Both cities still have their grand riverfront landmarks. The Majestic in Ho Chi Minh City, Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh, each overlooking the water that made them.
Explore Saigon Grand Hotels →Siem Reap & Vientiane
Two smaller but equally distinctive grand hotels. Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor on the road to the temples, and the intimate Settha Palace in the centre of Vientiane.
Explore Siem Reap Grand Hotels →Featured Grand Colonial Hotels
A few we know well.
The grandest of the grand. Each one links through to the full hotel profile.
Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi
Hanoi · Vietnam
Opened in 1901, the original grand hotel of Hanoi. Two wings, a garden courtyard, high ceilings and more than a century of guests.
View Hotel →Hotel de l’Opera Hanoi
Hanoi · Vietnam
Next to the Opera House, with interiors that echo the era of the French opera tradition. Small, refined and a good example of the period style done well.
View Hotel →Hotel Majestic Saigon
Ho Chi Minh City · Vietnam
On the Saigon River since 1925. A colonial-era landmark with wide verandas, a rooftop bar and the river just across the road.
View Hotel →Raffles Hotel Le Royal
Phnom Penh · Cambodia
Opened in 1929 and restored with care. Cambodia’s landmark colonial hotel, with cool interiors and the riverside a short walk away.
View Hotel →Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor
Siem Reap · Cambodia
A grand 1930s hotel set in gardens on the road to Angkor. Wide verandas, ceiling fans and the quiet formality of the colonial era.
View Hotel →Settha Palace Hotel
Vientiane · Laos
A colonial-era house in the centre of Vientiane, restored with its original proportions, tiled veranda and garden. One of the smallest true period hotels in the region.
View Hotel →Related Collections
Grand colonial hotels sit alongside other period collections.
Every sibling collection of Colonial-Era Hotels is listed here, alongside the parent.
Colonial-Era Hotels
All period hotels across Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, from grand landmarks to small period residences.
View Parent Collection →Art Deco & 1930s Buildings
Curved facades, geometric ironwork and terrazzo floors of the 1930s and 1940s.
View Collection →Government & Official Residences
Former governors’ houses and official residences converted into hotels.
View Collection →Riverfront & Port Hotels
Hotels built for the river trade on the Saigon River and the Mekong.
View Collection →Street-Front Colonial Buildings
Narrow colonial buildings in the old quarters of Hanoi and Phnom Penh.
View Collection →Colonial Villas & Boutique Conversions
Private villas and merchant houses restored into small period hotels.
View Collection →More Than a Famous Name
Notes that explain what the hotel is really like.
Grand colonial hotels share a history, but they differ widely in atmosphere, service and scale. Our notes help you understand which one suits your trip, and which room category to ask for.
Explore Hotel ProfilesWhat we look at in grand colonial hotels
- Which wing or floor you are in, and how it differs
- Whether the original building or a later addition
- What survives. Lobby, bar, garden, staircase, tiling
- Room sizes and which categories suit which guest
- Modern comfort behind the period facade
- Which restaurant or bar is worth your time
- Pool and garden spaces
- How the hotel handles high season and business travel
- Family, couple and accessibility considerations
- How the hotel fits into a wider Indochina itinerary
For Travel Advisors & Agencies
Grand colonial hotels are the easiest sell when the story is clear.
Asia Travel Mates works with travel advisors, tour operators and agencies looking for reliable local knowledge on grand colonial and period hotels across Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
We can help match your clients with the right landmark hotel, and be honest about which wing, which room category and which restaurant suit which traveller.
Work With Asia Travel Mates
Local Knowledge
We know which grand hotels have been restored properly and which have not.
Right Fit
Match the building, the wing and the room to the client.
Private Journeys
Grand hotel stays woven into complete Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos itineraries.
Local Support
Our own team on the ground across Indochina.
For Hotels
Do you run a grand colonial hotel?
Asia Travel Mates works with grand colonial hotels across Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. If your property is a landmark hotel from the French Indochina period, with its original architecture and public rooms intact, we would like to hear about it.
We are especially interested in properties where the history is real and the guest experience has been brought up to modern standards without erasing what came before.
Good to Know
Grand colonial hotels. A few questions, answered.
What is a grand colonial hotel?
A grand colonial hotel is one of the landmark hotels of the French Indochina period. Built between the 1880s and the 1940s, these were the largest and most formal hotels of their day, with wide facades, garden courtyards, high-ceilinged lobbies and a documented history that often stretches back more than a century.
Where are the main grand colonial hotels in Indochina?
Hanoi has the strongest collection, with the Sofitel Legend Metropole and the Hotel de l’Opera. Ho Chi Minh City has the Hotel Majestic on the Saigon River. Phnom Penh and Siem Reap have Raffles Hotel Le Royal and Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor. Vientiane has the smaller Settha Palace.
Are grand colonial hotels comfortable by modern standards?
Yes. The grand colonial hotels that survive today have been restored with modern plumbing, air conditioning, soundproofing and updated bathrooms, while keeping their original structure, tiled floors, shutters and public rooms. They remain some of the most comfortable hotels in the region.
How is a grand colonial hotel different from a small colonial-era hotel?
Grand colonial hotels were purpose-built as hotels and were the largest and most formal of their day. Small colonial-era hotels may have started life as private villas, government residences or commercial buildings, and were later converted. The grand hotels have a longer continuous history of hospitality.
Can grand colonial hotels be included in a private itinerary?
Yes. Grand colonial hotels often anchor the beginning or end of a heritage-focused journey through Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, and pair well with smaller colonial-era, heritage or boutique stays along the way.
Asia Travel Mates · Grand Colonial Hotels
Stay inside one of the great hotels of the century.
Browse grand colonial hotels by city, or talk to our local team about which landmark property, and which room, fits your Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos journey.
Explore Grand Colonial Hotels Talk to Our Team