I see my name on a placard as I exit the airport and am taken to the hotel by hotel car.

The location couldn’t be better for this self-rated 3-star hotel, right in the middle of the centre of town.

I am warmly welcomed and acknowledged for having booked a agoda.com. My room is on the 1st floor and is everything I had expected from the reviews on tripadvisor.com, right down to the hard bed (which is my preference).

And it is cheap – everything in HCM city is. 80c draft beers at the pool bar, $12 full body massages with oil. Incidentally I had one and nearly died in the process when my neck was cracked not once but twice.

Breakfast is fine – an assortment of Vietnamese and Western dishes. The only ‘unusual’ point is the large round tables you share with other people whilst having your breakfast.

The staff are extremely polite and nothing is too difficult for them.

An easy stay for a night or two.