A Rooftop Bar Christmas in Ho Chi Minh City

Saigon does Christmas its own way. There is no snow, no frost on the window, just warm strings of light down Đồng Khởi, families out taking photos, and an evening air that in December finally turns cool enough to want a jacket.

It is a fine city to be out in at the end of the year. And there are few better places to take it all in than a rooftop bar, high above the crowds, with a seasonal drink in hand and the whole lit skyline in front of you. This guide is about why that makes such a lovely Christmas night, and how to plan one in the centre of District 1.

At a glance. A rooftop bar is one of the easiest, most relaxed ways to celebrate Christmas in central Saigon. December evenings are pleasantly cool, the decorated streets and river look their best from above, and a rooftop suits a date or a small group far better than a packed restaurant. In District 1, ROOTY Bar sits on the roof of The Myst Đồng Khởi, with a 20-metre infinity pool, wide city views and a run of Saigon-inspired cocktails. December weekends and Christmas Eve fill up, so book ahead.

Christmas above the city

Christmas in Ho Chi Minh City is a street festival more than a quiet family night. From early December the shopping streets go up in lights, the big hotels dress their lobbies, and on the weekends before the twenty-fifth the centre fills with people simply out to enjoy the mood. It is warm, cheerful and busy. Wonderful for an hour, tiring after two, especially if you are trying to hold a conversation or mark the occasion with someone.

Going up changes the whole feeling. From a rooftop you keep every good part of a Saigon Christmas, the lights, the buzz, the sense that the city is celebrating, and leave behind the parts that wear you down. You are above the noise. The air moves. The decorated streets become a picture laid out below rather than a crowd you are pushing through. It is the difference between being in the festival and watching it from a good seat, and at Christmas that second option has a lot to recommend it.

Why a rooftop beats a crowded room in December

Come the third week of December, the popular restaurants in the centre are running set menus and second sittings, and the good tables were spoken for weeks ago. You can have a fine meal that way. What you often cannot have is room to breathe. A rooftop bar solves a different problem. It is somewhere to sit rather than somewhere to eat through a fixed three courses, which means the evening runs at your pace, not the kitchen’s.

The weather is on your side too. December is the one month when an open-air table in Saigon is a pleasure rather than a test of endurance. The heat of the year has finally eased, the evenings turn cool, and sitting outside after dark actually feels like the season. A rooftop leans into that instead of hiding from it behind the air conditioning. You get the cool air, the sky and a drink, without dressing up for a formal dinner or committing to three hours at a table.

• It suits a date. Two seats by the rail, the city lights, a cocktail each and no rush. Hard to improve on for a Christmas evening with someone.
• It suits a small group. Friends who want to mark the season without the logistics of a big booked dinner can simply come up, find a corner and stay as long as the night is good.
• It flexes around your plans. A drink before a Noel dinner, or somewhere to go after one when the restaurants are turning tables. It works at either end of the evening.

If the plan is to end the night up high rather than begin it there, we have gathered a few ideas for where to head after a Noel dinner in Saigon.

The view when Saigon lights up

The reason a rooftop earns its name at Christmas is the view, and in December the view is at its best. It starts with the sunset. The sky over the river goes through its colours, the light drops, and then, in that short window as dusk turns to dark, the whole of District 1 switches on beneath you. Office towers, the ribbon of traffic along the boulevards, the lit-up length of Nguyễn Huệ, the boats on the Saigon River. At Christmas there is an extra layer over all of it, the festive lights that only appear this one month of the year.

From street level you see one decorated corner at a time. From above you see the pattern. Nguyễn Huệ and Đồng Khởi are both dressed up for the season, and from a rooftop you can trace them running through the centre like bright seams, the crowds small and cheerful far below. It is the kind of view people queue to photograph, and up here it simply sits in front of you while you have your drink. That slow turn from a gold sunset to a sparkling night skyline is the heart of a festive rooftop evening, and it costs nothing but the price of arriving in time to watch it.

A festive evening at ROOTY

In the centre of District 1, this is what an evening at ROOTY Bar is built for. ROOTY is the rooftop bar of The Myst Đồng Khởi, set on the roof around a 20-metre infinity pool, with plants softening the edges and the city and the river opening out on every side. By day it is a pool-deck bar in the sun. As the light fades it becomes something quieter and warmer, the pool lit, the skyline coming on, the kind of place you settle into rather than pass through.

The drinks lean local in the best way. The list runs to Saigon-inspired cocktails, a few Vietnamese nibbles to go with them, and a proper choice of premium wines if a glass of something suits the night better. Come December the rooftop takes on a festive touch, though rather than promise specifics here we would say the seasonal details are worth asking the bar about closer to the time, since they settle nearer the season.

What we can promise is the setting: a cool December evening, the lights of District 1 below, and a Saigon Christmas seen from one of the better seats in the centre. For the drinks side of a festive night, our notes on Christmas cocktails are a good place to start.

ROOTY sits above a boutique heritage hotel, so an evening here folds easily into a wider Christmas in the centre, whether that is a stroll along the lit streets first or a quiet nightcap after everything else is done. And if the daytime version appeals, a Christmas afternoon tea in central Saigon is the same spirit an hour earlier in the day.

Planning your Christmas rooftop night

A festive rooftop night rewards a little planning. December is the busiest stretch of the year for a rooftop in District 1, and the best evenings, the weekends and Christmas Eve above all, are exactly the ones everyone else wants too.

• Book ahead. For any date in the second half of December, and certainly for Christmas Eve, reserve well in advance. Walk-ups can work midweek; they are a gamble on the nights that matter.
• Come for sunset. The best of the view is the turn from dusk to a lit skyline, so arrive with time to catch it rather than after dark.
• Dress for cool air. December evenings up high are genuinely fresh once the sun is down. Comfortable is fine, but bring a light layer.
• Ask about the season. Any festive touches, seasonal drinks or timing details for the Christmas period are best confirmed with the bar closer to December, when the plans are set.

Do that much and the rest looks after itself. You arrive with the light still gold, take a seat, order something seasonal, and watch a Saigon Christmas come on beneath you.

Frequently asked questions

Spend a festive evening at ROOTY

ROOTY Bar sits on the roof of The Myst Đồng Khởi, a boutique heritage hotel in the heart of District 1, with the lights of Saigon and the river spread out beyond the pool. Our team is glad to hold a table for a festive evening and to talk you through what the season is bringing to the rooftop.

→ Book a festive evening at ROOTY

→ Stay with us and wake above the city

Crafted by Silverland Hotels.