Le Méridien Saigon: A Gem Along the Serene Saigon River
Perched gracefully on the banks of the enchanting Saigon River, Le Méridien Saigon stands as a beacon of luxury, where modern elegance meets rich cultural heritage. Renowned for its breathtaking views, sophisticated design, and unparalleled service, this exquisite hotel has become a favored destination for both leisure seekers and business travelers alike. With a wide array of accommodations, exceptional dining experiences, and cutting-edge facilities, Le Méridien Saigon ensures an unforgettable stay.
Located in the vibrant heart of Ho Chi Minh City, the hotel offers easy access to a myriad of attractions, business meetings, and events. Guests can indulge in a contemporary stay experience, enriched by the culinary delights of its three distinguished restaurants and bar: Akuna, BARSON, and Latest Recipe.
As we gaze into 2025, Le Méridien Saigon continues to garner prestigious accolades from esteemed organizations within the luxury hotel and dining sectors. In the first half of 2025, the hotel cemented its status with a series of illustrious awards, including the Best Scenic View accolade from the Haute Grandeur Global Awards and recognition in Tatler Asia’s Top 20 Best Restaurants and Best Sommelier awards for Akuna. This year marks a significant milestone as Akuna proudly retains its Michelin star for the second consecutive year.
Moreover, the hotel recently clinched the title of Best Luxury Lifestyle Hotel in Vietnam at the Luxury Lifestyle Awards in September. Mr. Lars Kerfin articulated what contributed to this triumph: “Winning the Best Luxury Lifestyle Hotel in Vietnam is a tremendous honor for us. Our success is attributed to exceptional amenities, a positive online presence, world-class cuisine, curated lifestyle experiences, and our prime location.”
Meet Mr. Lars Kerfin: The Visionary at the Helm of Le Méridien Saigon
To delve deeper into the innovative initiatives and successes of Le Méridien Saigon, we had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Lars Kerfin, the hotel’s General Manager.
Q: Can you share a bit about your personal journey, highlighting key milestones, challenges, and successes?
I started my career as a waiter in a Michelin star restaurant in Germany and while I have grown through different departments within the hotels over the years, my heart remained very close to Food & Beverage. Heading now a hotel that includes a Michelin star restaurant is certainly feeling like closing the circle and coming back to my roots.
I left Germany in 2002 with my first international assignment in Thailand. Initially meant to be a 3-5 year experience, it ended up being 20 years in Thailand before moving to Vietnam in 2022. It was an incredible journey with amazing experiences in this part of the world. It enabled me to become a General Manager at the age of 35 and helped to shape and hopefully positively impact the career of many highly talented team members.
The 20 years in Thailand certainly prepared me for crisis management, where you could quickly move from a prosperous and blooming business environment one day to a heavy crisis mode the next. I’ve been through tsunamis, political unrests, floodings, bombings, airport closures and thought I’ve seen it all… until Covid hit. Clearly the most challenging and character-building experience in my professional career. Hopefully I won’t have to apply the learnings I made during that period again.
Mr. Lars Kerfin – General Manager of Le Méridien Saigon hotel
Q: How do you demonstrate your leadership and vision, particularly regarding your brand’s values and future aspirations?
Our number one core value is to put people first. I truly believe that if you honestly care about your team, this will lead to great business results. “Caring” does sometimes include a bit of “tough love”… but I think every parent can relate to this. I ensure that I am there for my team when they need me, especially when things get challenging. Through this, we develop great future leaders.
Q: In what ways do you enhance Le Méridien Saigon’s global presence and establish it as a leader in the luxury industry?
We are very active in approaching new markets and potential customers, not only through our Global Marriott channels, but actively traveling into the markets, introducing Le Méridien Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam to those audiences. A key message we have is that we have a strong focus on seamless guest experience and exciting Food & Beverage. We want to provide a haven to our clients from which they can venture out and discover this amazing city and country.
Q: Can you share any exciting upcoming projects or initiatives at the hotel?
With our strong focus on Food and Beverage, we will elevate our BARSON Bar experience further. While our own bartenders have recently won numerous awards and recognitions themselves, we also recently started a guest shift series “Nights of the Best”, inviting bartenders from Asia’s Top 50 Bars for guest shifts.
Akuna remains a focus which is constantly evolving and we have a couple of additional enhancements up our sleeves that we hopefully will be able to introduce in the very distant future.
Mr. Lars Kerfin – General Manager of Le Méridien Saigon hotel
Q: How important is sustainability in your operations, and what steps is the hotel taking in this area?
Sustainability has become a key factor over the past couple of years and we actively push for further improvements, giving ourselves very ambitious and clearly defined goals. We have been Green Globe certified since last year and will continue to look for further opportunities. Just this month we have changed to 100% sustainable sourced coffee throughout the entire hotel operation, which is on top of the already ambitious sourcing goals.
Q: What do you believe sets Le Méridien Saigon apart from other luxury hotels in the region?
Our ability to combine a great personalized service approach with an unmatched variety of options to drink, eat, sleep and repeat. Our Latest Recipe restaurant provides a monthly changing culinary journey and outstanding brunch, BARSON as a beautiful venue with outdoor casual seating combines world-class drinks with delicious food options, and Akuna provides an option for the very special occasions. All venues including most of our rooms have a breathtaking view over the Saigon River.
Q: How does the hotel engage with the local community and culture?
At Le Méridien it is in our DNA that we help our guests to discover the local community, culture and art. For example, each guest floor has a display of local art in front of the lift landings and we have also currently a painting exhibition of a local artist in front of BARSON. Our Concierge team has developed a digital guide to help our guests to discover lesser known local attractions by themselves.
In addition we have a strong passion for supporting the less fortunate members of our community through our CSR activities. Operation Smile is a longstanding partner of this and we regularly support this with activities, donations and funds.
Q: Finally, do you have any messages for the guests of Le Méridien Saigon?
A: “We are profoundly grateful for the support of our guests and are committed to continuously delivering innovative experiences, especially in the MICE sector. We eagerly anticipate welcoming you to Le Méridien Saigon in the near future.”
As Le Méridien Saigon forges ahead, consistently innovating and crafting exceptional experiences for its guests, it remains a premier destination for travelers from near and far. With a visionary outlook, the hotel is poised to maintain its esteemed reputation as a leader in the luxury hospitality industry.
Stay updated on the latest programs at: facebook.com/lemeridiensaigon
Or book directly at: marriott.com/sgnmd
