From garage to five-star hotel, The Rex has one colourful history. Occupying one of the most important junctions in downtown Ho Chi Minh City, the building was originally designed as an expansive French garage. In the early 20th century, it evolved into a six-story trading center with three cinemas and one of the most buzzing dance halls in all of Southeast Asia.

Later, the trading center transformed again, this time into a hotel. When the city entered its most tumultuous years, the Rex’s Rooftop Garden Bar was the scene of the infamous press briefings known as the ‘Five O’clock Follies' (a sobriquet for military press briefings that occurred during the Vietnam War). Today, the hotel’s rooftop still draws patrons, but with live music, well-poured cocktails and sunset views above the city.