The Reverie trumpets luxury – with a 24-carat gold Baldi carriage-clock (taller than a man) at the reception, and acres of glistening Italian marble and gilt. Rooms glitter with mosaic and floor-to-ceiling glass. Walls are adorned with priceless art, while the staff are poised to cater to every wish.

The hotel sits in the 39-storey Times Square building in the heart of District One, Ho Chi Minh City’s business and tourist centre. The lobby opens onto Nguy Hu boulevard, the main pedestrian street. The old French colonial centre (with the principal tourist sights), the choicest shops and the Bitexco Financial Tower are literally on the doorstep.

A red velvet Colombostile sofa as long as a stretch limo, a vast ballroom decorated like Milan’s La Scala by Rubelli, rooms replete with gold rococo flourishes. This is a 21st-century vertical Versailles, albeit secreted inside an undistinguished plate-glass business tower.

It’s not a hotel for lovers of the frugal or understated, but a fantasy palace for real and pretend tycoons and princesses – a theatre-set for the ostentatious. Get into the act and the Reverie is great fun.

Staff are strategically positioned at every turn, ready to escort you anywhere (even the lift) and to cater to every whim. The rooftop pool has mesmerising Saigon river and city skyline views.

The two-floor spa is discreet, with sumptuous treatments and plenty of sauna and steam room space at any time of the day. And the concierge is up-to-date and well-informed on the city’s best high-end eating and drinking, if a little short on detail on Saigon’s burgeoning, hipster speakeasy scene.