Vietnamese hotel group Fusion has announced it will add a third brand to its portfolio with the opening of the first Fusion Originals property earmarked for Ho Chi Minh City next year. Fusion Originals will join the company’s other brands, Fusion Resorts and Fusion Suites.
Breaking with convention, each Originals hotel will bear the name of a pioneering artist, inventor, scientist or social leader. For the inaugural member of the collection, they’ve selected Charles Darwin, a British botanist, scientist and naturalist who redefined mankind’s place in the universe.
“World-changing ideas are what Fusion is all about,” said Remco de Hoog, Fusion’s chief architect. “Charles Darwin is the perfect person to launch this exciting, slightly rebellious all-new brand.”
‘Darwin – a Fusion Original’ is currently under construction in the heart of Saigon’s District 1, less than 200 metres from the city’s iconic opera house and close to shops, restaurants, cafes, bars, and tourist hot spots.
The 88-room hotel will pay homage to its namesake by creating an air of 19th-century discovery and adventure. Fusion’s designers have focused on Darwin’s tireless studies of plants, animals and people from all over the globe and will honour this by featuring botanical motifs, super-sized extracts of Darwin’s manuscripts and a palette of all-natural tones and textures in the interiors. There will even be a copy of Darwin’s most famous publication, On the Origin of Species, inside every bedside unit.
In the ground floor lobby, the aptly named Beagle Bar will host regular live music and spoken word events lubricated by old-school rum cocktails and local craft ales. Meanwhile, Origins Restaurant, home to a re-imagined breakfast concept known as T.O.A.S.T. (The Original Answer to Snooze Time) will serve dishes inspired by Charles Darwin’s global journeys.
At present, guests can experience Fusion’s all-spa inclusive wellness concept or flexible “anywhere, anytime” breakfast service, along with their inventive, unmistakable and playful approach to the hospitality sector in Da Nang, Cam Ranh, Ho Chi Minh City and Phu Quoc.