Icon68 Shopping Mall in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Icon68 Shopping Center occupies the retail podium of Bitexco Financial Tower at 2 Hai Trieu in central Ho Chi Minh City. It is a very different experience from a suburban mega mall: compact, vertical and integrated into one of the city’s best-known skyscrapers. The center is most useful to travelers who are already exploring the Nguyen Hue, riverfront and financial-district area, or who plan to combine shopping and food with a visit to Saigon Skydeck. Its main limitation is scale. Icon68 has fewer conventional retail floors than the city’s biggest malls, so it should be treated as a central lifestyle and dining stop rather than an all-day shopping expedition.

Bitexco’s current project information describes Icon68 as a six-floor shopping center with more than 10,000 square meters of space. The mix includes retail, entertainment, food and health-related services, with access from both Hai Trieu and Ngo Duc Ke. The building remains active in 2026, and Bitexco has publicly described a renewed tenant mix at Icon68. That recent evidence is important because older descriptions of the mall can feel dated and may list businesses that have since changed.

The 2026 refresh has leaned strongly toward food, beverage and visitor experience. Bitexco announced a new Highlands Coffee on Level 4 beside the Saigon Skydeck reception area and highlighted the arrival of other food concepts, including a Starbucks Reserve Mixology format and a conveyor-belt sushi brand. These additions reinforce the center’s current character: a place where people working in the tower, sightseeing nearby or heading to the observation deck can stop for coffee, a meal or a short browse.

Visitors expecting a traditional department-store layout should adjust their expectations. Icon68 is woven into the circulation of a major office and observation tower, so part of its appeal comes from the building itself. The ground and lower retail levels provide the shopping-center component, while dining and visitor attractions extend the experience vertically. Bitexco’s own material also points to restaurants on higher floors of the tower, though those are separate venues with their own reservations and operating times.

A current business directory lists Icon68’s general shopping-center hours as 10:00 to 22:00 every day. Because the official Bitexco project page does not publish a unified daily schedule, these hours should be treated as a current secondary listing rather than a guaranteed timetable for every tenant. Saigon Skydeck, cafes and restaurants can follow their own hours. If a specific venue is the reason for your visit, check that business directly.

Location is Icon68’s biggest strength. The tower stands at 2 Hai Trieu, a short walk from Nguyen Hue and the central riverfront area. This makes the mall easy to include between downtown landmarks, meals and evening activities. Taxi and ride-hailing are straightforward, but visitors staying in the central core may find walking more efficient because traffic around the business district can slow short car journeys. The building also has parking, though international travelers rarely need to drive themselves here.

There is no general admission charge to enter the shopping center. Saigon Skydeck is a separate paid attraction, and restaurants, cafes and other entertainment follow their own pricing. A visitor interested only in Icon68 can comfortably spend one to three hours browsing, eating and taking a break. If the plan includes the observation deck or a reserved restaurant meal higher in the tower, allow longer.

Accessibility needs should be considered separately from ordinary building circulation. Bitexco Financial Tower is a modern high-rise with elevators, but the sources checked do not provide a detailed public accessibility guide for Icon68 or confirm wheelchair-loan services. Travelers who need step-free access, a particular drop-off point or assistance should contact tower management in advance. The two street entrances can also make a difference depending on where you are approaching from.

Icon68 is particularly attractive in bad weather or at the hottest time of day because it provides an air-conditioned base in a very walkable but exposed part of central Ho Chi Minh City. It also works well as a meeting point for groups: some people can browse or have coffee while others visit the observation deck. That flexibility is more important to its current role than the idea of spending hours comparison-shopping across hundreds of stores.

The key planning advice is to use current information. Icon68 has been actively repositioning its tenant mix, and Bitexco’s 2026 announcements show that new food and lifestyle brands are part of that process. Old lists of shops are therefore less useful than the current building website and tenant announcements. Visit for the combination of central location, skyscraper setting, food and short-form shopping; choose a larger mall if your priority is an exhaustive retail day with a very broad brand range. One additional advantage is that the compact layout makes it easy to use Icon68 as a short stop between appointments or central-city attractions. You can have coffee, meet someone, browse a few floors and continue your day without committing to the long walking distances common in a mega mall. That convenience is a meaningful part of its appeal.