Japan's Maruhan Group & Nhat Ha Co. Open CharlieOne Hai Phong at Pullman Grand Hotel

HAI PHONG, Vietnam. CharlieOne Hai Phong has officially opened its doors, marking the latest expansion of the Japanese-backed entertainment club brand in Vietnam and a new chapter for Pullman Hai Phong Grand Hotel, the five-star property that has anchored the port city’s hospitality scene since early 2025.

The opening was announced by Le Minh Thai, Chief Owner Representative of Pullman Hai Phong Grand Hotel, who attended the ceremony on behalf of Nhat Ha Co., Ltd., the hotel’s owner. Describing the launch as “a new milestone” for the property, he said the ownership was honored to share the occasion with partners from Maruhan Group, from the opening ceremony through to the celebratory toast. “Your success is our success,” he wrote in a public statement congratulating the CharlieOne Hai Phong team.

A Japanese brand with a growing Vietnam footprint

CharlieOne is operated in Vietnam by CharlieOne Vietnam Co., Ltd., a wholly Japanese-invested subsidiary of Maruhan Group, one of Japan’s largest entertainment and leisure conglomerates with a corporate history spanning more than six decades. In Vietnam, the company is active in tourism development, real estate, and entertainment.

The Hai Phong club is the brand’s newest location in the country. CharlieOne already operates a club at the JW Marriott Hotel Hanoi, and its Saigon club in Ho Chi Minh City has been in operation since May 2022, positioning itself among the leading venues offering premium entertainment services to international guests. The pattern is consistent: CharlieOne pairs its clubs with established five-star hospitality addresses, a model the Hai Phong opening now brings to northern Vietnam’s fastest-growing commercial hub.

For Maruhan Group, which has steadily built a diversified presence across Southeast Asia, the expansion signals continued confidence in Vietnam’s international visitor economy at a moment when the country’s tourism arrivals are setting records.

The hotel behind the milestone

The partnership places CharlieOne alongside one of northern Vietnam’s most significant recent hotel investments. Pullman Hai Phong Grand Hotel, developed by Nhat Ha Co., Ltd. with a total investment of VND 2,500 billion, roughly US$100 million, officially opened on March 1, 2025 as the Pullman brand’s flagship arrival in northern Vietnam. The 32-story tower in the city’s administrative and commercial center offers 364 rooms and apartments, with views over the Cam River and the historic Hoang Dieu port.

Operated by Accor, the hotel has positioned itself squarely at the MICE segment, backed by Hai Phong’s practical advantages: the city is Vietnam’s largest seaport, sits a little over two hours from Hanoi, and has drawn a dense concentration of domestic and international manufacturers in recent years. At the hotel’s opening, city leaders described the property as a highlight among the five-star hotels then operating in Hai Phong and a foundation for attracting higher-end tourism and conference business to the city.

The addition of an international entertainment brand strengthens that proposition. For a market like Hai Phong, whose visitor base skews heavily toward business travelers, investors, and long-stay international executives, the combination of five-star accommodation, conference infrastructure, and branded leisure options within one ecosystem mirrors the formula that has worked for the city’s larger neighbors, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Ownership and operator, pulling in the same direction

The Hai Phong opening also illustrates a broader dynamic in Vietnamese hospitality: local owners building long-term platforms around their flagship assets. Nhat Ha Co., Ltd., under Chairman Nguyen Van Tang, spent seven years bringing the Pullman project from groundbreaking in May 2018 through the pandemic to completion, and the ownership’s visible role at the CharlieOne ceremony suggests an intent to keep layering partnerships onto the property rather than treating the hotel opening as the finish line.

“We celebrate it together,” Le Minh Thai said of the milestone, a sentiment that captures how owner, operator, and entertainment partner are framing the venture: as a shared bet on Hai Phong’s arrival as a genuine international destination.

For a city better known until recently for container throughput than for hospitality headlines, that bet is beginning to look increasingly well-placed.

Editor’s note: Reporting is based on the public opening announcement by Pullman Hai Phong Grand Hotel’s owner representative and previously published information from Vietnamese business media and corporate sources.