Is today’s hospitality industry finally innovating to provide both laid-back “at home” vibes with the impeccable service we’ve come to expect in the luxury market? Matt Millard checks in.
I look up from my Sunday morning latte to see my delightfully barmy golden retriever, Indy, gamboling deliriously on an immaculately manicured lawn beyond which the turquoise ocean laps a white sand beach. I lean across to my wife, Truc, and wonder out loud “Why do we ever spend weekends in the city?”.
Indeed there is little excuse, particularly when this particular happy place is just a few hours’ drive from HCMC and costs less per day than one of those coma-inducing posh Saigon Hotel Sunday buffets.
Sorrento Beach Club and KiteSurfing Centre are not posh, but to us, it is perfect. That is not to say I don’t like posh – I LOVE posh, and I am lucky enough to have access to the poshest-of-the-posh once in a while thanks to my client base of luxury hotels and my wife’s contacts from a 20-year career in hospitality.
So what’s better – a super-chillaxed beach resort where you can feel totally at home or a meticulously crafted luxury experience where every whim or desire is anticipated and elegantly catered for?
Can’t we have both?
In this article I’ll share the best of both worlds, from my perspective. I make no apology for errors, omissions or blatant favoritism – these are my happy places and they suit me down to the ground. Yours will certainly be different but perhaps this list will give you some inspiration.
Sorrento Beach Club
Let’s start with Sorrento Beach Club, since I already mentioned it. Google Maps tells me that it’s just shy of 4 1⁄2 hours from my apartment to this slice of paradise, just beyond Phan Rang on the Vinh Hy Peninsula. I think perhaps Google still aggregates the slowcoaches from before the opening of the new highway and the actual time is less, but regardless of that I rarely take the direct route. We tend to stop by and see family in Phan Thiet, and then take the fascinating coastal road through arid sandscapes, rocky outcrops and hidden bays with sandy beaches and crashing waves. The drive is, in places, reminiscent of the French Riviera and in others the surface of the moon. I love it.
The beach at Sorrento Beach Club is perfection for Kite Surfers. When the tide is in, the sea is just about knee-deep for almost a kilometer before you reach the coastal shelf and, in season, the wind whips over the surface at exhilarating speeds driving kite-surfers to flip, jump and aquaplane at terrifying velocity.
I tend to stay on land where there are two great pools, a breezy open-air restaurant and bar, the aforementioned grassy lawns and daybeds scattered far enough apart to give the impression that the place is yours alone. Rachel and Ty, the Australian/American couple who run the place are the perfect reflection of the vibe – she is a wonderful home cook and he is a pony-tailed, kiting-obsessed beach-nik with a mental almanac of weather and sea conditions.
Rooms are eclectic, spacious and casual – suited to folk who are more interested in spending time suspended in mid-air over the ocean than in a hotel room, but they are perfectly comfortable. The restaurant is fabulous – I have heard hardcore Aussie meatheads refer to Rachel’s steaks as being among the best they have ever tasted. I tend to agree – and I have seen off a few very good steaks myself (as my circumference attests!).
Bakhan Village Resort
On a recent motorcycle trip from Hanoi to the Northwestern hills, Truc asked me to make a detour to visit a resort owned by a friend of hers. I set the satnav for Bakhan Village and off we sped. The scenery became increasingly beautiful the further we got from the Capital but nothing could have prepared us for the view that greeted us as we drove in the gates from a small and nondescript Muong minority village. Bakhan Village Resort clings to the side of a valley overlooking a stunning lake hundreds of meters below. The vista is constantly changing as clouds drift in, filling the valley and obscuring the lake below, only to clear again and play with the light as day turns to evening. What is the cost for this million dollar view I hear you ask? About eighty bucks for a generously-sized bungalow, and around ten more to upgrade to a junior suite, both inclusive of a modest but very acceptable breakfast for two.
Avana Retreat Mai Chau
Ninety minutes or so further west, we step back into the heady world of eco-luxury at probably my favorite hideaway in Vietnam, Avana Retreat Mai Chau. Never heard of it? Let’s keep it that way friends, then there won’t be hordes of tourists there to spoil the perfection.
Avana Retreat is truly a slice of paradise. Waterfalls cascade through the verdant jungles which hide rustic-looking (but oh-so-refined) villas, some with private infinity pools built in tiers to echo the rice terraces below.
With only 36 rooms in the retreat, privacy is a given and each guest is treated to village-style heartfelt hospitality. Perhaps because the owners are also tour operators, attention is paid to keeping guests busy with authentic local experiences and activities, from making ceramics to jungle trekking to piloting a kayak in nearby Hoa Binh Lake. The spa is, naturally, heavenly. Prices? A mountain suite starts at around VND8.5M, and the stunning hilltop two-bedroom pool villa will set you back around VND30M per night. Worth every Dong.
Pu Luong Retreat
If you like your paradise a little more affordable, I strongly suggest Pu Luong Valley. Still in the mountainous Northwest of Vietnam, but a little closer to the Lao border, this beautiful valley is what Vietnam should be all about. Stunning scenery, bucolic villages where lazy buffaloes wallow in clear streams, rickety homemade watermills turning slowly to pump water into the rice fields and smiling, bashful locals who welcome everyone, even idiot foreigners who have stupidly fallen off their motorbike and broken a wrist. I speak from experience.
Pu Luong Retreat has a gorgeous infinity pool, 24 rooms of varying standards, and a longhouse on stilts which sleeps up to 20. You’ll want a valley view room and the upgrade to the generous suites is well worth the extra. Rooms start from around USD 80, but valley views and holiday weekends cost more. Pu Luong has quite a few copycat resorts nowadays so it’s worth looking around. I can, however, vouch for the nursing care at Pu Luong Retreat (they even dug around and found a bottle of Bordeaux in lieu of painkillers!)
The Capella Hanoi
Leaving Pu Luong, you’ll pass through Hanoi and be in need of a spot of pampering after your mountain adventures. Look no further than The Capella, the latest confection offered up by uber-hip hotel designer, Bill Bensley.
Give yourself up to the fantasy of staying and dining in the company of the world’s greatest ever opera divas at The Capella Hanoi and you’ll have a wonderful time – the service is impeccable, the food and drink offerings are superb (all three of the hotel’s restaurants have been recognized by the Michelin Guide, including Hibana By Koki, awarded a star two years running by Michelin).
All this pomp doesn’t come cheap – lead-in prices are around USD420 and a suite will cost upwards of USD1,000 a night, but it’s well worth it.
Ca Private Villa
Out of the city and once again on the coast, we return to a simpler life and a change of format. In the riverside village of Cam Thanh, just 10 minutes by bicycle from Hoi An Old Town, Aussie Mark Withers has built twin private Villas, each with a pool and 2 very generous bedrooms. We spent a happy month here in the early days of Covid, while Vietnam was open for domestic travel and the rest of the world was off limits. We soon fell into the gentle rhythm of Hoi An life – cycle into town for a latte at the Espresso Station, call in to Madam Khanh’s for a superb banh mi, adjourn to poolside for emails and zoom calls and dip in the cool pool when the heat becomes too much. Ca Private Villa is yours for just USD 200 per night for four people including breakfast, often served by the owners themselves.
The Four Seasons the Nam Hai
If Ca Private Villa is my “bargain” happy place, then The Four Seasons the Nam Hai is definitely my upscale escape in Hoi An. From pre-opening in 2006 when I helped the developer with marketing materials until now, I have been a regular at the Nam Hai. I have hundreds of pictures of my twin daughters splashing in the vast infinity pools that dominate the central terraces of the property. From the age of six until their early 20’s my girls have been lucky enough to consider The Nam Hai their luxury refuge in Vietnam. All the villas are opulent and exquisitely designed, the gardens are verdant and perfectly manicured and the restaurants & bar are superb but there is one thing that defines the service at the Nam Hai for me. Once, when my identical twin daughters were about seven years old we made our annual pilgrimage to the Nam Hai. At breakfast, the server came to our table and looked at my girls “Now, you like sausages and waffles and you like pancakes with bacon and maple syrup” she said, correctly. I often struggle to tell my daughters apart, let alone remember what they like for breakfast – this lady remembered perfectly after a full year. And that, dear friends, is why the Four Seasons costs a minimum of USD 1,100 a night for an entry-level room!
There are so many more fascinating comparisons to make – The delightfully rustic Mango Bay or the ultra swank Regent Resort in Phu Quoc, the wildly eccentric (but very, very chichi) Intercontinental Danang or the rugged charm of Whale Island Resort? After more than 25 years in Vietnam I am still enjoying the journey of discovery.
