Vietnam is an amazing country and taking luxury holidays to Vietnam can help you uncover amazing aspects of this country! This article is to share with you those amazing secrets!
Geographically Vietnam is in the heart of South East Asia. Culturally, Vietnam is a melting pot of the cultures of 54 different ethnic groups each of which with their own language and culture. Politically and culturally, Vietnam was under influence of the Big Powers. And the country was ruled by foreign powers several times each of which lasted from several decades to several centuries! But the Viet identity prevails; and interestingly, the very history has helped to shape up, refine and enhance that very Viet identity!
Traditionally Vietnam was a feudal society with the Royal Family, a Mandarinal System, and common people. This structure of the society changed when the French came in the middle of the 19th century and later the Americans in South Vietnam after the division of the country in 1954. The interesting history of the country leaves its vivid marks in luxury travel in Vietnam. And taking Vietnam luxury tours to different cities in the country, you can feel to be in close touch with these different aspects vying for dominance.
1/ Luxury Travel in Hanoi
Hanoi is a city of stark contrasts and fusions. Given its thousand years under Chinese influence and nearly eighty years under the French rule, it makes sense. The Old Quarter coexists by the French Quarter. The old temples have Chinese styles blended well with Vietnamese ones. The chaotic traffic yet does not take away the laid-back atmosphere… If you are observant when having holidays to the capital city of Vietnam, you can easily see it for yourself!
But what is it to do with luxury tourism in Hanoi then? Say, your family wants to have a luxury vacation to Vietnam and you have a few days in Hanoi. What is it about the confusing contrasts and blending then? Well, it does if you want, and it does not if you do not want. Let us find out more.
2/ Luxury Travel on Halong Bay
The Dragon Bay of Vietnam with over 3,000 islands and islets littered confusingly in the Gulf of Tonkin in Northern Vietnam is undoubtedly among the most popular tourist destinations in the country.
There was a time the bay was crowded with small fishing boats converted to carry tourists hurrying back and forth puffing out black smoke which made it like during the war. Then came a time the Halong Bay was adorned with graceful and small sales boats turning it into a huge garden of butterflies. Nowadays, boutique luxury boats or grandios cruise vessels plow the bay offering unforgettable moments amid the real paradise.
Junks on Halong Bay now include wooden boats and steel-hulled ones. The former tend to stick with traditional interior decors and offer classic experiences; while the latter tend to take in modern or Western style of decors and offer modern luxury voyages or luxury sea cruises. The wooden junks provide cozy vibe. The steel-hulled cruise boats offer large windows from your cabin and better meet safety requirements. You’d better know and choose the cruise suitable for your taste then.
3/ Luxury Travel in Sapa
Sapa is a cloud-covered town perched on altitudes of 1,400-1,500m with several mountain peaks around of which the highest is also the summit of Vietnam: the Fansipan Peak. The area is inhabited by 7 ethnic groups with different languages, different daily costumes/headdresses, different housing styles, …
Sapa was first built into a hill station by the French in the early 20th century. The French legacy includes the stone cathedral in the center of Sapa and several French-styled villas in town and on mountain slopes.
To follow up with the French legacy, there are splendid newly-built luxury resorts in Sapa built with either French architecture or European mountain chalet styles. These luxurious properties may range from boutique to grandeur in terms of scales.
Another trend of luxury travel in Sapa can be found at big luxury hotels built with Western architecture. These hotels also follow the same Western theme in interior decors as well as the range of services to their in-house guests.
Besides the two above trends, there are small homestays with rustic luxury designed and operated based on a concept following traditional ethnic cultures: the architecture, interior decors, the food… These small luxury properties try to bring unique and traditional experiences to the travelers. Some of these have room rates as high as any luxury resorts in town. These small properties are often located on mountain slopes with mesmerizing views of mountains and valleys.
Another style of luxury travel in Sapa can be found at boutique ecologically-oriented resorts which are often invested by foreign businesses. These deluxe resorts often have isolated locations far from Sapa Town and they tend to offer unplug or internet-disconnected luxury vacations. Travelers stay at these resorts are those who wish to escape from the modern world for a while and surrounded by nature only during their holidays. These resorts often have the highest rates of the hotels in Sapa, and most of the time travelers have all-inclusive holiday packages staying here.
4/ Luxury Travel in Ninh Binh
Ninh Binh is a backwater located to the south of the Red River Delta. The land possesses paddy fields dissected by lakes, rivers, valleys and limestone mountains. Local communities mostly lived on agriculture until recently when tourism boomed in Vietnam just before the Covid-19: traveler communities discovered the hidden beauty of this amazing place. Tourists poured in along with floods of incomes and investments... and boomed tourist services.
Luxury travel packages in Ninh Binh include various hotels and resorts located amid the amazingly idyllic countryside. These properties follow two main luxury styles: old-time aristocratic luxury and rustic luxury. The former tends to be bigger in scale with Vietnamese traditional aristocratic or royal luxury; the latter includes luxury boutique resorts isolated amid the heavenly landscape of Ninh Binh.
Staying at a luxury hotel in Ninh Binh with traditional royal or aristocratic style and architecture, you relived the life of the rich, kings and queens in Vietnam in the bygone times. Having your vacation at a rustic luxury resort in Ninh Binh, you will mingle better with or be surrounded by pristine nature. Room rates are normally high at these hotels, be it royal style or rustic style.
5/ Luxury Travel in Hue
Hue is the name of the provincial capital of Thua Thien-Hue (in Vietnamese meaning “in the name of the Heaven-Creator’s Wish, the Land is Transferred & Transformed”!). Hue was a major metropolis in Southern Vietnam (Dang Trong) for several centuries before becoming the capital of Vietnam from 1802 to 1945 during which time Hue housed the last Royal Court of Vietnam. Throughout this period Hue cultural traits took shape and entrenched: the Royal Cultural Traits and that of the common people – the commoner.
The French came in the early 19th century and Hue came under the Protectorate Regime by the French Government at first, and then turned into a French colony as the North (Tonkin) and South Vietnam (Cochinchina). Major change came into the daily life as well as traditional way of life in Hue and the result was certain: blend of the Oriental and the West.
Let us get back to luxury travel in Hue nowadays. There are two major trends of luxury hotels and resorts in Hue: properties with French architecture, interior decors, service and those with Hue Royal Culture. The former is elegant and intricate and the latter tend to be grand and opulent. Fining dining in Hue features two major themes: the Royal Cuisine and that of the commoner cuisine both of which are just mouth-watering and sensational!
6/ Luxury Travel in Da Nang
Da Nang was where the French attacked Vietnam first in 1858 and failed. Later, Da Nang was where the first US troops set foot in Vietnam for the direct confrontation between the People’s Army of Vietnam and the US Army.
During the French times, Da Nang was more of a center for finance, industry and sea transport in the Central Coast of Vietnam. It was during the time of the US troops in South Vietnam that Da Nang also served as an R&R base for the US troops, war reporters…
There were luxury resorts in Da Nang in the 1990s but it was only in the early 2000s that was there a policy to turn Da Nang into one of the biggest tourist destinations and a luxury travel centers in Vietnam. Huge influx of investments were poured into the tourist infrastructure of Da Nang and the stretch of sandy beach for over 30km from Da Nang to Cua Dai Beach in Hoi An was reserved for tourism: luxury beach resorts, golf courses, luxury hotels, restaurants… Most if not all of these luxury properties have modern Western styles and there are no Vietnamese traditional styles or old colonial styles found.
7/ Luxury Travel in Hoi An
Hoi An was busy international trading port back in the 16-17th centuries. In the 18th century, the Tay Son Rebellion combined with Trinh Lord attack of Hoi An in 1775 led to the destruction of the prosperous trading port. Trade at the port slowly recovered a few years later in the early 1780s.
But in the 19th century the Thu Bon River silted up and big vessels would not be able to navigate to Hoi An anymore. Again, the importance of trade at Hoi An was much reduced and left into oblivion. The Old Town of Hoi An fortunately survived all the salvage wars later including the most recent one: Indochina War (or Vietnam War or American War).
In the early 1990s, tourism in Hoi An started slowly. In 1994, there was a surge in the number of international visitors to the Old Town of Hoi An. In 1999, Hoi An was listed to the list of World Heritage Sites by the UNESCO. Vietnam tourism and Hoi An tourism boomed! More deep-pursed visitors on luxury holidays traveled to Hoi An and they demanded more quality and more luxury travel services. Hoi An tourism transformed!
The main draw-card of Hoi An tourism is the Old Town and the pristine beach 5km from the Old Town. Luxury properties at Hoi An have two main styles: boutique luxury hotels and resorts with Hoi An traditional architecture and elegant villas with European architecture. The former are mostly in the Old Town and the latter are more on the outskirt of the Old Town or on the beach.
8/ Luxury Travel in Nha Trang
9/ Luxury Travel in Da Lat
10/ Luxury Travel in Mui Ne (Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province)
11/ Luxury Travel in Vung Tau
12/ Luxury Travel in the Mekong Delta
13/ Luxury Travel in Ho Chi Minh City ( Saigon)
14/ Luxury Travel on the Con Dao Islands
