Da Nang

After the craziness of HCMC, we hunkered down for four days of indulgence and relaxation at the beautiful Intercontinental Da Nang. The hotel is on a secluded and unspoiled bay of the Sun Peninsula. We felt truly pampered from the moment we arrived at this sprawling property.

We took so many pictures! Was it feng shui? Something about the aesthetic of the hotel was so pleasing – brilliant use of color, open spaces, views and water features. The hotel describes itself as feeling “whimsical” and it truly did. There were dining tables that floated over water and on call buggy services to scoot us around from room to restaurant to beach to spa. They also had a “nam tram” – a boat shaped funicular that carried guests up and down between the four levels of the resort, “heaven” “sky” “earth” and “sea”.

We hardly saw the sun but it didn’t matter to us. Besides loafing in our gorgeous room, a typical day involved the following: room service or meal at Citron restaurant, buggy to Long Bar (lay in oversized lounger with cocktail starring at sea), visit spa for treatment du jour (where the masseuse told Katie, “you hair like baby”), back to room for nap, soak in oversized bathtub overlooking bay, cocktails in Buffalo Bar (Manhattan for Brent, Martini for Katie) and dinner at Citron. Ridiculous. Katie loved combing the beach for seashells (world’s tiniest sand dollars found here). Meanwhile, Brent practiced a little footie under the palm trees with some nets that they had on the beach. The water was warm and we had the place to ourselves.

We were charmed by the staff, who spoke very little English and would warmly acknowledge us with “xin chao” and a nod of the head. There were over 1,000 employees. One man was there just to keep a kite flying on the beach. Other favorite touches: mani pedi station on the beach; conical hats & beach bags provided in room; Christmas decorations throughout including wreaths on every guest’s door; and delivery of chocolates, biscuits and mini mince pies on Christmas Eve. One night we had dinner at “La Maison” their high-end French restaurant. The maitre d’ really took care of us, inviting us into the “cellar” which he was still stocking (we gave him some tips). He introduced us to the sous chef and invited us into the kitchen, which seemed well under control and extremely clean! Ironically, after eating all that street food in Saigon, this splurge was the meal that left us feeling funny the next day because it was just so rich. Laughing.

For more pictures, check out our Da Nang photo album dated 27th December 2013