Honeymoon luxury to hit Nha Trang

A touch of class: high-end guests demand top-level service

Invested by Vietnamese private company Hong Hai, and to be operated by Bangkok-based boutique resort operator, Six-Senses Hotels, Resorts and Spas, the $6-million Evason Hideaway at Ana Mandara is targeted mainly at affluent honeymooners.
It will offer rooms starting at $400 going on up to $1,250 for a villa.
Although its lead-in rates are more than double other luxury resorts’ in the country, its managers are not concerned, claiming not a single international operator has complained that the rates were too high.
“The demand for rooms is very good so far from our key operating markets,” said TJ Grundl-Hong, Area Manager of Six-Senses. “We will not be offering any special rates or programmes at the opening stage.”
The Evason Hideaway is similar to other Six-Senses Resorts like the Evason Hua Hin and the newly opened Evason Hideaway Samui in Thailand, both recording average room rates of more than $250 for the pool villas and a 90 per cent occupancy rate.
It is also comparable to other boutique and elegant resorts in Southeast Asia like the Dantai Langkawi, the Pangkor Laut Resort, The Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay Bali and Aman Resorts which all have average rates of $250 to $600.
“There is not much challenge in operating the resort as there is no other such high-end product in Vietnam,” Grundl-Hong said.
He said other luxury resorts in Southeast Asia were recording very high occupancies as there was a limited inventory of high-end rooms in the region.
The Ninh Van resort plans to mainly target honeymooners from key markets like America, Germany, Belgium, Japan, South Korea and Britain. The hotel management company’s 22 sales offices have signed over 120 contracts with international tour operators.
The key feature differentiating the new Evason Hideaway from other resorts, including the Ana Mandara, also run by Six-Senses in Nha Trang, is that it has a total of 55 swimming pools, one for each villa and a main pool for all guests.
The appointment of the villas will also be special: they will be thatched-roof and sit on rocks on an island surrounded by beautiful beaches and turquoise sea water to provide complete privacy.
The resort features 54 villas, including six spa suites and one presidential villa. Its architectural style reflects Vietnamese traditions as is evident from the reception and dining areas which are classic structures transported across the water and assembled at the site.
“We are taking the facilities an extra step from the already successful Ana Mandara Resort by having a much larger spa and extending the romantic and adventurous destination, dining and cruise concepts that Ana Mandara is famous for,” Grundl-Hong said.
In a second phase, the resort plans to add a wedding chapel, another presidential villa and a couple of rock villas more.
Six-Senses has run the award-winning Ana Mandara Resort, also a wholly Vietnamese-owned boutique property, since 1998. The 68-room resort was voted among the top 23 resorts in Asia by Travel and Leisure USA, a key travel guide for luxury resorts.
It also won the prestigious Conde Nast USA award this year for top three resorts in Asia together with Four Seasons Sayan Bali and Ritz Carlton Bali, Grundl-Hong said.
He added that though Ana Mandara had raised its room rates by 17 per cent and despite the bird flu outbreak early this year, it had occupancy of over 95 per cent even in the low tourist season.
Six-Senses also operates the Fushi and Gili resorts under its top brand of Soneva in the Maldives with room rates ranging from $400 to $2,575.