Recently completed a 6-night stay here and would give the resort an overall grade of 8.5 out of 10. Prior to the trip I had no issues with the excellent communication from the hotel staff in making the booking for our Club Peninsula Suite. Emails confirming upgrades, benefits, etc were all answered within a few hours. Upon arrival in Da Nang we were greeted in the hotel's airport lounge with drinks and cool towels, while our luggage was collected from the baggage belt. After a few minutes waiting, it was a quick 30 minutes by hotel SUV to the hotel where we checked in at the club lounge.

The hotel is a good looking property nestled in the hills of the peninsula with beautiful views over the private beach/bay. Bill Bensley designed the property and all the staff seem to be very proud of this fact, I guess it really depends on personal preference (the black and white concept and large paintings in the room didn't quite do it for me). I found the feeling and views of the bay very similar to the IC Koh Samui, with its winding driveways down from the lobby/club lounge to the rooms and restaurants below. The resort is split into four separate levels, with a funicular running from the beach below to the lobby and Citron restaurant at the top, stopping at the La Maison 1888 restaurant and the three resort shops in between. I didn't spend much time in the lobby as I was checked in at the club lounge, but did notice several nice lounge areas on the upper level, and the large concierge and business center area on the lower level. There was a gaming station for kids, as well as a billiards/pool and chess area near the concierge. The karaoke rooms are not yet finished, but are located in the lower sections of the same building as the Citron restaurant. It looks like they will have four private rooms each with a different theme. There was also talk of a casino area being put in the basement area of the lobby building, but construction has not yet started on this. The convention center/nightclub building housed an impressive 3D cinema, and the property recently opened the nightclub (Wed-Sat nights) with the hopes of attracting both hotel guests and residents from the city for a fun night out. The Long Bar under the adult pool had only just reopened after some renovation work, and though I didn't spend any time there, looked like a nice place with lounge beds, swinging chairs, and a cool place to escape the heat. The beach is clean, water temperature nice (I felt the water was warmer on the far right of the beach near the 3 villas), and there is a separate seating area for Club guests where complimentary drinks can be ordered. Plenty of beach activities (paddle boarding, kayaks, wind surfing, fishing), and two separate pools (adult infinity and general pool).

We received a suite on the "earth" level, directly adjacent to the La Maison restaurant. This meant we could easily walk to the beach or to the funicular versus having to call the buggy every time we left the room. It would have been a long hot walk from the rooms on the far end of the resort. The Club Peninsula Suite is split up into an outside lounge area with huge patio (two lounge beds, a desk, and a dining table overlooking the bay) and a large bedroom and bathroom with a very big tub. During our stay we were shown the massive Royal Residence, the Seaside Beach Villas, the Heavenly Penthouse, and the Classic Room, and would have to say our Club Peninsula Suite was the way to go. The Royal Residence is nice but at $6000/night a little out of my league. I preferred the Club Peninsula Suite over the Heavenly Penthouse (even though the Penthouse did have a private pool) simply because of the location, and the suite actually felt larger. The Beach Villa selling point is the private pool and beach access, but the outside patio seating space didn't feel as spacious as the Club Peninsula Suite, which I preferred.

Pros:
- Beautiful property with lots of wildlife (monkeys early in the morning by the entrance to the resort)
- Large room with plenty of lounging space. Design of rooms and outer areas means lots of cool breeze which is nice in the hot summer heat.
- Logistics made easy with funicular.
- Hospitable and attentive staff (communication tough at times, but after a few tries got to know our food preferences making subsequent ordering much easier. There are plenty of foreign trainees around to help out).
- Nice beach (good temperature for swimming, sandy with some coral for snorkeling by rocks on the left side, clean water with very little trash).
- Plenty of activities (trips to surrounding areas, beach activities, hiking, free use of tennis courts for club residents, etc).
- Promotional dinner with Michel Roux and Giancarblo Perbellini at La Maison 1888 was a fun experience.
- Airport lounge with drinks and snacks (both arrival and departure).
- Very nice spa with excellent therapists.
- Excellent gym with brand new equipment.
- Helpful Club staff in arranging day-trip transport to Hoi An.

Cons:
- Quality of food at Barefoot could use improvement (burger at Barefoot was average and grilled crab tasted frozen though it was advertised as fresh).
- Selection of food offerings at IC Club not spectacular. I wish fresh coconuts would have been included in the Club benefits as they were at the IC Koh Samui.
- Music around the resort get a little repetitive, especially the X-files theme song in the Club lounge.
- Dirty outside seating pods at Citron restaurant (several hairs and stains on the sofa cushions).
- Some wear and tear around the resort (eg. door to my room had a large crack in it).
- Minibar not automatically restocked. Had to call on two separate occasions.
- Key card didn't work twice and no way of contacting the reception or IC club would have meant a long walk back to the lobby (luckily a passing buggy assisted).
- Poor design of toilet in the room (curtain instead of door, with very little space meant knees are always touching the curtain when seated - unhygienic).
- Tennis courts only open from 8am - would have been nice to play during the cooler morning hours.
- Pool not open at night - would have been nice to swim at night.
- Not enough lounge chairs at the adult pool.
- Would have been nice to have some shade (eg. large umbrella) at the outside dining table of our Club Peninsula Suite for in-room breakfast, as it was too hot to sit out in the sun, even at 7am.

Overall very happy with my stay and will certainly return.