Have you ever checked into a hotel and wondered if you'd made a mistake? That was our start at
Zannier Bai San Ho. But I know me, I know I can be cranky if it isn't as I've envisioned, and I know to see what can be changed to make it all that I want. And in the end, I was sorry we weren't staying longer and I would love to return. It really is a special property, worthy of the effort to get to the central Vietnamese coast to stay there.
We were taken to the main building for check in on arrival. The hotel has used a muted pallette throughout. I don't think it shows well in pictures but in person, it really is special. It's quite different than anywhere else we've stayed. We weren't offered a tour of this area. I think if we had been given one, it would have set us off with a better feeling. We ate breakfast in the morning in this area. The restaurant area is beautiful with both inside and outside spaces. It's all very special. And the views are stunning over the coastline from the outside tables.
I had booked a hill pool villa. About a week in advance, I saw they were offering reduced rates for rooms booked just two weeks out. It had been raining heavily for several weeks and they had very few bookings at this time. The beach villas were now almost exactly the price I had booked for the hill villa. I knew I wasn't entitled to the upgrade, but there is no downside in asking. So I did and they cheerfully agreed. I had visions of looking out across sand to the water. This is where things went wrong for me. We were taken by cart to the villa, where we walked down a long path on railway ties, into the villa, 114. I went immediately to the deck. I could see a bit of sand and hear pounding waves, but mostly the view was obscured. I was not pleased. I was told that people like privacy so they do not prune the shrubbery between the villa and the beach. What? This is a very isolated area and there are no photographers waiting to snap pictures of the unwary. Honestly, I am perplexed but I was told this story by the General Manager even after we were moved to a very satisfying villa. Maybe folks like to sunbathe and swim in their private pool in the nude?? But please give those of us who cherish a water view an unobstructed one.
I grumbled to myself, I know me well enough to know this was not ever going to please me, and I finally bluntly asked if there was a villa with a better view. Our butler said he would check and see. It took him over an hour, but he returned with pictures on his phone of the view from villa 120. We agreed to the move. It took some hours for them to prepare the new villa. We finally went to dinner and then were moved after dinner. By now it was dark so we couldn't see the view and looked forward to awakening in the morning.
We awakened to a wonderful view of the sand and water. Loved it. It was just down a few steps to the beach which had a beautiful view both directions. I was subsequently told that villa 120 is a favorite of returning guests who will often organize their stay around its availability. We realized that the Beach Restaurant was an easy walk, no need for a cart. Our path to the beach had shrubbery that had grown over the path. We took a picture and showed it to the GM at breakfast. He in turn went with a team, promptly cut it back, and brought a picture to show us at breakfast of an unobstructed walkway. Nice.
A further example of excellent service. It had rained heavily the prior two weeks. Even though the deck was under shade, it wasn't surprising that rain had gotten to the cushions on the day bed. I took them all off, put them in the sun to dry, and even found the wood underneath was wet. I mentioned to the General Manager what I had done and I didn't want housekeeping to remake the day bed. Rather I'd do it later once the cushions dried. When we returned, we found all in order. Dry cushions had been brought and the wet ones removed. Now our villa was all in order and we settled in for a wonderful stay.
We had breakfast at the main restaurant. There were few people in house, so only one restaurant was open at any meal. I was enraptured by the ambience of the restaurant area, both inside and outside. The decor was lovely and the view over the hills and water was stunning. They had both western and Vietnamese choices for breakfast. I really appreciated that they had pulled all the Vietnamese choices onto a menu of its own. We were there two mornings and I thoroughly enjoyed my choices.
We asked for a tour of the other two categories of villas. I do not recommend the paddy villas. They are much smaller, though pleasant with a nice deck area. But I like space and it simply felt too tight for me. I liked the hill villas very much. The one we saw had a stunning view, over the hills, over the paddies, and out to the ocean. Be aware that some of the hill villas have steep steps up or down. We remained pleased with our beach villa as I liked being able to walk to the beach and walk to the Beach Restaurant. Dinner was served each night in the Beach Restaurant. It had great ambience with separation between each table, allowing great privacy. The view was stunning during the day but it was dark at 5:30. The second night we walked down at 5pm and enjoyed the view from the adjacent bar. Sublime.
We had one final hiccup. Our rate was quoted in dollars. On check out, it was in dong. I checked the conversion and found it 5% above bank rate. They used a conversion given by a local bank. They worked on this while we were at breakfast and used a better conversion that was only 1% off bank rate.
The GM, David Ashworth, has opened every single Zannier property. The next one to be opened is on a private island. He has been at Bai San Ho for 3 years. It opened two years ago on December 2 2022. He might remain there as they still have a number of villas to prepare.
Here is an interesting
interview with the CEO of Zannier about this property.