Aventine

It brings this property down in my eyes to be using sparkling wine.

demue

Even 2018 it was Bottega IIRC, but back then stuff like Gin was Monkey 47 and not Gordon's .

shoven

That view is crying out for a glass or 2 of Champagne and Gordon's gin really!!! Definitely missing a trick there.

italdesign

Had an excellent 2-night stay last week. Had very high expectations, and they were exceeded esp on the service level. This is now my 2nd fav IHG property, behind IC Thalasso, and one of my all time favorites across all venues.

Background:

• Booked 2 nights at 35k each during one of the IHG “flash sales”. Pre-arrival drama: as discussed upthread, reservations were canceled then reinstated, took a while to sort out.
  
• Arrived from Hoi An with car arranged from guesthouse. Not sure if hotel still offers free shuttle to/from Hoi An - anyone know?
  
• As IHG Platinum, no lounge access. Offered something like $150/person, declined.
  
• No room upgrade when inquired at check-in. Assigned to the lowest floor in the farthest building from the beach on Earth level; was still ridiculously fabulous.
  
• Checked out with a $0 balance (are we the only guests in history to achieve this on a multi-day stay?). We brought our favorite banh mi from Hoi An (the best I’ve ever had).
  

Loved:

• Had possibly the “worst” room onsite; was still amazing with ocean and mountain views, spacious interior and balcony, and stately decor.
  
• As fabulous as the room is, it’s the service and activities that really stood out: in addition to standard free beach resort stuff like kayak, SUP, and volleyball, they also have free wind surfing, fishing, bucket (basket?) boat, badminton, ping pong, billard, etc. They also have more free classes than many other resorts, including tai chi, yoga, massage, etc. Our 2 days were not nearly enough to fully enjoy all the free activities along with the endless photo opportunities. In terms of service, it’s just incredible pampering: bottled water served in a mini cooler by the beach and at the pool as one example.
  
• Don’t miss the nature tour. It goes to a part of the resort we didn’t even know existed, and we got to see extremely endangered long-tailed monkeys.
  
• Platinum welcome: offered 2 drink vouchers or 600 pts. Took vouchers and used at the interesting Long Bar, generously served with free snacks.
  

Didn’t love:

• We found the pools too cold across the board, including the heated ones. It was 70-75F degrees outside, and the main pool (unheated) was freezing most of the time. The heated pools had kids and were still uncomfortably cold. This seems odd and unacceptable for a resort of this level. Not sure if it’s an Asian/Vietnamese thing.
  
• Room was extremely dim at night with no way to increase lighting. Bad if you actually need light for something.
  

Observations:

• Monkeys are a common sight onsite, including on the ledge of balconies, so don’t leave anything on the balcony.
  
• Construction is happening on many units on the Earth level closer to the beach (maybe other levels too). Someone said it’s to convert rooms to a different type (presumably more upscale). No construction near the lobby and lounge.
  
• Most guests were Asians, with Korean being the dominant ethnic group

italdesign

Got the Hoi An shuttle schedule from the hotel. Also goes to Danang.

tangey

Anyone got experience if they are providing full breakfast for diamonds on points ?

demue

Haven't tried it out of late as we were in a Club room, but from the way I recall the breakfast in the main restaurant it was a big buffet incl. station for eggs and pho and such. I doubt they would exclude stuff like made to order eggs or such as that would be odd to even manage and control.

tangey

Was there 2019 and had paid for club. Could wander into the regular breakfast which had a vast array of items, or just take the offering in the club.

As a diamond, if it gets you that full buffet/made to order breakfast, then it might swing the dial against paying for club, as the value is reduced if you are going to get breakfast anyway.

In fact if I read the above correctly, it looks like the club lounge is no longer adjecent to the main breakfast room. As I recall the breakfast offering in the club was quite small compared to the main breakfast room. So the movement of the club is effectively a downgrade of the club amenties, unless they have duplicated the offering in the lounge, which seems unlikely. Even if club members have a choice of venues for breakfastt it is still a downgrade, as in the prior set-up you had access to the full buffet, but had tables in the lounge.

SkyTeam777

Does this property still use the Thai Tharn brand of toiletries in all rooms or has it switched to Byredo?

Aventine

I believe it's still Thann inside their sandy colored refillable bottles.

TalkingPoint

It was Acqua di Parma last week. I stayed 12 nights on a 16k/nt rate as Diamond ambassador with club access so with the 4th night free and 10% rebate the total cost was just under 130k for the stay. Was upgraded to the panoramic suite about a week before arrival and just got an email about it and saw it reflected in the ihg app. I think it just meant top floor corner suite on the Heavenly level of buildings, floorplan looks the same as terrace suite. No offer for peninsula suite and not sure if they still have those, looks like they're 2bdrm peninsula suites now. Club lounge was disappointing and not something I would have paid for otherwise (overheard another guest get offered $200/nt tax inclusive for it) if you already get breakfast. Taxis are hard to get from the property but easy to get back from hoi on or da nang. We used the shuttle to go out and rideshare to come back. Local rideshare apps cost about 300k from hoi an or 200k from da nang back to the hotel and take 60/30 min respectively. Grab was about 50% or 100% more. Staff were excellent and friendly and all had great English. Dinner at maison and citron were excellent and reasonably priced for this type of property. Somewhat reminds me of Conrad Ko Samui with the buggies, resort layout, remoteness and views minus the infinity pool to each room. I have a couple more bookings later on in the year and am excited to go back. Great retreat to recharge.

turbox3

Three questions:
1) How in the world was it 16k/nt? That’s ludicrous? When did you book?
2) Award nights dont get club access, even as diamond amb. I went as spire amb and had to upgrade at $150/nt.l even though they gave me a club level room.
3) Is the breakfast in the new lounge pretty much the same as the old lounge brkfst minus the big buffet at Citron?
Thanks!

shoven

What was disappointing about the club lounge pics and view look great, was the offering breakfast , lunch, cocktails not great?

TalkingPoint

1) You can read up, they had a sale last year.
2) You are eligible to select club access pass after 40nt in the new ihg one program
3) I did not have breakfast in the lounge as I already had access to the full breakfast via diamond status

TalkingPoint

Yes the lounge view is great, but so is the view from the room and other restaurants on property. The whole property has great views, they aren't exclusive to the lounge at all. They only offer high tea and happy hour, no lunch, and their f&b options are so good I wouldn't try to make a meal out of their tea or hh. I think there were a lot of cuts made. No more champagne, and a lot of alcohol choices removed. If you don't get breakfast then the calculation may change, but even then, it wouldn't for me. If you're planning to stay on site all day every day and get a lot of drinks during happy hour you could probably get your monies worth. But pizzas and salads were $25 and excellent and large portion, sodas and fries were $5. If I was given a $200 f&b voucher I would definitely use it at their restaurants instead of redeeming for club lounge access. You'd have better options and could eat what you wanted on your own schedule.