BANYAN TREE LANG CO
Not long ago, driving from Danang to Lang Co via the scenic but scary Hai Van Pass would take the better part of two hours. Now, a six-kilometer tunnel through the mountains gets you there in half the time—truck traffic allowing—and paves the way to the Banyan Tree group’s first outpost in Vietnam.
It shouldn’t take long for word to get out about this all-villa property, which opened only in November. The vegetation is still growing in, but you don’t need much of an imagination to picture how gorgeous the place will eventually look. Situated at the far end of a three kilometer-long sweep of coppery sand, each of the 49 pool villas—some looking out to the East Sea, others arranged around an artificial lagoon—is set within a bamboo-walled garden, with earth-toned interiors accented by verdigris bronze drums, hand-painted lacquer panels, and a well-placed bowl of dragon fruit and rambutan.
Backed by jungle-clad hills, the Banyan Tree is the exclusive enclave of a 280-hectare integrated resort development—Vietnam’s first—that includes a challenging Nick Faldo–designed golf course, a real estate component, and, by the time you read this, a 229-room Angsana resort, to which it is connected by a somewhat gratuitous canal (a pontoon boat ferries guests between the two properties). Sightseers keen on visiting the monuments of Hue, the imperial capital founded by the Nguyen dynasty in the early 19th-century, are well positioned to do so: the city is only 80 kilometers up the road. Or you could just stay put. On-site distractions range from sitting on the beach watching the waves explode against granite boulders, to sampling the voluminous treatment menu at the top-notch Banyan Tree Spa, where lagoon-side pavilions offer everything from Javanese lulur and ginger body scrubs to Ayurvedic-inspired therapies and Vichy shower sessions.
Dinner at Saffron, an elegant Thai dining room overlooking Lang Co Bay, is well worth the bumpy buggy ride up the hill, though for a more contemporary vibe and fresh local seafood, the resort’s other two restaurants—Watercourt and alfresco Azura—are a better bet. Then again, on a moonlit night when the sea breeze rolls gently off the water, you might just want to stick to your villa and order in. After all, what better way to savor Vietnam’s central coast than over a candlelit poolside dinner?
Cu Du Village, Phu loc District; 84-54/369-5888; banyantree.com; doubles from US$735
