The Anam Mui Ne Debuts on Vietnam’s South Coast in Tribute to Bygone Era

Crafted by age-old artisans from across Vietnam, The Anam Mui Ne celebrates its grand opening on January 11 with a design redolent of the Indochine period.

Poised on 1.2 hectares of spectacular oceanfront, the independently owned and operated resort is blazing new ground in Mui Ne, a popular beach town within an easy commute from Ho Chi Minh City.

The Anam Mui Ne will cut the ribbon on 127 elegant rooms and suites, two restaurants and a bar, a five-treatment-room spa, two spacious swimming pools - one freshwater and the other saltwater - a ballroom, conference rooms, water sports center, fitness center, yoga room, kid’s club, gift shop and more.

With architecture inspired by the grand old French villas in Hanoi, the new resort pays homage to both colonial-era and classic Vietnamese aesthetics. To wit, the customized encaustic mosaic tiles, Cham decorative vases and statues on plinths, teak furniture crafted from sustainable forests, stone from Thanh Hoa and Nghe An, and authentic thatched roofs from Binh Thuan.

Vietnamese artists were commissioned to create 250 unique oil paintings for each room and suite, as well as the lobby, restaurants and hallways. The artists include painters Bui Van Quang, who is renowned for his paintings portraying daily Vietnamese life, and Vu Trong Anh, who’s won acclaim for his modern, abstract interpretations of Vietnamese scenery.

The Anam Mui Ne is preceded by the 2017 launch of The Anam Cam Ranh, that’s been lauded by some of the industry’s highest accolades including placement among Asia’s top resorts in the Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards in 2021 and 2020.

Situated on Mui Ne’s beach strip Nguyen Dinh Chieu, the resort overlooks one of southern Vietnam’s most inspiring white sand beaches and affords sweeping East Sea vistas. Mui Ne’s attractions include its beach, sand dunes, fishing village, Cham towers and “Fairy Stream” - a shallow stream that flows through vivid orange and white limestone formations. An expressway due to open shortly will cut the drive from Ho Chi Minh City to two hours. An international airport is set to open in Mui Ne in 2025.

For Vietnam-born founder and owner Pham Van Hien, the resort makes for a significant expansion of the brand that references another name “An Nam”, which was the name of Central Vietnam during the French Indochina era. He has played a hands-on role in the design of the resort, applying valuable lessons he learnt from bringing The Anam Cam Ranh to fruition.

“My ambition for The Anam has always been to create, through and through, an intimate, classic and distinctly Vietnamese hotel brand that is a welcome counterpoint to the industrialised hotel chains that are increasingly targeting Vietnam with properties that, quite frankly, you could find anywhere,” Mr Hien said.

GUEST ROOMS AND SUITES

A total of 127 rooms and suites across six accommodation categories form a loose rectangular U-shaped configuration that opens up to views of the ocean, lush gardens, the resort’s swimming pools and Mui Ne town.

The lead-in Deluxe Rooms, as well as the Premium Rooms and Premium Ocean View Rooms, are an ample 40sqm, with the Grand Premium Rooms spanning 55sqm.

The Private Pool Suites and Presidential Suite are the resort’s leading accommodation categories. The 142sqm Private Pool Suites have their own 22sqm private pools complemented with terraces decked with sun loungers. The 122sqm Presidential Suite features an indoor dining area, lounge and kitchenette, as well as a separate room for security personnel.

All accommodations feature king-sized or twin beds, natural colour palettes, and indoor and outdoor seating areas, with suite categories also offering living areas. Accommodations are accentuated by hardwood custom-built furniture such as, for example, leather-bound tables.

Three hundred thread-count cotton Irish bed linen drape Sealy mattresses accented with goose down pillows from the resort’s pillow menu. The bathrooms in the rooms and suites are adorned with either grey slate stone tiling or customized encaustic mosaic tiling and feature deep soaking clawfoot tubs and separate rain showers. Some bathrooms open to a private garden, and others can be partitioned from the rest of the interior space with a curtain.

The resort’s published room rates start at USD 180 for the Deluxe Room.

DINING

Comprising an all-day dining restaurant and grill called The Indochine, beachside restaurant and bar Lang Viet Restaurant and Bar, elegant Saigon Bar in the lobby and 24-7 in-room dining, the resort’s dining landscape’s offerings range from gourmet delicacies to age-old home style cooking and street food-inspired classics.

Situated adjacent to the lobby by the resort’s 220sqm freshwater pool, The Indochine is an international buffet and a la carte restaurant that serves international fare from breakfast until dinner. Due to its 250sqm indoor seating area seating up to 86 diners, and two sun-dappled terraces that total 212sqm and seat up to 80 diners, the Indochine feels like a collection of intimate restaurants rather than a single venue.

Seamlessly integrated into the lobby, The Saigon Bar also overlooks The Anam Mui Ne’s freshwater infinity pool. The Saigon Bar has a small a la carte menu of light bites and makes for a great destination for coffee, classic afternoon tea, aperitifs and after-dinner tipples. The bar offers an extensive collection of handcrafted cocktails, wines, whiskies, spirits and beverages.

An architectural marvel, the Lang Viet Restaurant and Bar occupies some of the resort’s most inspiring ground, looking out over the resort’s 266sqm saltwater infinity pool to the East Sea. Its 253sqm indoor dining area and 77sqm outdoor dining area seat 65 and 28 diners respectively.

An array of centuries-old recipes and specialities from the north to the south of Vietnam are served for lunch and dinner.

Private dining room Van Xuan, a second floor 40sqm space fronting the beach, is available upon request for special occasions.

SPA & RECREATION

The Anam Spa has five treatment rooms, including three VIP rooms designed for couples - each equipped with two massage beds and a deep-soaking bathtub - as well as two single rooms, two steam rooms, saunas, indoor Jacuzzis and a beauty salon.

The spa’s highly skilled therapists pamper guests with non-clinical treatments that follow a ‘high-touch, low-tech’ approach, infusing ancient techniques from the East with Western healing practices designed to recalibrate and rejuvenate. As part of The Anam Spa’s “Let Your Mind Go, and Your Body Will Follow” mantra, the spa menu includes massages, body wraps and scrubs, facials and more, underscored by Sothys Paris products.

A beauty salon includes manicure and pedicure chairs and equipment as well as hair washing, drying and styling services.

The Anam Mui Ne offers a range of recreational and fitness pursuits from water sports and billiards to yoga, as well as a kids’ club with a host of educational, creative and active workshops for youngsters. Guests are encouraged to make the most of the resort’s natural surrounds through kitesurfing, jet skiing, sailing, kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, body boarding, Kymera body boarding and surfing at Mui Ne beach.

Located next to the water sports centre fronting the beach, the resort’s gymnasium is fully equipped with state-of-the-art Life Fitness technology, including treadmills, an elliptical trainer, bike, bench press, and weights. The resident yogi hosts complimentary group classes in the mornings and evenings at the resort’s 56sqm yoga room with a 19sqm outdoor deck, as well as private sessions. A billiards room with an eight-ball table is situated near both the gym and yoga room.

The kids’ club offers a range of indoor and outdoor scheduled activities for children aged four to 12 under the watchful eye of caring and energetic supervisors. Gaming stations are also available. Next to the infinity pool near the lobby, the kids’ pool has a depth of up to 90cm.

BUSINESS

The Anam Mui Ne’s conference facilities offer MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, events) planners and delegates from Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and beyond a rejuvenating sea-side location affording spacious venues and cutting-edge technology.

The 225sqm Au Lac Ballroom accommodates up to 232 people theatre-style and 144 for a banquet. The ballroom lends itself to all sorts of events such as launch presentations, annual company meetings, awards ceremonies, gala dinners and wedding dinners.

The Anam Mui Ne also has two dedicated meeting rooms, named Linh Nam and Van Lang, that are each 65sqm and are separated by a divider that can be opened to create a larger meeting room. Both rooms offer state-of-the-art projectors and sound systems. The resort’s lush grounds and beachfront are suited to outdoor functions and team-building days.

The resort will open with a ban on single-use plastics and has implemented an array of measures to reduce its carbon footprint ranging from solar power and locally sourced ingredients. Laundry water is recycled to water the gardens. Straws, bags and bathroom amenities are biodegradable. The resort’s eco-friendly key cards are also made from wood that’s been sourced from sustainably managed forests.