Nha trang recommended hotel April 22, 2009

Nha Trang is a short flight south on a Vietnam Airlines ATR. The overhead bins can accommodate a briefcase at best so watch your carry-on. The town actually looks like a seaside resort with a long breezy marine drive. There are public beach areas with nice thatch-palm umbrellas and endless views.

Taking credit for the latter is the Evason Ana Mandara and Six Senses Spa. As would be expected, this beautiful garden property features a Six Senses Spa set in its own private enclave at one end of the property. There are treatment rooms for couples with sunken Jacuzzis. Choose a package or go a la carte. If you're not warm enough by the beach, head for the sauna and herbal steam, then ponder the spelling and pronunciation of words like kinesiology. The spa is airy and bright with nice garden features.

Evason Ana Mandara runs long rather than deep, along the promenade drive. It is minutes from the airport, yet far removed from the bustle. The cottages are roomy, the largest being the 35sq m Deluxe Seaview with tile floors and four-poster bed. There's TV, mosquito net, wooden furniture, a bathtub with a window looking onto garden and an incredibly small safe.

The complex has two swimming pools (one deep enough for diving lessons), tennis courts and a super romantic dining spot on a wooden jetty, right above the sea. Sort out your "I dos" here under a full moon. The Six Senses Hideaway Ninh Van Bay is on a neighbouring island, a 15-minute boat ride from here. This resort features just 58 pool villas. The civil airport at Cam Ranh (which can handle larger aircraft) is a half-hour drive to Nha Trang along a 30km highway. The old city airport smack in the middle of town used to be a breeze but...

One of the biggest and flashiest hotels on the Vietnam beach scene is the 485-room Vinpearl Resort & Spa megaresort. This humongous all-in-one playground boasts a 1,000-guest ballroom facility, bars, nightclub, extensive swimming pools, spa, marina, tennis and diving. The Vinpearl is a 10-minute boat or hovercraft-ride from the jetty near Evason Ana Mandara. The resort complex is on a grand scale. The place may not appeal to all tastes but as an all-inclusive, private, Club Med sort of escape, it will find its fans. If comparisons were to be made, it is a tad like the Royal Cliff at Pattaya, with a five storey structure fronting the sea on a private bay below the hills. The five-star Sunrise Beach Resort Nha Trang on the tree-lined esplanade overlooking Nha Trang Bay has 121 guestrooms and suites. Close to the beach and in the heart of the city, the resort is conveniently located for sightseeing and a 45-minute drive from Cam Ranh Airport. The hotel boasts a raft of amenities including the Qi Salon and Spa by Shiseido where everything from mud baths and wraps to stinging scrubs is on offer.

For those on a budget, the Yasaka Saigon Nha Trang Hotel is a stone's throw away, also on the marine drive. Here hotel-style rooms start at US$98 a night. Off season you might get a 50 percent discount or more. If it's raining, bargain, bargain, bargain. And even cheaper, is the Nha Trang Lodge Hotel.

The four-hour drive from Nha Trang to Phan Thiet is on an excellent two-lane highway with little traffic, hard shoulders and smooth black-top all the way. The countryside erupts in unbelievable shades of green during the rains. The road passes paddy fields, quaint farm houses, cows, dogs, chickens, geese and the ubiquitous policemen who seem to specialise in setting sudden speed traps for unwary motorists. While this is a state highway, you might suddenly spot an improvised 30km speed limit sign with a patrol car round the bend. This makes progress unpredictable, if adventurous. At other places there is not a road sign to be seen for miles yet "tea money" is being earned by the bushel by hard-working men in uniform.

About a half hour south of Cam Ranh, the hills recede, yielding views of vast golden fields and patchwork green. This really is a lovely drive. You won't be driving as foreigners aren't really allowed to wander the roads so sit back and take it all in. Make sure the driving is during daylight hours as nightfall significantly increases your chances of meeting chickens (and a procession of beasts, humans and vehicles) that suddenly decide to cross the road. The Nha Trang area has some of the better beaches of Vietnam though the sand is sometimes a touch more coarse than at Phan Thiet.

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