Hotels in Vietnam have long been overlooked in favour of nearby hospitality heavyweights such as Indonesia and Thailand. But over the past few years, the country has been playing catch-up with new arrivals pitching up no-expense-spared beach resorts and plugged-in city hotels that give many of their Southeast Asian competitors a run for their money.

With mile after palm-frilled mile of beach hemming its eastern coast and a thrillingly rich culture to draw inspiration from, there's plenty of material to work with: both the time-tested mainstays and the smart new arrivals delve deep into Vietnam's intricate history with designs that riff on the country's French-tinged colonial past or the crafts and vernacular dwellings of the more than fifty Indigenous groups that call Vietnam home, according to CN Traveller.

Amanoi

Photo: Amanoi

Claiming a spectacular stretch of Vietnam’s coastline within the verdant embrace of Nui Chua National Park and UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, Amanoi is a natural paradise overlooking Vinh Hy Bay. From its remote location - a rich and diverse mosaic of ecosystems – the resort’s clifftop restaurants and pool, lakeside Aman Spa and private golden sand beach, offer limitless opportunities for outdoor exploration, cultural immersion and serene time out.

Embraced by a spectacularly beautiful wilderness on a stretch of dramatic coastline, Amanoi offers a plethora of settings both indoors and out for the most exclusive weddings and celebrations in Vietnam.

Azerai Can Tho

Photo: Azerai Can Tho

It's hard to believe that this hush-hush haven of scurrying squirrels, birdsong and vine-dripping banyan trees is just a five-minute boat transfer away from Can Tho's high-octane city centre. Taking over a jungle-fringed islet in the Hau River, Azerai Can Tho delivers island idyll in spades yet puts its guests within easy reach of the highlights of the Mekong Delta.

The Aman-like architecture and pared-back interiors of its rooms (each set in two-room villas facing either the sprawling gardens or the river) and sprawling pool villas are no coincidence: Azerai's founder, Indonesian hospitality heavyweight Adrian Zecha, also founded the illustrious Aman group and infused the property with many of the same Zen-inducing hallmarks (a soothing spa, lush landscaping and plenty of open space).

Capella Hotel

Photo: Capella Hotel

Hanoi capital with a history of “thousand years of civilization” has always been an attractive destination for tourists with architectural and cultural features that cannot be confused with any other place.

With the prosperous and dynamic life of a growing city day by day, Hanoi not only has the old features of the old town, historical relics of feudal dynasties, but also many works of art. The modern process is extremely luxurious and magnificent. Among them, it is impossible not to mention Capella Hanoi Hotel – one of the architectural masterpieces in the heart of the magnificent capital.

InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort

Photo: InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort.

Draped over the coastal hills of the Son Tra peninsula some 30 minutes east of Da Nang Airport, InterContinental's Vietnamese flagship was hotel designer Bill Bensley's breakout project when it opened in 2012. As his largest hotel project to date at the time, he and his team pulled out all the stops to turn this sprawling beachfront estate into a whimsical wonderland of temple-like villas, flower-frothing gardens and a handful of restaurants with eye-popping ocean views.

Like the communal areas, the resort's suites, penthouses and villas (ranging from one to four bedrooms) sport boldly monochrome palettes brightened up with pops of citrusy yellow and colourful Chinoiserie. A 130-metre-long funicular shaped like a Vietnamese basket boats whisks guests to the resort's caramel-coloured beach (keep an eye out for monkeys and Douc langurs on your ride down), where a family-friendly pool has recently been enlarged as part of a resort-wide upgrade and renovation in 2023.

Zannier Bai San Ho

Photo: Zannier Hotels

It's easy to see why Arnaud Zannier, the French hotelier behind the eponymous family-owned Zannier hotel group, fell for this kilometre-long swoop of white sand in south-central Vietnam's little-visited Phu Yen province. From the highest point of his 240-acre estate, you can watch endless hills roll into the hazy distance, while from the ancient rice paddies at its heart, it's as if you've stumbled into a remote corner of rural Vietnam.

Zannier Bai San Ho's villas – most with private pools – further hammer down the away-from-it-all feel. Each one is carefully positioned to make the most of its setting either high up in the hills or ensconced in a patch of jungle along the beach, while their designs pay tribute to the vernacular building styles of nearby fisherfolk and tribal communities around the country.

Regent Phu Quoc

Photo: Regent Phu Quoc

Hugging the silvery sands of Long Beach on Phu Quoc, southern Vietnam's resort-dotted answer to Phuket or Koh Samui, Regent Phu Quoc spared no expense in turning the brand's first Southeast Asian outpost into one of the swankiest stays in all of Vietnam.

Most of its 126 villas, done up in creamy marble and laid out like a Rorschach test around two lotus-speckled lagoons, come decked out with private pools and fully equipped kitchens and feature perks such as 10-option pillow menus, round-the-clock butler service, and multiple minibars stocked with complimentary Belgian beers, craft sodas and chocolate by Vietnamese bean-to-bar maker Marou.

The Anam Mui Ne

Photo: The Anam Mui Ne

After the success of its first resort in Cam Ranh, the Vietnamese-owned Anam group opened a second outpost in Mui Ne, a palm-studded resort town some two hours east of Ho Chi Minh City.

The theme is Indochine-chic, nodding to Vietnam's grand French villas with kaleidoscopically tiled floors, sculpted corniches and classic teak wood furnishing. The beachfront resort is also a celebration of local arts and crafts: each of the 127 rooms and suites features oil paintings by Vietnamese artists, and more than 120 ceramic works by artisans from the indigenous Cham community are spread around the premises.

Guests can fill multiple days with jaunts around Mui Ne's famed white- and red-sand dunes or the 8th-century Champa ruins in nearby Phan Thiet, but The Anam offers plenty of reasons to stay put: there's a holistic spa offering Hawaiian lomi-lomi massages and Balinese rubdowns, a dreamy pool shaded by towering palms, and a handful of wine- and dine options that include pan-Vietnamese classics at the beachfront Lang Viet restaurants, or private seafood BBQ feasts set up in the resort's pool suites.

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