A break from reality in Vietnam

published 17 June 2015

Bai Tram Hideaway Resort, Quy Nhon

This is "a place of such rare beauty you just can't believe you haven't heard of it before", says Cond Nast Traveller. Your taxi winds along a bumpy track past a wide mouth of blue water and a rickety bamboo bridge, past shrimp farms and velvet-eyed cows, to emerge in a "100-hectare sweep of creamy white sand and green bush encircled by hills, remote and stunning".

There are only seven villas, plus a spa a "properly peaceful hideaway". Supper, in the restaurant where wicker chairs sit next to ornamental pools, is fresh and local: shrimp and lotus salad, fish wrapped in a banana leaf, "all eaten beneath a black-silk sky pricked with stars".

From £150 a night (bai-tram.vn).

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Six Senses Ninh Van Bay, Nha Trang

A romantic hotel room should, according to travel company Mr & Mrs Smith, "seduce, delight and surprise at every turn; this Vietnamese love nest more than meets the criteria", says Lucy Fennings in The Independent. In fact, according to Mr & Mrs Smith, it boasts the "sexiest bedroom in the world". Set in a "beautiful crescent-moon bay accessible only by boat, Six Senses' ravishing Water Villa 5 blends luxury with rusticity to create a romantic bubble of barefoot chic". It has a private deck and infinity edge plunge pool.

Meanwhile, a seaside staircase "dips directly into the coral-lined sea" and the secluded position offers "jaw-dropping sunset vistas this abode promises peace, privacy and a complete break from reality".

Doubles from £212 a night, water villas start from £450 a night (sixsenses.com).

Sofitel Legend Metropole, Hanoi

This hotel also in the middle of Hanoi is a "white-painted, green-shuttered confection... where Nol Coward, Somerset Maugham and Charlie Chaplin congregated", says Cond Nast Traveller. It has been restored to its former glory there are "bellboys in pillbox hats, smiling girls in red velvet o di [the Vietnamese national dress], a moody, lacquered bar serving martinis, comfortable rooms decorated with carved wood screens, and banisters polished to a gleam". There are three restaurants the highlight is Le Beaulieu, which serves up "a taste of Hanoi's French past".

From around £150 (sofitel.com).

Church Boutique Hotel, Hanoi

This "has to be the boutique bargain of the year", says The Sunday Times. It's in the middle of Hanoi's Old Quarter, and offers chic rooms with "Asian design details, a decent restaurant and a peaceful respite from some of the madness on the streets outside". It's incredibly cheap too you can get a junior suite with floor-to-ceiling windows and city views for just £70 per night.

Doubles from £35 a night (lanong.churchhotel.com.vn).

An Lam, Saigon River, Ho Chi Minh

This "small but dreamy" hotel is just a 15-minute speedboat ride from the city, says Cond Nast Traveller, and it's very peaceful. The smart villas' have slate-tiled bathrooms to match the slate-tiled pools and the chic restaurant juts out over the water, where you can sit sipping cocktails beneath 75-year-old trees.

Doubles from £310 (anlam.com).

Alma Courtyard Hotel, Hoi An

Built around a rectangular swimming pool and tropical gardens, the Alma Courtyard is "dedicated to wellness, boasting what it claims is the biggest spa in Vietnam", says Nigel Richardson in The Daily Telegraph. The spa is "impressive and the staff are highly professional". Guests get one free treatment for every day of their stay.

The hotel has 145 rooms in five categories: "my heart" are the biggest but "the crucial distinction is whether they have pool or town views always stipulate the former otherwise you may findyourself watching the sun setting overugly waste ground". Hoi An is "packedwith fine restaurants", but the hotel alsooffers well-priced international food.

Doubles from £78 a night(almanityhoian.com).

Ruth Jackson-Kirby is a freelance personal finance journalist with 17 years’ experience, writing about everything from savings accounts and credit cards to pensions, property and pet insurance.

Ruth started her career at MoneyWeek after graduating with an MA from the University of St Andrews, and she continues to contribute regular articles to our personal finance section. After leaving MoneyWeek she went on to become deputy editor of Moneywise before becoming a freelance journalist.

Ruth writes regularly for national publications including The Sunday Times, The Times, The Mail on Sunday and Good Housekeeping, among many other titles both online and offline.