An Lam Retreats Ninh Van Bay — Hotel in Xã Ninh Vân

A tragic and traumatic stay at An Lam Retreat

Our family (two adults, 3 children 11,14,16) stayed at A Lam Retreat for 4-nights towards the end of a 3-week tour of Japan and Vietnam.

Having been on the move constantly for 2-weeks this was the time we had allocated for relaxing by the beach; we spent a significant amount of our entire vacation budget on these 4 nights (over £4000).

Unfortunately, we had an awful and heartbreaking experience at A Lam Retreat, that left our family quite traumatised.

On the first night we were disturbed by a really noisy group of neighbours (3 older men with 3 younger woman), where there was allot of quite disturbing screaming and shouting.

Despite reporting this to the hotel, the second night was far worse and the memory will never leave us. There was screaming and crying coming from the woman in the neighbouring villa, it was initially so loud that my son thought it was in our villa. We immediately reported it, telling the hotel that the kids are scared and that it sounds like one of the woman was being attacked. They said that they sent a security guard, however it didn’t stop and it got worse, eventually after an hour the duty manager came out and it stopped.

We made recordings so that the hotel could hear what we were hearing, however it was only later when we listening to the recordings that we could hear how sinister and awful this was - sounds of choking and crying! Heartbreaking!

The next day the duty manager offered me a bottle of wine to compensate for the ordeal; I was frankly horrified and took him aside from my family and played him the recordings. I was told that the occupants of the villa would be leaving that day and I heard no more about it until check out.

We spent the next two days feeling so awful, worrying about the girls, and also feeling that we could have done more and should have called police.

We had to explain to our children about sex industry in Asia and the horrid dark sides to it - there really was no other explanation that we could have told them.

Only upon check out, and on the return of the hotel manager (whom had been away), I was told that she too was horrified and had reported it to the police and passed the guests details to other hotels in Nha Trang, albeit this was all too little too late and after they had left.

Whilst we cannot blame the hotel for the behaviour of these men, it really did feel like it was brushed under the carpet at the time and perhaps more common that we would like to think, because anywhere else in the world if you report that it sounds like a girl was being attacked you don’t get offered a bottle of wine!!!

Beyond this, I should report that the staff at the hotel were very attentive in other areas and Kim was very helpful, the food was also lovely and the massages were excellent.

The sea is not ideal for swimming which was a shame; there are allot of sharp rocks and plants which caused quite a few nasty scrapes for us and other guests (there should be a warning sign on the beach).

Also, the hotel is currently having noisy construction works take place next to our villa and the restaurant, which was quite annoying for a ‘peaceful retreat’; it’s worth contacting the hotel before booking to check if the works are on-going or finished before you...

My wife and I have just spent two weeks at the An Lam Retreat Ninh Van Bay in Vietnam (4th to 18th June 2025) and can recommend our experience to anybody looking for a truly peaceful break from the bustle of everyday life in a quiet natural jungle setting on the banks of the beautiful Ninh Van Bay. Although the original concept of the retreat was adults only, it now promotes itself as family friendly.|We were met at the Cam Ranh International airport by a charming and efficient young Vietnamese lady, and transported in a spacious and comfortable bus, first to the hotel reception area for check-in and then by speed-boat for the exciting 20-minute ride to the hotel jetty on the opposite side of the bay, where we were met by a welcome party and escorted to our villa|The jungle and beach are a perfect setting for the community of thirty-seven private, luxurious guest villas of various sizes, the majority of which have their own infinity pool, ours included.|The impeccable service provided by a well-managed professional staff was unique: our villa was cleaned twice daily to a high standard each morning and evening. |The quality and choice of cuisine in the interestingly designed restaurant was second to none, reflecting authentic Vietnamese dishes while catering for other national tastes as well. Ingredients are sourced locally and fruit and vegetables come from the chef’s own magnificent kitchen garden, which we visited with interest several times. Breakfasts are a real treat and we enjoyed taking all our meals on the restaurant balcony so that we could enjoy the staggering and ever- changing view of the bay, sky, nearby islands and distant mountains.| A team of friendly professional staff was always at hand to serve us, both in the restaurant and around the resort. Room service was available on request and widely used by guests who preferred to eat in their own villas. We chose to eat all our meals in the restaurant because of the view over the bay and the superb atmosphere, especially first thing in the morning with the sea around us calm and misty and at sunset and twilight as the distant lights across the bay came on.|The rich choice of activities available to the hotel guests included meditation, trekking, fishing, kayaking and other sporting and social activities, some of which we tried ourselves, but our personal preference was to spend several hours each day swimming either in the sea or the large hotel infinity pool.| One of the key features of the retreat experience was the way the staff made us feel special, by attending to our individual needs and speedily solving any issues. To achieve this each guest was looked after by a team of well -trained, customer-oriented personnel or butlers. We were especially touched by the way the hotel staff greeted us on arrival and again on departure with a traditional ritual of waving and bowing|We left the hotel knowing that we had spent time in a very special and enjoyable environment to which we shall certainly return. |A warm thank you to all at An...

This resort is beautiful and I would like to start with the positives. We went there in March 2024 as part of our honeymoon travels. Some positives: You’re assigned a dedicated member of staff to support you and look after you. Kim was our dedicated staff, she was friendly, smiley and always willing to help. She also made sure the room was prepared for us again each evening while we had dinner. Thuy (a representative of the hotel) met us at the airport upon us landing and departing, this was not expected but Thuy was so warm and friendly and made us feel extremely special. VY is a fantastic masseuse and meditation leader, you just feel so zen around her. Definitely have a massage with her. Hue delivered a fantastic yoga session. She was fun and clear during the session. the rooms are insanely beautiful and the private pools are a special touch the service predominantly is exceptional at this resort

Some areas of improvement: more activities at the resort during the evenings. Especially as the resort is extremely remote and you can’t go anywhere nearby and there are no regular boats running to the other side. the food menu is exactly the same every day. A bit of change or specials would be preferred. the complimentary boat service only departs once to Nha Trang at 9.30am and returns once at 3.30pm. You have to pay a lot to get a private boat outside of these times. the hotel hasn’t grasped how digital bank cards work yet, so if you paid with a digital bank card ahead of your arrival, this may cause you some delays. Use a traditional bank card for payments. some beach beds to be added to the beach (appreciate the strip is very narrow though)

I already fed this review back to their management and they were very courteous and professional. They were very responsive and took steps to make things right. All in all a great relaxing stay, with some little...