Banyan Tree Lang Co

On our holiday visiting Vietnam, we wanted a few days of complete indulgence. The Banyan Tree surpassed all of our expectations, further surprising us with their policy of social responsibility. For us, that meant a morning spent with local schoolchildren, which was a brilliant experience, a real highlight.

First thing first i would like to comment about the exceptional services provided by Banyan Tree LangCo. Special thanks to our host Miss LAN, she is just amazing! We left our baby stroller at the airport, it was Lan who went all the way out to contact the airport and even had the stroller picked up and sent back to our room the next day.... Me and my husband were so amazed! Thank you so much Lan! Lan also have everything set up and activities arranged in our room during our stay, we didn't have to worry about anything, because we know she would take care of us. The property itself is very far away from everything else, but the property is very beutiful and very well kept, we stayed in the Beach Villa, i was worried about mosquito before we arrived but there's no need to worry about that, the hotel does a superb job in pest control. It has everything in the room, you literallly don't have to bring anything. The plunge pool in the villa is very nice, the main pool is a bit small and it was too hot to swim in the day so we went to the beach at 7am in the morning, it was soooo lovely, very very gentle wave, warm sea water, and very very private.

After our amazing stay at the resort last yr (read our first detailed review on March 21, 2016), we brought our family and friends (7 of us) this time and checked into their 3 br seaview pool villa situated at the hillside. As usual, we were treated like royalties throughout our stay fr the moment we cleared our immigration. The staff was always there to cater to our needs but never intrusive in anyway. The luxurious and well appointed villa is gigantic with jaw-dropping and totally unblocked sea view. Other than the extremely spacious 3 bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms, the villa comes with sizeable living area, dining area, fully equipped kitchen, powder room, and a large balcony with private jacuzzi and our very own pool. The amazing sea view can be enjoyed fr the living room, dining room and two of the bedrooms, besides the balcony. The food at the modern chic Saffron continued to amaze us. The food could be catered to our palette depending on the level of spiciness that we prefer. The sea view fr the restaurant is equally stunning, so much so that it sometimes distract us fr the delicious food. When we lounged at the deserted private beach under the sun, an attendant took his own initiative and came over to let us have cool towels and refreshing drinking water. This is an example of their great service, always proactive and giving us nice surprises without having us asking. Our villa host, Chau, is outstanding as usual. She is always one step ahead of us, providing attentive services and helpful sightseeing tips. Her ability to read our mind is a rare asset and a hallmark of 6 star service. Her warmth and sincerity is infectious, so much so that our extended family and her had become friends over such a short period of time. In general, Banyan Tree never fail to deliver and surprise, even though this is our second stay. We will definitely return.

We enjoyed a 3 night stay here as part of a longer tour to Singapore and Vietnam recently. We like to mix and match our hotels and this was definitely the splurge part of our trip; a rainforest/beach experience with a private villa with a small pool. I'll be honest; the pre-arrival experience wasn't great (we needed to arrange transport & we were keen to do a couple of the activities and didn't want to miss them if pre-booking was required) as emails could go unanswered for 4/5 days on end which was frustrating as we were also emailing our other much, much cheaper hotels with similar questions and getting immediate answers. However, pick up from our arranged meeting point was prompt and transportation to the resort was comfortable in the air conditioned mini van. Check in was smooth, bypassing the lobby completely and taken to our villa by buggy where we were given a tour and served a delicious cold tea. First impressions of the villa (lagoon facing) were great; within minutes of our host leaving us we'd jumped into the gorgeous warm water and the 6 yr old was in heaven with having his own private pool. The villa itself was luxuriously appointed, very comfortable and deliciously cool. However, beyond the tea on arrival, nothing was complimentary beyond the tea and coffee - all soft drinks were to be paid for and the fruitbowl in which a handwritten welcome card and a tantalizing menu card outlining exotic fruits was placed, went unfilled for our stay. Once we'd dragged him out the pool, we did a recce of the Banyan Tree complex and the neighbouring Angsana hotel which is right next door and easily accessible. BT residents can access Angsana pool facilities (lots of inflatables, a swim up pool bar) too and we took advantage of this the next day before deciding that we'd stick to the BT facilities. The breakfast was really, really good with a fabulous selection of western and Vietnamese dishes. The pastries were great and we loved the dim sum every morning. The 6 yr old's eyes were popping out his head when he saw and was allowed donuts with sprinkles for breakfast. And yes, the free flowing Taittinger was a fabulously decadent touch that we took full advantage of. We enjoyed our morning chats with Chau, our host who was efficient and interesting. Our only quibble was that we had to pay $20 for a kids breakfast for a very small 6 year old. Given the room rate, a surcharge to cover an apple juice, a couple of bits of fruit and a pastry each morning seemed a bit grasping. We were advised of this at check-in and the host seemed grateful that we didn't make a fuss but maybe a smaller surcharge or a more discretionary policy (as we've found at similar resorts) should be considered? Beyond breakfast, we found meals to be average-good but quite expensive resort food. It speaks volumes that 2-3 weeks on, I can barely remember one single dish we had there whereas I can vividly remember individual street food dishes we enjoyed in Hoi An. Based on reviews, we expected more from our meal at Saffron and we had to wait 20 minutes for a buggy back to our villa during a thunderstorm. We also tried the tasting menu at the WaterCourt restaurant and an early evening meal at Azure, which was offers the most potential for family dining despite a slightly weird Italian menu. We'd advise standardising the kids menu across the restaurants for consistency. We had a variable experience with service around the complex - we had a great low brow experience with happy hour beers and hot dogs for our boy at the Angsana swim up bar but we also had a frustrating experience where we timed a walk back along the beach for happy hour cocktails starting at six at the library bar. Arriving at six, and being seated outside, we waited 20 mins for a cocktail menu and then another 20 mins for our drinks to arrive just as the sun was setting and we were about to give up and leave. We were the only people sitting outside but there was no atmosphere even inside the bar. At other times, the zen lines of the exteriors was spolied by staff not taking the covers off the outdoor seating (totally ok if it was raining but it was mid afternoon and sunny). There's a huge programme of activities on offer and we took part in a some kite-flying as well as the option to teach English at a local school. Run by Ms Trang, from BT's CSP department, this was the highlight of our stay and an experience we'd highly recommend especially for those travelling with kids. It's would be a good idea to take some stickers, pencils or similar for the kids who were enthusiastic and great fun to meet. If our highlight as a family was the trip to the school, then my own personal highlight would have to be the amazing 2.5 hours that I spent in the spa. I normally go for a massage but was encouraged to go for the dragon fruit package which included a dragon fruit wrap as well as massage. It was truly fantastic and possibly the best massage I've ever had thanks to Joy, who had been brought in from Banyan Tree Phuket to support the spa here. I enjoyed tea and fruit afterwards before floating back to the privacy of the outdoor veranda of the villa for a snooze afterwards. The spa was hands down world class. It's definitely not perfect but then few places are. We found the staff to be genuinely charming and friendly but service to be slightly under the benchmark we've experienced elsewhere. I think with good management and experience this will be smoothed out. The beach is beautiful and clean, the spa is amazing and we loved cycling around the resort and our villa and little pool. The English class was a joyful experience. Would we go back? I can't say for sure just yet but probably not. As good as it is, it lacks the soul that we found at The Datai in Langkawi. But everyone is different and if you value the privacy of the villas - perhaps a honeymoon couple rather than a family - then this is a very good shout.

It is very fabulous place to have a vacation with family There are so many places to enjoy, entertainment, food, massage Most Hosts are also well-trained and nice to every customers, especially my host(Miss Chau) is very good and speak English to have conversation