Swiss-Belhotel Golden Sand Resort & Spa Hoi An

My wife and I and our three small children genuinely enjoyed our stay at the Golden Sand. My two oldest daughters say this was their favorite hotel on our Vietnam journay, which included the Sofitel Metropole in Hanoi and the Victoria Hotel in Sapa! They mostly enjoyed the pools and the chidlren's pool in particular.

Since we stayed here during the Tet holiday, the hotel itself was rather sleepy, but the staff were friendly and eager to please. The manager, after returning from his holiday, introduced himself, chatted, and was friendly and solicitous. Our rooms were clean and well cared-for, the laundry service was timely and professional, and our food was excellent. I would love to return during the high season to see what the beach activities are like.

The reality of Hoi An did not much match the imagination. Kilometres of crowded unhygenic sprawl, endless touts, dust and toxic motorcycle fumes -

Thank God for the Golden Sands, a sparkling oasis of beach side civilisation, calm and friendliness well removed from the rats I spotted on the roofs of some riverside eating houses. This is the newest hotel, by far the best in Vietnam, and it saved my trip from complete disapointment. It seemed quiet as well, maybe still a well kept secret. The breakfasts were superb, a mountainous,clever blend of western and asian, as was the delicious food from the clean, fairly priced vietnamese restaurant.

The divine pool has been well documented by others, and at 125 meters long running parallel to sea, it is indeed the linchpin around which this top class facility glows. The best pool I've seen in the world and the warm spa is now operational. No effort is spared to keep the sand clean and vagrant free.

I walked along the beach and inside the other supposed top hotels, and their pools seemed like off coloured, crowded goldfish bowls in comparison.

Clean white linen (okay, on rock hard beds)shining views and floors, balconies and lots of lovely hot water. Internet access on three pc's near reception. The hotel entrance is majestic, beautifully designed, comfortable, cool, airy and arresting. The most beautiful friendly staff with smiles that spoke all languages and who appreciated friendliness and patience in their guests. Why expect fluent English from them? The Manager, Norbert, a Swiss national,with pefect English, and extremely efficient and professional, offered every courtesy.

Mr Anh was one of numerous bus drivers who went out of their way to assist. This is also a child friendly hotel,but care should be taken near the sea. The only negatives were the concrete hard beds (par for the course in Vietnam -we requested more doonas to pad them)and that housekeeping could have been a touch more skilful. Staff wages by our standards are poor. Also, pay the little extra for a beach side or pool view room. I loved it, my family loved it and you will, too. Enough to go back, forget the culture shock of what is NOT, despite it's label,essentially some quaint small town, just to swim in THAT pool..... Photos to follow.

We stayed for 8 nights over the Christmas '05 period and found the resort to be just OK even after taking bad weather out of the equation. We don't think it has quite reached 5 star status yet.

On the positive side, the staff were very friendly and willing to please guests. The beachfront location is excellent and is a haven away from street vendors, markets and the incessant beeping of traffic. The free shuttle to town was superb and no hassle. The pool is very impressive, and there was a list of free daily activities (one per day) for guests. Jetskis were available to hire, as was the tennis court (pay to hire the court AND rackets). There's a free pool table in the bar area. Rooms are spacious, clean and modern. When we had problems with hot water they fixed it for us quickly.

On the negative side the lunch/dinners we had at the hotel were very ordinary. There are better food options in town or up at the strip of shops near the beach. There's no gym so far and the health spa is under construction. Staff don't speak much English - even at reception we got blank looks when we asked a question and they didn't know anything about the daily activites advertised at the pool area - they didn't even know they existed. We were one of the few rooms occupied leading up to Christmas day but none of the managers came to welcome us or speak to us during our 8 days there. The bar ran out of beers even though there were only about 6 of us drinking a few beers each evening.

Maybe we would have enjoyed our stay more if the weather had been warm and sunny, and the food was a bit better. Its a good hotel/resort, but not an amazing one.

Following the lead of many of your reviewers we tried to get into the best rated hotels in Hoi An. All of them were fully booked, then we got a lead on the Golden Sand which has recently opened. Not only is it truly one of the most beautifully appointed resorts that we have ever stayed in, but the architecture is stunning, imaginative, and inviting. A gorgeous beach, huge teak bedrooms, welcoming local staff, it is a Vietnamese owned property managed by a Swiss hotel group. We think it may have the longest swimming pool cluster in the world. Hoi An is special and as many say the most inviting village in the country. After a day on the river there and bargaining in the market place, it was sheer pleasure to return to the Golden Sands in the evening.

We stayed at this fabulous hotel in Dec. Can't say enough about it! What a wonderful place and experience! The decor is elegant and understated, the food is delicious and the beach front location is perfect.The biggest asset of this hotel is the friendly staff. Many of the hotels in S.E. Asia could take a lesson from them. Despite it being winter and off season we enjoyed our visit immensely and hope to get back there one day. Definately worth the money.

We stayed at the Golden Sands Resort in late October for 5 nights and have no hesitation in giving it a very high recommendation.

It is on the beach about 3-4 kms from Hoi An. The Victoria Resort is nearby and these are the only two hotels on the beach. The hotel runs a free regular shuttle into Hoi An which gives the daily option of the beach or the town. To be honest, after a day in Hoi An it was great to disappear back to the luxury of the hotel.

We booked direct with the hotel by e-mail, received an incredibly quick, friendly response with a very competitive rate - much better than offered by the Victoria.

On arrival we were greated by very enthusiastic and friendly staff. Our superior room was spacious, clean, sunny, and had all the necessary amenities.

There are two restaurants (a third,a Japanese restaurant has been closed and is being converted into a wine bar) - a Vietnamese and a western style restaurant. During our stay, the hotel was hosting a major corporate and that company took over the Vietnamese restaurant, but the hotel coped by ensuring Vietnamese food was available at the western restaurant. The western restaurant menu was comprehensive, with a good range of items and the added bonus of a range of pub style meals if you required a break from Vietnamese food (that said, Vietnamese food was, for us, one of the highlights of

our visit to Vietnam)

The breakfast was very comprehensive. I was happy with my western breakfasts but my wife was into Vietnamese breakfast and she found the chefs were very enthusiastic to advise her on what she should eat and also gave her a lot of information on how to make pho and other Vietnamese dishes.

Like other reviewers, we agree the pool is superb. It is extremely long and there was no problem getting pool loungers etc. Even with the hotel full I do not think the pool would be under pressure. We were unlucky we could not swim in the sea as strong winds and under currents made it dangerous. The hotel had red flags up as a safety factor.

The hotel general manager and his deputy both made a point of meeting guests, which was nice touch.

In our view being at the beach, rather than the town was the best option. It allows you to get away from the hustle and bustle of Hoi An but still enables you, via the hotel shuttle or outside taxis, to quickly get into town for meals etc if you so wish. Also near the hotel there are roadside restuarants which were worth trying - and very cheap!!

Stayed here 6 nights first week of October with husband and 2 kids and with two other families. Had a great stay and would recommend this hotel highly. We had connecting rooms which were new, clean and well presented. A fresh fruit bowl each day was a nice touch.

But the real highlight of this hotel is the pool/beach area. (I think this is one of only two hotels on the beach, the other is Victoria Resort. The rest are on the river, or you need to cross the road to the beach). The views were superb and the pool is big enough so that even if the hotel were very busy, you would not feel it was crowded. There is also a kids pool with a pirate ship in it in which the kids (aged 2-13) had a ball.

There is a kids room which has a table tennis table and PS2 as well as an area for smaller kids to draw etc. Breakfast was included in our rate and was quite good. The shuttle bus runs 4 times a day into HoiAn, but at other times we were mostly able to hire the bus for US$3 and the driver would take us directly to where we wanted to go. A taxi into town is also under US$3 each way.

English was somewhat of a problem with the staff, but they were always friendly and keen to help once they understood. It was very quiet during our stay with only a couple of other families there, so it seemed we had the place to ourselves. Only problem with that was that drink/food staff did not really circulate enough, we had to go find them. Room service was okay, but much more expensive than going into town where we regularly fed 6 adults and 6 kids for under US$50 with drinks. Ngoc Thuy(?) was our favourite restaurant.

Apparently the hotel is being formally opened at the end of the month, so there were still a couple of things not finished, but overall it was great. We had a rate of just under US$200 for the two rooms. Not sure if this will continue, but at this rate it was a bargain. We would recommend this hotel to our friends and would go there again.

We just returned from a two week trip to Vietnam. We stayed at the Golden Sand Hotel for 5 nights and liked it quite a lot. It's a very new hotel, we especially liked the open lobby, when you enter it you can look straight to the ocean.

The rooms are spacious and clean, every day fresh fruit. Big bathroom, ours had a tub and a walk-in shower. Our room was on the ground floor in the second row but we were still able to see the ocean and a bit of the pool. Speaking of the pool - it's really large and while you comfortably lie on one of the deckchairs you can overlook the pool and see the beach. The hotel was quite empty, most of the tourists came from Japan, some Australians and Spanish guests were also there. The beach was absolutely empty, which we liked a lot as you hardly encounter that any more.

The staff was very friendly, did not speak very well English but whatever we asked they did their very best to help us.

On Wednesdays and Fridays they offer a Vietnamese Buffet at the "White Orchid" Restaurant - that we can absolutely recommend. It's delicious. It does cost 18 US$ per person, but it is absolutely worth it!! The breakfast is also very good, lots to choose from, you can either sit on the terrace or in the restaurant (no air-con there, but you get used to that).

We can also recommend the restaurant "Café des Amis" in Hoi An at the riverside (I think the street was called Bach Dong), it's a lovely place to have dinner, you do not get a menu, you just choose from a vegetable, seafood or meat-menu and then you get 4 courses and they are just great and it's around 80.000 Dong. Highly recommended.

Hotel offers 3 free shuttles to the city of Hoi An a day, but you can also ask them to give you a ride inbetween, that's only 3 US$ for 2 people.

All in all we really enjoyed our stay at the Golden Sand and would return.

The Golden Sands Resort in Hoi An, Vietnam, has just opened.

We stayed here for five night while their soft opening and had a wonderful time! It was quiet because, there were only a couple of guests because they just opened.

The resort is located at Cau Dai Beach, near the other beach and river hotels. We had a sea AND pool view room, nice and modern decorated, clean and big. Fruit and flowers on the room, high tea in the afternoon in the lobby. The personel was very kind althought they have to get used to the new tourists. Good service, they will help you with whatever you ask.

The pool is one of the biggest in Vietnam but the beach is also very nice with comfortable chair.

There was only one restaurant open, the other two will open before high season. But the Vietnamese food we ate there was probably the best we had in whole Vietnam!!!