Angsana Lang Co, Vietnam

I've pre-purchased a gift voucher through Banyan Tree website early on during the Pandemic when hotels were starving of cash, hence I had a really good deal out of staying in this property for USD$180. The first few months following were fairly confusing and I was having issues communicating with the team due to their lower English literary and the terms weren't stated correctly. I wasn't very satisfied with the customer service response but I wasn't going to judge my experience based purely on my experience with their after sales team.

Lang Co is a small town situated an hour away from Da Nang, the third largest city in Vietnam. I was on a flight that arrives fairly early in the morning just after 7am, while the complimentary shuttle service is not scheduled until 9am, so I found a cafe next to the arrival hall to enjoy some hot chocolate while I wait for the shuttle to arrive.

Just after 8am I got a call from the hotel telling me that the shuttle driver has arrived and I can meet up with him, I went out to look for him and he told me there was another passenger who was also in the same cafe as I was. We waited another 5 minutes as that passenger was waiting for his drinks to be served. We were the only passengers on this shuttle service, and they used a 4WD as a transport vehicle to get us to the hotel. On the way, the passenger chatted with me and asked me how I manage to book the hotel and how I got the discount, apparently he works with hotels to promote and manage their promotion, gift cards and such, and also booking group tours to these hotels. He was going there to check out their resort and have an experience himself so that he may be able to better sell and introduce these promotions and resorts to the clients.

Upon arriving at the hotel drop off, I was greeted by the hotel staff by name and he told me that my room was ready to be checked in, while walking to the reception, I was recommended with some activities I could do for the afternoon. At the reception area, I was served a cup of tea and a cold towel while waiting for them to process the check in, and then I was escorted to my room where I will be for the next 2 nights.

Situated on the 2nd floor, the room I've booked (Garden Balcony Grand) is spacious with ample of floor space for a family, couple or solo travellers. The bathroom is located right by the entry, with features such as a dual sink, a rounded soaking tub and rain shower. On the opposite side of the bathroom is a large closet with a safe and 2 bathrobes, located next to the closet is the minibar with 2 glass bottles of water (sealed), a kettle, tea and coffee. Walking further into the room, is the King size bed, decent size work desk and a lounge sofa. Towards the end of the room is the balcony, furnished with 2 seats and a coffee table, overlooking the mountain and the villas of Banyan Tree.

The resort was fairly quiet on my first day which was rather pleasant but I felt like I could have gotten an upgrade to a better room if the resort is not too busy, so that I will be able to enjoy some of the best the property has to offer. Walking around this humungous resort to explore, I found a large part of the sea side facing rooms features a private pool on all levels, while I'm assuming the mountain view rooms are mostly regular rooms with a balcony. There is a large pool interconnected throughout the property, with unguarded pools located on the mountain view side of the property, while the sea view side will have staff on duty serving towels, drinks and floaties.

Most of the restaurants were opening in limited hours, with only 1 Japanese restaurant available in Angsana while there were other options such as an Italian/French on the Banyan Tree side where a buggy can be called to transport to their restaurant. Since I'm not too big on Japanese cuisine, I decided to go over to Azura for lunch (Italian restaurant) where I ordered a Margarita pizza and pasta over my entire stay, and Water Court (French) where I ordered the Asian style claypot with mixed vegetables and tofu for dinner. The food in the resort is fairly overpriced, with each meal costing roughly $30 or more, while I doubt the resort is making a profit even with such high surcharge due to the lack of guests and the over employment of staff. The breakfast is served at the Rice restaurant, come in buffet style cuisine ranging from Western to Asian, but I do find there's some lack of choices for Vegetarian/Vegan while some dishes not labelled so I wasn't sure what is the filling of those food hence not being able to take those either. The only food I've taken from there was some vegetables, corn, egg and fried rice, while for desert I got a yogurt and juice. A pot of tea was also provided. There were bread available but I didn't choose to take any of those, they could probably do some improvement in the food department especially catering for Vegetarian/vegan guests since many guests coming from Western countries would be requiring such dietary requirements.

On the 2nd day, I tried out one of the outdoor activities that they offer throughout the resort, given there were quite a number of activities, I went for kayaking since I have not tried that before. It was quite tiring and got fairly sun burnt, well also during my extended period in the pool where I got burnt further. Towards the end of my 2nd day, I wanted to check out the sauna which is located next to the spa centre. It seems to be fairly lightly used by guests, and it had to be turned on manually by guests, although it didn't take too long and I didn't have it in high heat (adjustable temperature) due to my sun burn. There is an option for either a dry sauna or steam sauna, the sauna area has its own shower and lockers as well. My package includes 2 person 60 minutes massage at the spa centre, which I opted to go to prior to dinner. Since I was travelling alone, they have allowed me to do 2 sessions instead, which means I was able to do it every night throughout my stay, I tried 2 different types of massages, one of which was recommended by the staff while the other was recommended through their menu.

The resort offered turn down service which I was only aware of after returning to my room after dinner. There was not much of a difference apart from some light cleaning, water and cookies placed on the nightstand. The bed was comfortable and there are various light modes to choose from through the electronic switch next to the bed. There is also lighting outside the balcony but it was barely noticeable unless it is nearly completely dark outside, which does not give sufficient amount of light if you choose to stay out on the balcony during the evening. The lighting throughout the exterior of the resort was lightly dim as well, while strolling through the outside on my way back to my room, I had to rely on my phone flashlight to see where I was going. The pool was also shut during the evening as I could barely see anything, I doubt that anyone would be going to the pool in the darkness, but if you have a room with a private pool that would probably be less of an issue.

With my stay coming to an end, I booked the shuttle to transport me back to Da Nang airport, unfortunately they wouldn't allow me to make use of the complimentary shuttle service as my flight leaves a bit earlier than the scheduled service to the airport, hence I was made to pay around $60 for their most basic shuttle car. After I checked out and headed to the pick up area, I found myself getting into a Mercedes which was at a higher price tag but I suppose they have people who have booked this to get to the resort from the airport so they transported me in style, which was a great ending to my 3 days in Angsana. I was given a takeaway breakfast due to the early departure as the breakfast service didn't start until around 7am.

The staff throughout the resort has been very friendly, especially those on the buggy service, they were curious and asked me a lot of questions about what I do and where I've been. I've also gotten to know some of the staff who have families of their own but working in the resort to pay for their families back home. The resort has a lot of activities to choose from which I wasn't able to make use of given the short time frame I have staying there, but it is also a relaxation destination so there was no pressure to participate in any of those activities.

There are also plenty of tourist attractions around the Da Nang region which I was not able to visit as I didn't plan to stay in Central Vietnam except for the 3 days in Lang Co. There are tours departing from the resort to visit some of those sights but they are also fairly pricy and with the lack of time I have I didn't plan to take up any of those tours, but it is definitely going to be in my list for my next trip to Vietnam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUHyl1l6ANo