First published December 2023 | Words and photos by Vietnam Coracle
Tom Divers is the founder and creator of Vietnam Coracle. He’s lived, travelled and worked in Vietnam since 2005. Born in London, he travelled from an early age, visiting over 40 countries (he first visited Vietnam in 1999). Now, whenever he has the opportunity to make a trip, he rarely looks beyond Vietnam’s borders and his trusty motorbike, Stavros. Read more about Tom on the About Page, Vietnam Times and ASE Podcast.
A large, elegant and family-friendly oceanfront resort with architectural features echoing the style of the nearby Old Quarter, Victoria Hoi An is a long-running accommodation that’s exceptionally well-run and maintained. Just a few kilometres from one of Vietnam’s most famous attractions, Hội An’s ancient town, the Victoria has been in operation for over 20 years. Victoria is a small chain of elegant hotels dotted around Vietnam (all of which are reviewed on this website: see Related Posts), but the Hội An location is its flagship property. With the beach on one side and the river on the other, Victoria Hoi An is in a prime location and boasts lots of facilities, including a swimming pool, tennis court, mini-football pitch, a restaurant and three bars, spa, gym, and even a cinema. It’s ideal for a family holiday. [BOOK HERE]
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REVIEW: VICTORIA HOI AN
Address: Âu Cơ Street, Cửa Đại Beach, Hội An Town, Quảng Nam Province, Vietnam [MAP]
Average Rates: $80-$120/night
CONTENTS:
MAP:
Victoria Resort Hoi An
The Location: A few kilometres due northeast of Hội An’s popular Old Quarter, the Victoria is located on the coast, on Cửa Đại Beach. The resort is constructed on a thin strip of land with the sea on the north side and the river to the south. For many years now, Cửa Đại Beach has been suffering from coastal erosion. To counter this, the Victoria is raised above the level of the sand and protected by a perimeter of large boulders. The property looks out over the East Sea and the rugged Chàm Islands on the horizon. The resort is walking distance from lots of cafes, bars and restaurants along the seafront and riverfront, but it’s a bit too far to walk into Hội An’s Old Quarter, which is just a 5-10 minute taxi ride away. On either side of the Victoria are large swathes of sandy beach.
Resort Grounds & Layout: The Victoria is a large property spread over landscaped grounds and built in the traditional Hội An Old Quarter-style, featuring low-rise pastel-toned villas with sloping red-tiled roofs, blue doors, and traditional décor. The tropical gardens are green and pretty, although a little too manicured in some areas for my taste. The lobby and reception are elegant, open-plan spaces full of light and air, either side of which are the main clusters of river-view rooms, quite close together with a faux ‘street’ running between them strung with lanterns, all of which is an imitation of the nearby Old Town. Beyond the lobby, the resort opens out onto the seafront and the rooms and villas are more spaced out. The general style and ambience of the resort is elegant, low-rise and low-key. Victoria properties usually have a more traditional Vietnamese or French colonial theme, which tends to appeal more to Western travellers than Asian.
Beach, Pools & Activities: The Victoria has a good beach on either side of the property, with sun loungers on the sand. However, the sea immediately in front of the resort isn’t accessible unless its low-tide, due to the rocks that have been placed there to prevent coastal erosion. The infinity pool is beautiful: overlooking the ocean with Hockney-esque coconut palms reflecting in the water. There’s also a spa, gym, tennis court, children’s play area, mini-cinema and five-a-side football pitch on artificial grass. In addition, the Victoria offers lots of activities, tours and excursions to the myriad local sights in and around Hội An. If you have kids, there’s plenty to keep them happy here: this is a family-friendly resort.
Guest Rooms & Décor: From the outside, guest rooms at the Victoria echo the architecture of the Old Quarter trading houses in Hội An: squat, single- or two-story shophouses with sloping, red-tiled roofs, painted in pale ochre tones, with a wide front patio and stone balustrades. But inside, the décor is an interesting and tasteful mixture of imperial Vietnamese, French colonial, and Japanese style. The interior furnishings and objects follow a purple, white and maroon colour scheme, giving the rooms a royal Huế feel. Japanese touches come in the form of splayed hand fans on the walls, standing floor lanterns, mini-Zen gardens, and cushioned floor seating on a wooden deck accessed via sliding doors. Bathrooms are decorated in classy grey stone tiles with a sunken bathtub and outdoor shower.
There are several different room types to choose from. Prices range from around $80+ for a River View room to $130+ for an Ocean View Junior Suite. Overall, the best value rooms are Premium Garden View which are on the oceanside of the resort but are significantly cheaper than the Ocean View rooms. All rooms are quite large, starting at 36m2 up to 63m2, and all have private terraces with either river, garden or sea views.
Breakfast, Dining & Drinking: L’Annam is the main restaurant, housed in a handsome villa-style building opening onto a patio with a sea breeze. The daily buffet breakfast is served here, which includes a generous spread of Asian and Western food: the quality is good. The Faifo Beach Bar is great for a sunset cocktail or a light lunch under the shade of parasols and palms with the surf just a few metres away. Either side of the lobby are the Elephant Bar and Cham Bar. These bars seem superfluous, but presumably in the high-season months when tour groups stay here, there’s enough demand for them. The general standard of food and drink is good – Victoria is one of the few hotel chains that serve equally good quality Asian and Western dishes.
Summary: Victoria Hoi An is a well-established accommodation and you get the sense that you’re in safe hands while staying here. Everything is in good working order and runs smoothly. This is an ideal accommodation for families, especially with young children, because there’s plenty to do within the resort’s grounds. Like all Victoria hotels, the style and décor – a mix of colonial and traditional – appeals to my taste. Although for some, the Victoria’s location away from the famous Old Quarter might seem like a drawback, for me it is better to dip into Hội An’s Old Town during the day, rather than stay there overnight where the crowds of tourists and accompanying paraphernalia can become too much very quickly. I prefer to be within easy reach of Hội An, but by the sea.
*To check rates & make a booking for Victoria Hoi An please BOOK HERE
Please Support My Site
My reviews are 100% independent: I do not receive freebies or payment. Use the links on this page to book your hotel & I will make a small commission. Alternatively, please make a donation or become a patron.
Thank you, Tom
*Disclosure: I never receive payment for anything I write: my content is always free & independent. I’ve written this review because I want to: I like this resort & I want my readers to know about it. For more details, see my Disclosure & Disclaimer statements & my About Page
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