Imagine a white, sandy beach with a few large rocks on it, clean and bright, blue water, fish in all colors of the rainbow playing around you and the sun shining non stop. Then add an atmosphere of serenity and happiness, food that is both great tasting and healthy, a cold beer and a stunning view over the ocean. If you include free yoga classes in the morning, a full service spa and a comfortable bed with soft, down pillows, I´d say you are pretty close to heaven!
And that is how it felt throughout our whole stay.
This place is fantastic. I fell in love with it as soon as we stepped out of the boat and was greeted by someone introducing us to “our private butler for the stay”… Oh man! I have never had a butler before, but I can surely get used to it. “If you need anything…anything at all, just give me a call! Press the smileyface button on your phone”… Our time at this place was pure joy, happiness, love, peacefulness and fun for all four of us.
The Villas
This is not a hotel in the regular sense of the word, with several rooms in a big house. Here, everyone gets a bungalow or villa with your own private pool. You can choose from Hilltop, with great views, Rock, witch is on the water, but without a possibility to swim in the water directly from your villa, Beach and Water Villa. If you are travelling with your family and younger kids, I think the Beach villas are the best. But if your kids are big enough and pretty calm, the Water Villas are absolutely fantastic. Here you get your own private dock and stairs directly down to the bright, blue water with all its wonderful little fish and corals.
Water villa number one is closest to the beach and consists of one big room, where there is place for two extra mattresses. This is the most child-friendly Water villa, but the pool is quite small and visible from the beach, so not completely private. The other Water villas have an extra room, or cabin, which is the living room or extra bedroom. Two of the sides of this cabins opens up to the most beautiful view, but there are no AC in them (they do have a fan). Even if you decide not to use it as a second bedroom, it is still fantastic to have a daybed in there and a place for both the kids or the parents to chill out if it gets too hot, or in shelter for some light rain.
In the main room, there is a huge bathroom with a beautiful wooden tub behind doors that also opens up, and two sinks. There is also a separate toilet and an indoor shower. We never even used our indoor shower, because there is nothing more awesome than showering under an open sky. Especially during the night when the stars are shining bright… This villa has it all. I could literally live here forever (especially if it included room service two times a day and drinks and food delivered when ever you felt like it)! Water villa number five is the most private one, but I would just as well stay in any of the other ones. The walk up the stairs to the Water- and Hilltop villas are a bit rough when it is very hot, so you have to look at it as some extra workout for your bum… for those of us who needs that. If you are staying in a Hillside villa, of course the walk is even further. But again, staying there just may lead to a super-tight butt!
And then there is the pillow-form. It´s not actually called that, but on one side of the sheet, you get a list of several pillows to choose from, for your liking. And if you want to, they will also scent your pillows every night with the smell you prefer. So I asked for two down-feather pillows with lavender scent and a body pillow. Just because I could! The body-pillow didn´t really work for me, but the smell of lavender on my pillow was quite wonderful!
The Service
I have to say that the best part of staying here, in addition to the amazing villa and the ocean, was the staff. Super friendly, professional and always helpful. You never get the feeling that you are asking too much or that any request is too small or too big. You just get a feeling that they really want you to be happy. So you do. Get happy, that is. And you stay that way.
As mentioned, everyone gets their own private butler when they arrive. It is not the kind that would stay in your villa and be at your service at all times, but they will help you with what ever, when ever. If you need a ride to the restaurant, they will drive you (in their golf cars), they will pick up your kids if you need them too, book appointments at the spa, make sure you have ice in your bucket every day at a set time, tell you what happens when, and everything else that will make your stay the best possible.
For Kids
Having a kids club or kids activities in a hotel is not a requirement for us when deciding on where to stay. Most of the hotels we prefer don´t cater to kids, and we don´t mind that. But the Sub Club here at Six Senses was great! The kids loved it, and we didn´t mind a couple of hours to ourselves. It is open from nine to four thirty every day, and every week had a different schedule with activities three times a day. One in the morning, one mid day and one in the afternoon. This would be activities like cooking in the restaurant kitchen, baking cup cakes, making “moctails” in the bar, building a sand castle, football at the beach, planting in the garden, painting statues and other art work. In addition, they have movie nights during high season. At Easter they showed a movie every night on the beach with a mini buffet and drinks. This meant that the girls could hang out in a beanbag on the beach eating dinner and watching a movie while mom and dad could chill in the bar and enjoy a quiet meal. Win-win!
The Spa
This spa is not the most beautiful that I have seen, and it doesn´t have the best selection either, but somehow it didn´t matter. I enjoyed several massages and enjoyed them all, but I always prefer the ones that are most efficient and powerful.
At the end of your treatment you get a lovely time to yourself with tea and fruit outside in the garden or forest. Specially after sunset, this is a delightful experience.
The only negative thing I can say about this spa is the language problems. Most of these girls only speak a few words in English, but some how we manage to understand each other, and it is actually quite charming and part of the whole “being in a different country” experience.
The Food
There are one main restaurant in the island that serves breakfast and a la carte dinner. The breakfast is very good with great selection both in Asian and Western dishes. And if there is something missing, you just have to ask.
Then there is the pool bar where you can get lunch and light dinners. And this is also the place where they make various themes buffets at nights. They would do themes like South Asian and seafood and other similar things. If you eat a lot these are great deals, but regardless, the food always tasted good, often because they would bring in local chefs from the mainland to cook at these nights.
And then there is Dining by the Rocks. This is a more upscale restaurant with a more romantic setting, great service and a shifting menu of the day. Placed up high on the rocks, the view is stunning.
The wine
In addition to good food, Ninh Van Bay also has quite an extensive wine list. It isn´t often that these Asian resorts have their own sommelier, but this one does. I will not say that their selection is superb, but compared to the rest of Asia, it is great. I love having the opportunity to drink a great bottle of Riesling or Champagne now and then, and a bottle of red, if that is what I crave. Still, when the temperature is as high as it usually is down here, beer is usually my number one choice. It is chilling and works perfect with spicy, Asian food.
In conclusion; If you ever get the chance to visit Vietnam, you definitely should pay Ninh Van Bay a visit.
