The Anam, a 117-villa and 96-room resort that commands a stunning beachfront setting, a sublime ten treatment-room spa and a 3-D movie theatre, will celebrate its grand opening on April 26th in Vietnam’s most compelling new destination.

With a design that pays homage to both colonial-era and age-old Vietnamese aesthetics, the independently owned and operated Anam is blazing new ground in a destination now emerging as a high-end alternative to nearby Nha Trang.

The alluring new five-star resort is set to cut the ribbon on a host of world-class facilities, including a spa, three restaurants and two bars, 3-D movie theatre, a ballroom, conference facilities, water sports centre, yoga room and deck, tennis court, kids club and three swimming pools.

“There isn’t a more desirable place to be on the water in Vietnam,” said founder and chairman Pham Van Hien.

“When I first discovered the land five years ago, I was struck by its breathtaking beauty and serenity, beginning an ambitious dream that has come to fruition in The Anam.”

The Anam’s romantic design blends into the natural setting, evoking a nostalgic tone with its imperial Hue-style roofs, glowing lanterns, big-bellied water vases, decorative pools, customised mosaic floor tiles and stone pathways.

Some 3,000 palm trees shade the 12-hectare property that fronts 300 metres of private beach overlooking the East Sea, where toast-brown sand, turquoise waters, dramatic headlands and offshore islands come together as one of Vietnam’s most picture-perfect seaside enclaves.

“Our surf is gentler, our skies sunnier and the landscape absolutely amazing,” added Herbert Laubichler-Pichler, the Austrian general manager whose work in Vietnam goes back ten years and includes management of two of Vietnam’s most acclaimed hotels.

“That, and a property that stands on the shoulders of everything we’ve learned about how to design, orient and build a hotel in Vietnam, is going to make for an incredible new anchor in the country’s hottest new destination.”