5 and 6 March 2026
A visit to Da Nang must include a few nights stay at Hoi An, located approximately 25 to 30 kilometers southeast of Da Nang city center. Hoi An is an old trading port in Southern Vietnam, with well-preserved buildings that reflects both indigenous and foreign cultures, especially Chinese, Japanese and later European. The famed UNESCO World Heritage ancient town features exceptionally preserved 15th-century buildings, lantern-lit streets at night, unique local cuisine, interesting cafes and riverside shops.
In my previous visit to Hoi An, I stayed 4 nights in a boutique guesthouse within walking distance to the ancient town. In this trip with my friends, we stayed two nights in the more luxurious Hoiana Integrated Resort set on a secluded stretch of Vietnam’s central coast just south of the Hoi An's Cua Dai estuary.
Hoiana opened in 2020 as a world-class integrated resort featuring championship golf, luxury accommodations, and state-of-the-art entertainment facilities.
The integrated resort consists of several hotels:
- Hoiana Hotel & Suites
- New World Hoiana Beach Resort
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New World Hoiana Hotel
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Hoiana Residences
We stayed at Hoiana New World Hotel but could use the facilities within the integrated resort. There is free buggy service so travelling within the integrated resort was pretty convenient. Most times, we chose to walk between the hotels and the beach.
Layout of Hoiana Integrated Resort in Hoi An.
Getting there from Da Nang
It took us about an hour’s drive to get to Hoiana from Da Nang city center. Although the distance is less than 30 km, the speed limit on the single lane coastal road is low and the driver of our chartered van was careful.
Once there, checking in was fast. Our luggage was handled by the hotel staff and brought to our rooms.
View from my room. The hotel is quite isolated. Guests had to dine within the hotel’s many restaurants or take a short trip to the ancient town.
Casino
One of the highlights of staying in Hoiana is their casino. Actually not for me but my travelling companions loves visiting casinos at Genting Highlands in Malaysia. So the first thing we did was to take a short walk to the casino, located in Hoiana Hotel & Suites.
To enter the casino, we had to sign up as a member. There was a promotion for new sign ups during the month of March.
We were each issued a personal membership card that is used to pass through the gantry at the entrance of the casino. This card is also used as a cash card at the slot machines. Each card was also loaded with free USD20 credit that we had chosen.
In my previous visit to Macao (another place with plenty of casinos), we stayed clear of the casinos due to cigarette smoke. On this visit, there was only slight smell of cigarette smoke as the casino was not very crowded when we visited. The interior of this casino was quite nice with crystal chandeliers, many gaming tables and more than 200 slot machines.
We used the credits to introduce ourselves to playing the slot machines and roulette. Free flow of drinks and beer are provided for the players at the slot machines and tables.
We did not spend too much time in casino as we planned to go to the Hoi An ancient town for dinner in the evening although there are some nice and probably pricey restaurants in the resort.
One of the fancy restaurants in the resort.
Breakfast and morning at the beach.
Our stay at Hoiana included daily buffet breakfast at Aroma Restaurant, an all-day dining restaurant located on the ground floor of the New World Hoiana Hotel. The buffet spread is good, including pho at the noodle station and pastries. The highlight for me was the classic butter croissants in the pastries section.
It was raining while we had breakfast on the first morning but fortunately the rain stopped by 10.30AM and we could take a walk to the resort’s private beach.
There was no one there at the beach, except us and a lifeguard stationed on the beach. A red flag fluttering on the flagpole warned that sea activity and swimming is not allowed.
The friendly and probably very bored lifeguard offered to help us take photos. He did a great job, recommending the best shots and best pose for us.
The Edge – infinity pool and bar
Another recommended place to visit within the resort is the infinity pool and bar located on the 16th floor of the Hoiana Hotel & Suites. We could enjoy the sea breeze and excellent views of the coast. This is a good place to chill till it was time for our next activity.
Coconut Boat Ride
One of Hoi An’s popular tourist activities is to the coconut boat tour and there are many operators offering this activity in the Bay Mau area, just north of the Cua Dai Estuary and 5 minutes drive away by private van from our hotel.
I will describe more about our adventures on coconut boats and afternoon in Hoi An Ancient Town in a separate post.
Entertainment Hub
Besides visiting the casino on both nights, some of us went to check out the Entertainment Hub. It is located at Lower Ground Floor of Hoiana Residences and opens from 10:00 AM till 2:00 AM. This place offers bowling, pool, karaoke, arcade games, virtual golf, sports bar and games zones.
The staff manning the place is quite friendly. She allowed one of my friends to try the virtual golf machine.
Overall, Hoiana is a nice place to stay while visiting Hoi An. The only downside is that it requires a 20 minutes drive to get to the ancient town. The hotel provides free shuttle services to and from the old town (an also the airport) but the service runs on a fixed schedule and requires prior reservation. For us, we had booked a private van with driver to ferry us to and from the old town during our stay.
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